Tag: Barr doing Trump’s bidding

Trump’s solicitor general refuses to tell court why Barr is defending Flynn: ‘Some of it’s not’ public

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The acting solicitor general claimed before a judge that Attorney General William Barr had reasons to intervene in Michael Flynn’s case, but he can’t tell the court.

Jeff Wall, the U.S. government’s top advocate before the Supreme Court, told the District of Columbia Circuit Court that Barr had secret, undisclosed reasons for dismissing the case against President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser.

A full federal appeals court heard arguments Tuesday over whether to dismiss the criminal case against Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators about his contacts with Russian officials before the inauguration. Continue reading.

U.S. Attorney General Barr says the left wants to tear down system

U.S. Attorney General William Barr mounted a partisan attack on the Democratic Party in an interview that aired Sunday, claiming the left believes in “tearing down the system” and pursues absolute victory as “a substitute for religion.”

Barr also told a Fox News TV host he was worried that an increase in mail-in voting could lead to a contested presidential election in November, sounding in on an issue often raised by U.S. President Donald Trump.

In an interview with conservative pundit Mark Levin, Barr said Democrats had pulled away from classic liberal values and now were akin to the “Rousseauian Revolutionary Party” aimed at destroying the institutions upon which the country was built. Continue reading.

Here’s the major ‘tell’ that reveals exactly what Bill Barr will do to win Trump the election: ex-DOJ spokesperson

AlterNet logoFormer Justice Department lawyer Matt Miller said that Attorney General Bill Barr has a “tell” that Miller thinks reveals what Barr will do about his new attempt at a GOP-run Russia investigation.

The MSNBC panel discussion looked back at Barr’s testimony to the House Judiciary Committee, where he admitted that the White House government appointees have discussions about the 2020 campaign during Cabinet Meetings. Conducting politics under the government is strictly prohibited.

“He has a tell, and the one that you just showed is an example, where there’s an answer where you expect the attorney general to give,” Miller began. “In the confirmation hearing, the answer you expected him to give was that he would recuse himself from the Russia investigation because of his previous writings on the topic, a memo he had written that was seen as the audition for the job. And he didn’t give that answer, and I think we found out why shortly after, it was because he wanted to interfere in the Mueller probe. He’s wanted to go back and then discredit it afterward.” Continue reading.

Barr Makes It Official—He’s Trump’s New “Fixer”

If and when the attorney general leaves, the Department of Justice faces a reckoning.

Of President Donald Trump’s many career skills, perhaps the least appreciated is his lifelong and uncanny ability to sniff out lawyers who will serve his will.

In slightly more than 500 days in office, Attorney General William Barr has pivoted from establishment D.C. attorney—sworn to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States—into Trump’s family lawyer. The office of the attorney general is one of the oldest in our constitutional system, and the department is pledged “to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.” But Barr, instead, displays a tendency to use all the department’s levers—and with a $32 billion budget there are a lot of them—not to protect “all Americans” but to protect the president, personally and politically.

Is Election Day set by law? “I’ve never looked into it,” Barr demurred in his testimony this week. Is it appropriate for the president to solicit or accept foreign assistance in an election? Barr’s first answer: “It depends what kind of assistance.” These are the answers of a man who has turned the once-proud Department of Justice into the president’s personal law firm. That is contrary to every tradition of the Justice Department, but consistent with how Trump has operated for his entire professional life. Continue reading. Continue reading.

Justice Dept. drops support for Michael Cohen gag order, clearing way for tell-all Trump book

Washington Post logoNEW YORK — The Justice Department on Thursday dropped its support for a gag order that would have prevented President Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen from writing his forthcoming tell-all book or discussing it with the media, according to documents filed in federal court Thursday.

The about-face was spelled out in a proposed settlement agreement sent to U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. In it, Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison Rovner and Cohen’s attorney Danya Perry wrote that there should be “no specific media provision” governing Cohen’s release from prison to home confinement.

Hellerstein has yet to approve the deal. Continue reading.

Appeals court will rehear case over Flynn charges

The Hill logoA federal appeals court will revisit an earlier decision ordering a district court judge to allow the Department of Justice (DOJ) to withdraw its criminal charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the earlier decision in a brief order issued on Thursday, setting up a new round of arguments over the DOJ’s controversial move to withdraw its case against Flynn.

The full court will hear oral arguments on Aug. 11. Continue reading.

WATCH: Barr Claims He Never Reads Trump Tweets — Despite His Public Complaint About Them

Attorney General William Barr testified to Congress on Tuesday that he does not read Donald Trump’s tweets.

But in February, Barr criticized Trump for tweeting about Department of Justice issues, making it clear he does read the tweets.

“I think it’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases,” Barr told ABC News, referring to Trump. Barr also said Trump’s tweets “make it impossible for me to do my job.” Continue reading.

Democrats blister Barr during tense hearing

The Hill logoAttorney General William Barr came under blistering criticism from Democrats on Tuesday over a series of decisions he has made as President Trump’s leader at the Department of Justice (DOJ), including Roger Stone‘s prosecution, the use of federal police in U.S. cities and allegations that DOJ has become politicized under his leadership.

Democrats sought to paint Barr, making his first appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, as a Trump loyalist who has sought to shield the president and his allies from scrutiny, all while seeking to help Trump project the image of a law-and-order president ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

“The job of the attorney general is to defend the best interests of the people and serve as the people’s lawyer, but during your time as attorney general you have consistently undermined democracy, undermined the Constitution and undermined the health, safety and well-being of the American people,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). “All to personally benefit Donald Trump.” Continue reading.

Democrats seek to shame Barr over politics at the Justice Department

Washington Post logoDemocrats clashed with Attorney General William P. Barr on Tuesday at a congressional hearing marked by angry recriminations over racial justice protests in Portland, Ore., and around the country, as the nation’s top law enforcement official said additional agents were needed to subdue aggressive, violent crowds.

The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee was acrimonious from the outset, as liberal lawmakers accused the conservative attorney general of politicizing the Justice Department through his deployment of federal agents to U.S. cities, his involvement in high-profile prosecutions of people connected to President Trump, and his posture toward the upcoming presidential election.<

Lawmakers spent months seeking Barr’s testimony on a host of issues related to the Trump administration’s interactions with the Justice Department. With the attorney general finally seated at the witness table, Democrats mostly made speeches or talked over him as he attempted to answer their questions, seemingly squandering any chance of getting new information or an admission out of him. Continue reading.

Barr plans to mount a defiant defense of Trump in showdown with House Democrats

Washington Post logoAttorney General William P. Barr will tell the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that President Trump has not inappropriately intervened in Justice Department business — even though Barr has more than once moved in criminal cases to help the president’s allies — and he will defend the administration’s response to civil unrest in the country, according to a copy of his opening statement.

Barr, according to the statement, will take a defiant posture as he testifies before the panel for the first time since Democrats took control of it, alleging that they have attempted to “discredit” him since he vowed to investigate the 2016 FBI probe of possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, and the media has been unfair in covering unrest. He is expected to face critical questioning on his response to anti-police brutality protests across the nation, his controversial interventions in high-profile cases involving allies of Trump and many other matters.

According to a Democratic committee counsel, lawmakers will ask Barr about his role dispatching federal agents to respond to anti-police-brutality protests that have at times grown violent — first in D.C. and more recently, in Portland, Ore. Several Democratic leaders — including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) — have asked the Justice Department and Homeland Security inspectors general to probe the federal government’s actions in those cities and raised questions about whether they were legal. Continue reading.