Legal expert stunned as Bill Barr delivers a ‘very strange’ response to DOJ accepting dirt from Rudy Giuliani

AlterNet logoThis Monday, U.S. prosecutors charged four Chinese military hackers over the 2017 cyberattack at Equifax. The hack caused a data breach that involved over 147 million credit reports.

In a press conference in the wake of the charges, Attorney General William Barr gave some opening remarks, then took one question from a reporter regarding recent comments made by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), where he said that Barr told him that the Justice Department “created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if it’s verified.”

Responding to the reporter’s question, Barr said the DOJ “has the obligation to have an open door to anybody who wishes to provide us information that is relevant.” Continue reading.

Trump’s War Against ‘the Deep State’ Enters a New Stage

New York Times logoThe suggestion that Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman should now face punishment by the Pentagon was one sign of how determined the president is to even the scales after his impeachment.

WASHINGTON — As far as President Trump is concerned, banishing Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman from the White House and exiling him back to the Pentagon was not enough. If he had his way, the commander in chief made clear on Tuesday, the Defense Department would now take action against the colonel, too.

“That’s going to be up to the military,” Mr. Trump told reporters who asked whether Colonel Vindman should face disciplinary action after testifying in the House hearings that led to the president’s impeachment. “But if you look at what happened,” Mr. Trump added in threatening terms, “I mean they’re going to, certainly, I would imagine, take a look at that.”

This is an unsettled time in Mr. Trump’s Washington. In the days since he was acquitted in a Senate trial, an aggrieved and unbound president has sought to even the scales as he sees it. Colonel Vindman was abruptly marched by security out of the White House, an ambassador who also testified in the House hearings was summarily dismissed, and senior Justice Department officials on Tuesday intervened on behalf of Mr. Trump’s convicted friend, Roger J. Stone Jr., leading four career prosecutors to quit the case. Continue reading.

Lindsey Graham: ‘I’m not going to be the Republican Christopher Steele’

He wants to move forward with investigations without relying on sources from Ukraine and Russia.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham addressed the president directly Sunday as he pledged to carefully investigate Joe Biden’s son.

“If he’s watching the show, here’s what I would tell the president: I’m going to get to the bottom of the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] process, because it was an abuse of power at the Department of Justice and the FBI,” the South Carolina Republican said on CBS‘ “Face the Nation.“

He added: “We’ll make sure Hunter Biden’s conflict of interest is explored, because it’s legitimate.” Continue reading.

Lindsey Graham’s tarring of Alexander Vindman

Washington Post logoGraham warned about Russia feeding propaganda through Ukraine. Then he engaged in his own conspiracy theory about Vindman.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) gave his first Sunday show interview in the post-impeachment era of Donald Trump’s presidency. And it was something.

Over the course of a lengthy conversation with “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan, Graham left open the possibility that Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, was being “played by the Russians.” He was also asked whether Trump knows that information from Ukraine could be Russian propaganda, and he could muster only, “I hope so.” And he indicated he is increasingly skeptical about allegations that originated in Ukraine and said the Judiciary Committee he chairs may not pursue them, after all.

The totality of it suggests that an influential senator has undergone a rather conveniently timed shift when it comes to Trump’s conspiracy theories about Ukraine. Now that the theories don’t need to be vouched for in the name of defending Trump, Graham appears to be distancing himself from them. Continue reading.

Four prosecutors quit Roger Stone case after DOJ sentencing reversal

The Hill logoThe four Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors who recommended Roger Stone be sentenced to seven to nine years in prison left the case Tuesday after top officials sought to reduce their sentencing request.

Prosecutors Michael Marando, Adam Jed, Jonathan Kravis and Aaron Zelinsky all asked the judge in the case for permission to withdraw. Kravis left the DOJ entirely, announcing his resignation as an assistant U.S. attorney.

The four were involved in providing the initial sentencing guidance for Stone. But in a rebuke to the career prosecutors, the DOJ on Tuesday told the judge in the case to apply “far less” to Stone’s sentence. Continue reading.

Lindsey Graham says DOJ is handling information from Giuliani on Bidens

Washington Post logoSen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday that the Justice Department is vetting information that President Trump’s personal attorney has delivered regarding Hunter Biden’s work on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

Graham, citing an early-morning conversation with Attorney General William P. Barr, said that Rudolph W. Giuliani is giving his information to national security experts and that he would back off his own plans to use the Senate Judiciary Committee as a vehicle to investigate the Biden family.

“The Department of Justice is receiving information coming out of the Ukraine from Rudy to see — he told me that they have created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if it’s verified,” Graham, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Continue reading.

Now Senate Republicans Resume Probe Of…Clinton Emails

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) turned his attention back to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s years-old emails this week, the same day he voted to acquit Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment.

On Wednesday, Johnson sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanding more information about a 2019 State Department investigation that exonerated Clinton of wrongdoing.

In his letter, Johnson, who was first elected in 2010, said he had been investigating Clinton’s emails for almost five years and was determined to continue that work. Continue reading.

How Mitch McConnell Delivered Acquittal for Trump

New York Times logoThe majority leader — who has proved adept at the hand-to-hand procedural combat of the Senate, frustrating Democrats at every turn — had been preparing for a trial for nearly a year.

An explosive report detailing how John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, had confirmed a central allegationagainst Mr. Trump had roiled the Capitol and upended his push to block new witnesses, and if Mr. McConnell did not corral restive Republicans into submission, the trial could be blown wide open.

“We can be smart or we can be stupid,” Mr. McConnell warned his rank and file during a closed-door lunch of halibut, fried chicken and pecan pie in the Capitol, steps from the Senate floor where the trial was to convene shortly. “The choice will be up to us.” Continue  reading.

Senate Majority Agrees Trump Is Guilty — And Acquits Him Anyway

Even with no witness testimony, a majority in the 100-member U.S. Senate indicated in some way that Donald Trump acted inappropriately when he pressured Ukraine’s president to dig up dirt on his political rivals. But on Wednesday, senators voted 52 to 48 to acquit him anyway on the charge of abusing his office. The Senate also voted to acquit him 53 to 47 on the charge of obstruction.

In December, Trump became just the third president in U.S. history to be impeached by the House of Representatives. By historic numbers, the House accused him of obstruction and abuse of power.

While Trump and his Republican defenders have repeatedly claimed the impeachment was not bipartisan — ignoring that conservative Rep. Justin Amash left the GOP over his opposition to Trump and voted in favor — the vote to convict was bipartisan. Continue reading.

Senate votes to acquit Trump on articles of impeachment

The Hill logoThe Senate on Wednesday voted to acquit President Trump on impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over his dealings with Ukraine, marking the end of the months-long saga that has dominated Washington.

Senators voted 48-52 on abuse of power and 47-53 on obstruction, falling well short of the two-thirds requirement for convicting Trump and removing him office.

But, in a blow to Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell‘s (R-Ky.) efforts to keep Republicans unified, Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah), the party’s 2012 presidential nominee, announced less than two hours before the vote that he would vote to convict Trump on the abuse of power charge, while acquitting him on the second article.  Continue reading.