Tag Archives: rule of law

Obstruction of justice in plain sight: appointment of Whitaker is unconstitutional and illegal

Posted on November 9, 2018 by | 2 comments

Unindicted coconspirator and Russian asset Donald Trump has appointed an ass-kissing sycophant as acting attorney general who is a grifter just like “Dear Leader.” Acting Attorney General Sat on Board of Company Accused of Bilking Customers: Matthew G. Whitaker, the acting attorney general, served on the advisory board of World Patent Marketing, which “bilked thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars” by promising inventors lucrative patent agreements, that a federal judge shut down last year and fined nearly $26 million after the government accused it of scamming customers.

When he wasn’t grifting, Whitaker was going on television acting as a Trump sycophant commentator attacking the Mueller investigation. Here’s what Trump’s acting AG Matthew Whitaker has said about the Mueller investigation.

And then there is his close relationship with a person of interest in the Russia investigation. Whitaker’s friendship with Trump aide reignites recusal debate: Whitaker, is a close friend of Trump’s 2016 election campaign co-chair, and a former government ethics chief said the friendship makes Whitaker unable to oversee impartially a politically charged investigation into the campaign, for which he should recuse himself.

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Posted in AZBlueMeanie, Congress, Constitution, Corruption, Courts, Crime, Ethics, GOP War On..., History, Justice, Law Enforcement, Party Politics, President, Russian Affair, Scandals

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Public Protests Today to Defend Special Counsel Investigation

Posted on November 8, 2018 by | 1 comment

Unindicted coconspirator and Russian asset Donald Trump is attempting to take control of the Special Counsel’s investigation into his campaign by installing a loyalist as acting Attorney General at the Department of Justice. The New York Times, Trump Installs a Critic of the Mueller Investigation to Oversee It; the Washington Post, In Matthew Whitaker, Trump has a loyalist at the helm of the Justice Department, Sessions’s ouster throws future of special counsel probe into question.

Former Justice department officials are sounding the alarm: this is the “break the glass” moment we anticipated. In case of Mueller firing, break glass: Democrats prep an emergency plan.

Nobody Is Above The Law (Indivisible) is calling for nationwide public protests today:

BREAKING: PROTESTS CALLED FOR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 5 PM LOCAL TIME
Donald Trump has installed a crony to oversee the special counsel’s Trump-Russia investigation, crossing a red line set to protect the investigation. By replacing Rod Rosenstein with just-named Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker as special counsel Robert Mueller’s boss on the investigation, Trump has undercut the independence of the investigation. Whitaker has publicly outlined strategies to stifle the investigation and cannot be allowed to remain in charge of it. The Nobody Is Above the Law network demands that Whitaker immediately commit not to assume supervision of the investigation. Our hundreds of response events are being launched to demonstrate the public demand for action to correct this injustice. We will update this page as the situation develops.

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Posted in Activism, AZBlueMeanie, Congress, Constitution, Corruption, Crime, Ethics, Justice, Law Enforcement, Media, President, Protest, Russian Affair, Scandals

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And so it begins … Attorney General Sessions resigns at Trump’s request (Updated)

Posted on November 7, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Well that didn’t take long … America is still counting the votes from Tuesday’s election but “Dear Leader” has begun the “slow-motion Saturday night massacre” at the Department of Justice. Trump is just daring the Special Counsel and the new Democratic Congress to hold him accountable for his abuses of power and obstruction of justice.

The Washington Post reports, Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigns at Trump’s request (he tried to resign twice before, but was talked out of it):

[Confederate Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III] resigned on Wednesday at President Trump’s request, ending the tenure of a loyalist Trump had soured on shortly after Sessions took office in 2017 because the former senator from Alabama had recused himself from oversight of the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

In a letter to Trump, Sessions wrote he had been “honored to serve as Attorney General” and had “worked to implement the law enforcement agenda based on the rule of law that formed a central part of your campaign for the presidency.” Trump tweeted that Sessions would be replaced on an acting basis by Matthew G. Whitaker, who had been serving as Sessions’s chief of staff.

“We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well!” Trump tweeted. “A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date.”

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Despite massive opposition, Republicans are set to confirm the most unpopular judicial nominee in American history

Posted on October 5, 2018 by | 1 comment

More than 2,400 law professors sign letter opposing Kavanaugh’s confirmation:

Signatories included Martha Minow — the former dean of Harvard Law School, where Kavanaugh taught a popular course — other law school deans and former deans, and some scholars who previously supported Kavanaugh.

“As someone who knew and liked Brett Kavanaugh when we clerked together, I have tried very hard to stay out of this process and to give him the benefit of the doubt,” said Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School. But Kavanaugh’s behavior at the hearing last week “was not what we should expect of a Supreme Court Justice. Telling obvious lies about his background, yelling at senators, refusing to answer questions, and blaming his troubles on others is not appropriate behavior.”

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Another letter, signed by about 900 female law professors, asked the Senate to reject Kavanaugh’s appointment. As a law professor, “it is my responsibility to teach my students the highest standards of professionalism and decorum,” Karla McKanders, a professor of law at Vanderbilt University Law School, said in an email. “Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony undermines the legal profession and would undermine the authority of the Supreme Court.”

In an unprecedented move, life-long Republican and Former Justice John Paul Stevens said Judge Kavanaugh is not qualified to sit on the court:

Justice Stevens said he came to the conclusion reluctantly, changing his mind about Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination after the second round of the judge’s confirmation hearings last week. Judge Kavanaugh’s statements at those hearings, Justice Stevens said, revealed prejudices that would make it impossible for him to do the court’s work, a point he said had been made by prominent commentators.

“They suggest that he has demonstrated a potential bias involving enough potential litigants before the court that he would not be able to perform his full responsibilities,” Justice Stevens said in remarks to retirees in Boca Raton, Fla. “And I think there is merit in that criticism and that the senators should really pay attention to it.”

“For the good of the court,” he said, “it’s not healthy to get a new justice that can only do a part-time job.”

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Protecting the Special Counsel from a ‘slow-motion Saturday night massacre’

Posted on September 26, 2018 by | Comments Off on Protecting the Special Counsel from a ‘slow-motion Saturday night massacre’

Neal Katyal, the Justice Department lawyer who wrote the rule book for the office of Special Counsel, offers his advice to what may be the next step in the “slow-motion Saturday night massacre” on Thursday, when Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein meets with President Trump. How Rosenstein can protect the Mueller investigation — even if he’s fired:

Thursday’s meeting between Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein and President Trump carries the highest of stakes: Besides special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Rosenstein is the most important person involved in the investigation of the Trump administration’s possible ties to Russian interference in the 2016 election. That is by design. The special counsel regulations, which I had the privilege of drafting in 1999, make Rosenstein what corporate mavens call a “key man.” If Rosenstein is removed, Trump could very easily cripple the investigation.

The president knows it. Trump’s attorney, Jay Sekulow, this week called for Solicitor General Noel Francisco, who would probably replace Rosenstein in overseeing Mueller’s work if Rosenstein leaves office, to “pause” the investigation and to take “a step back.”

Which is why Rosenstein should prepare for Thursday by sending Congress, through appropriate channels, a description of the evidence of wrongdoing Mueller has already turned up. There’s no way to know what a meeting with the volatile president might bring. And the search for the truth might depend on what steps Rosenstein takes beforehand.

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