Tag: Trump abuse of power

Trump insiders blasted for ‘convenient Monday morning bravery’ after enabling the former president’s four years of chaos

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In a withering column for the Daily Beast, Erin Gloria Ryan tapped the brakes on the wave of adulation being lavished on former members of Donald Trump’s administrationwho waited to dish to reporters about how dangerous the former president was until after he lost the 2020 presidential election.

While Ryan focused on Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley for divulging some of the most frightening tales about the president — Trump’s desire to use the military to quell protests as well as launch a war with Iran to save his presidency — she wrote that the military man is not the only one wanting to whitewash their time in the administration.

Included in her rogue’s gallery of administration officials engaging in “Monday morning bravery” was former Attorney General Bill Barr and ex-senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway and even Jared Kushner — all of whom held their tongues while negotiating book deals. Continue reading.

We’re learning more about how Trump leveraged his power to bolster his election fantasies

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He had already been impeached on allegations of using federal resources for his own political benefit

On Dec. 14, 2020, about 2,500 people died of covid-19, the disease for which a vaccine was just beginning to be deployed. On that day, more than 200,000 people contracted the coronavirus, a number equal to 13 out of every 20,000 Americans. But in the White House, President Donald Trump’s focus was largely elsewhere: on his desperate effort to overturn the results of the presidential election that had been settled more than a month before.

At 5:39 p.m., Trump announced that his attorney general, William P. Barr, would be leaving his administration. The timing was odd, given that Trump had only a month left in office. But Trump, we learned on Tuesday, wasted no time in getting Barr’s replacement up to speed on the president’s primary concern.

About 40 minutes before Trump’s announcement about Barr, the president “sent an email via his assistant to Jeffrey A. Rosen, the incoming acting attorney general, that contained documents purporting to show evidence of election fraud in northern Michigan — the same claims that a federal judge had thrown out a week earlier in a lawsuit filed by one of Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers,” the New York Times’s Katie Benner reported. Continue reading.

‘They’re not making this up!’ CNN host corners former Bush AG for questioning reports of Trump DOJ spying

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CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Monday put former Bush Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in the hot seat after he seemed to cast doubt on reports that the Trump Department of Justice aggressively subpoenaed records from both politicians and journalists.

While Gonzales acknowledged it would be “really troubling” if the allegations of spying on political rivals were true, he cautioned that a fuller investigation is needed before making conclusions based on current reporting.

“Some of the facts here, again, are bizarre, amazing,” he said. “I don’t know whether or not the reporting is completely accurate because of that reason. Frankly, I am hoping the reporting is inaccurate.” Continue reading.

CNN reporter targeted by Trump DOJ breaks her silence — and says she wants answers

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CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr on Monday broke her silence about revelations that the United States Department of Justice under former President Donald Trump issued sweeping subpoenas for her phone records.

While talking with hosts Briana Keilar and John Berman, Starr said she was “dumbfounded” by the broad scope of the subpoena issued for her records.

“We have no idea why the Justice Department snuck into my life,” she said. “They went out, in secret court proceedings last year, they went after some 30,000 of my emails and phone records, and not just my work email, my work phone, they went after my personal accounts, my personal email, and my personal phone… they wanted all of it. And I was not allowed to know about it.” Continue reading.

‘Trump was an unabated crime wave’: ex-prosecutor lists the atrocities

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Donald Trump has legal exposure for a “crime wave” committed while serving as president of the United State, a former federal prosecutor explained on MSNBC on Friday.

Glenn Kirschner told MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi “Donald Trump was an unabated crime wave as president.”

“Even before he became president he committed campaign finance violations with Michael Cohen, for which Michael Cohen went to prison,” he reminded. “Ali, then once he took office he could tick through the felony crimes that we can prove based on the information that has been publicly reported alone, whether it’s the bribery and extortion of President Zelenskiy, the ten counts of obstruction of justice meticulously documented by Bob Mueller in volume 2 of the Trump-Russia report for which Bob Mueller famously testified Donald Trump could be prosecuted upon leaving office.” Continue reading.

