Tag: Patrick Leahy

Leahy to Barr: Is Roger Stone sentence commutation ‘a crime’?

Vermont senator had asked attorney general about similar hypothetical during 2019 confirmation hearing

Attorney General William Barr said at his confirmation hearing that “it would be a crime” for a president to trade a pardon for a commitment not to incriminate that president.

The senator who asked that question wants to know why that logic does not apply to President Donald Trump’s announcement on Friday that he was commuting the sentence of former Trump campaign associate Roger Stone.

“Do you believe a president can lawfully issue a pardon in exchange for the recipient’s promise to not incriminate him?” Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont asked during Barr’s January 2019 confirmation hearing.

“No, that would be a crime,” Barr said in response. Continue reading.

Democrat Leahy Just Hinted at a Smoking Gun to Kavanaugh Perjury Before the Senate in Hidden Documents

The following article by Joan McCarter with Daily Kos was posted on the AlterNet.org website September 5, 2018:

“I’m concerned because there is evidence that Mr. Miranda provided you with materials that were stolen from me.”

Credit: Global News YouTube Screengrab

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) used those reams of hidden and confidential documents related to Supreme Court nominee’s Brett Kavanaugh tenure with the George W. Bush administration to the best use he could Wednesday. The line of questioning goes back to 2004, when a senior staffer for then Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist stole emails and memos from Judiciary Committee senators, including Leahy about their opposition to Bush’s judicial nominees.

The staffer, Manuel Miranda, shared the memos with Republican senators and with the White House where at the time, Kavanaugh was shepherding judicial nominees through the confirmation process. Leahy pressed Kavanaugh, who initially insisted that he didn’t know the information he received from Miranda was stolen. This was a line of questioning for which Kavanaugh was clearly not prepared. Leahy pressed him, asking whether Kavanaugh though it was “at all unusual to receive a draft letter from Democratic senators to each other before any mention of it was made public?”

Here’s where we get to the potential perjury Kavanaugh committed before the Senate Judiciary Committee previously. There is apparently evidence in the materials that Grassley has marked “Committee Confidential” that would show it. Leahy says so: “I’m concerned because there is evidence that Mr. Miranda provided you with materials that were stolen from me. And that would contradict your prior testimony… there is no reason [those emails] can’t be made public.”

View the complete article here.