Senate plans investigation of Trump DOJ seizure of House Democrats’ data

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Justice Department inspector general will also probe matter

The Senate Judiciary Committee is prepared to subpoena Trump administration Justice Department leaders if that’s what it takes to get answers about reports that the DOJ obtained metadata related to House members, including the Intelligence Committee chairman.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, who also chairs the Judiciary panel, said the committee would conduct a full review of the matter, which was first reported Thursday by The New York Times.

As part of a sweeping leak investigation, the DOJ used subpoenas to obtain information from Apple, including cellphone metadata for at least two House members: House Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell, both California Democrats. Swalwell and Schiff both confirmed their records had been obtained. Continue reading.

Justice Department probes Trump DOJ targeting of media and Congress

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Friday announced the opening of an internal probe into the department’s Trump-era secret subpoenas against Apple for data belonging to House Democrats and its seizure of phone records of journalists working for major media companies.

The state of play: The move comes after Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco requested that Horowitz open a review and calls from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for an investigation into the matter.

Of note: Following demands from Democratic congressional leaders for former Attorney General William Barr to testify about the leak probes, Barr on Friday said he did not recall getting briefed on the subpoenas, per Politico. Continue reading.

Democrats demand Barr, Sessions testify on Apple data subpoenas

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The top two Senate Democrats on Friday called for multiple investigations into the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decisions in 2017 and 2018 to issue subpoenas seeking metadata records of House Intelligence Committee members as the Trump administration pursued leak investigations.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (Ill.) also called for two of former President Trump’s attorneys general, William Barr and Jeff Sessions, to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“The revelation that the Trump Justice Department secretly subpoenaed metadata of House Intelligence Committee Members and staff and their families, including a minor, is shocking. This is a gross abuse of power and an assault on the separation of powers,” Schumer and Durbin said in a joint statement Friday. “This appalling politicization of the Department of Justice by Donald Trump and his sycophants must be investigated immediately by both the DOJ Inspector General and Congress.” Continue reading.

Hunting Leaks, Trump Officials Focused on Democrats in Congress

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The Justice Department seized records from Apple for metadata of House Intelligence Committee members, their aides and family members.

WASHINGTON — As the Justice Department investigated who was behind leaks of classified information early in the Trump administration, it took a highly unusual step: Prosecutors subpoenaed Apple for data from the accounts of at least two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, aides and family members. One was a minor.

All told, the records of at least a dozen people tied to the committee were seized in 2017 and early 2018, including those of Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, then the panel’s top Democrat and now its chairman, according to committee officials and two other people briefed on the inquiry. Representative Eric Swalwell of California said in an interview Thursday night that he had also been notified that his data had been subpoenaed.

Prosecutors, under the beleaguered attorney general, Jeff Sessions, were hunting for the sources behind news media reports about contacts between Trump associates and Russia. Ultimately, the data and other evidence did not tie the committee to the leaks, and investigators debated whether they had hit a dead end and some even discussed closing the inquiry. Continue reading.

REVEALED: Trump and family stuck taxpayers with bills for undisclosed trips to his overseas golf resorts

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According to a report from the Scotsman, Donald Trump and his family stuck American taxpayers with thousands of dollars in previously undisclosed bills for travel and security costs when they visited the former president’s golf courses overseas.

Based upon Freedom of Information Act requests from the group American Oversight, the report shows that at least £17,000 (approximately $24,000) was paid out for in the ex-president’s first year in office for trips to his resorts in Ireland and Scotland.

According to the report, “Turnberry and Doonbeg received a string of payments throughout 2017,” and that taxpayers were also on the hook for “several thousand pounds for luxury car rentals during a visit to Scotland by Trump’s son Eric.” Continue reading.