Tag: Trump abuse of power

Illinois governor immediately confronted Trump over his ‘inflammatory’ rhetoric during call

AlterNet logoIn leaked audio obtained by CNN, President Donald Trump can be heard lambasting governors during a teleconference call on Monday — slamming them as “weak” for not doing more to bring protestors under control and not encouraging more arrests. Trump stressed that he wanted governors to “dominate” protestors. But Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker did not take it lying down.

Pritzker, according to the Chicago-Sun Times, asserted that he is “extraordinarily concerned about the rhetoric that’s been used” by Trump following protests in response to the killing of African-American Minneapolis resident George Floyd on May 25.

The Illinois governor told Trump, “It’s been inflammatory, and it’s not OK for that officer to choke George Floyd to death, but we have to call for calm. We have to have police reform called for. We’ve called out our National Guard and our state police, but the rhetoric that’s coming out of the White House is making it worse. And I need to say that people are feeling real pain out there. And we’ve got to have national leadership in calling for calm and making sure that we’re addressing the concerns of the legitimate peaceful protesters. That will help us to bring order.” Continue reading.

Trump threatens to deploy military amid national unrest

Axios logoPresident Trump announced from the White House Rose Garden Monday evening that he is “mobilizing all available federal resources, civilian and military” to stop violent protests across the country, decrying “professional anarchists, looters, criminals, antifa and others” whose actions have “gripped” the nation.

The backdrop: Trump’s announcement came as police clashed with protesters just outside of the White House, using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds chanting, “Hands up, don’t shoot,” and other slogans. Flash bangs used outside the White House could be heard from the Rose Garden.

What he said:

  • “Today, I have strongly recommended to every governor to deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets. Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming presence until the violence is quelled.”
  • “If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
  • “I am also taking swift and decisive action to protect our capital, Washington D.C.. … As we speak, I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults and wanton destruction of property. We are putting everybody on warning.” Continue reading.

Grassley says White House response on IG firings insufficient

Washington Post logoA senior Senate Republican criticized the White House late Tuesday for what he deemed an insufficient response to demands from senators to more fully explain President Trump’s controversial recent ousters of two inspectors general.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), a longtime defender of the dozens of independent government watchdogs placed throughout the federal government, released the five-page response from White House counsel Pat Cipollone on Tuesday evening.

Senators had raised concerns about the abrupt dismissal of Michael Atkinson, who had served as the intelligence community inspector general and had alerted Congress to a whistleblower’s complaint about Trump pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rival — a chain of events that led to Trump’s impeachment and eventual acquittal in the Senate. Grassley also demanded an explanation for the ouster of Steve Linick, the inspector general for the State Department who had started to investigate alleged misconduct on the part of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Continue reading.

As Trump removes federal watchdogs, some loyalists replacing them have ‘preposterous’ conflicts

Washington Post logoThe political appointee President Trump installed last week to investigate waste, fraud and abuse at the Transportation Department is the same official in charge of one of the agency’s key divisions.

That means Howard “Skip” Elliott is now running an office charged with investigating his own actions.

Elliott serves simultaneously as the Transportation Department’s inspector general and head of the department’s pipeline and hazardous materials agency, whose mission includes enforcement of safety regulations on nearly 1 million daily shipments of gas, oil and other dangerous compounds. Continue reading.

Republican corruption and carelessness led to devastation in Michigan: Does Trump even care?

AlterNet logoPresident Trump spent another week feuding with a Democratic governor, this time as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer dealt with historic levels of rainfall which led to the collapse of a pair of privately-owned dams in the state. Instead of momentarily pausing his politics of petty revenge, Trump made matters worse, as is his wont.

The president diverted already strained resources for a campaign stop in Michigan that doubled as a political stunt, advertising his personal refusal to wear a mask, even in settings where everyone else is required to. Trump’s antagonistic rhetoric towards a state that is facing multiple life-or-death crises at the same time was widely criticized. But what he did more quietly did this week reveals just how vulnerable his deregulatory actions have left America.

In a move strikingly reminiscent of the Ukraine scandal, Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to threaten to withhold federal funding from Michigan, even as floodwaters from the two breached dams forced thousands of residents of the city of Midland to flee their homes. Trump apparent goal was to coerce Michigan officials not to send vote-by-mail applications to the state’s 7.7 million registered voters vote-by-mail. As usual, the president was unclear about exactly what funding he had in mind. Hours later he sent another tweet claiming that his administration had already activated military and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) response teams but said Gov. Whitmer “must now ‘set you free’ to help.” Whitmer said at a news briefing on Tuesday that she had already contacted federal officials for help and activated the National Guard. Once again, nobody really knows what Trump was talking about. Continue reading.

Like A Dictator, Trump Keeps Chopping Away At Democracy

Step by ominous step, Donald Trump is eliminating or blocking every Constitutional check and balance on his administration to evade accountability for corruption.

The only path still open to save America from becoming an autocracy is the ballot box in November. Even there Trump is working to rig the election with help from his secretary of State and various elected Republican leaders.

On national television, he has declared willingness to accept help from Moscow and Beijing, which would violate criminal law. But as Trump dismantles the mechanisms Congress created to ensure Executive branch integrity, who can stop him? Continue reading.

Trump taps new prosecutor for DOJ office at center of Flynn, Stone controversies

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Monday said he intends to nominate a new U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., an office that has been at the center of controversial Department of Justice (DOJ) moves this year benefiting the president’s political allies.

Trump has picked Justin Herdman, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, to replace Timothy Shea, the White House announced. Shea has served as U.S. attorney for Washington on an interim basis since January.

Shea’s temporary appointment, which by law may not exceed 120 days, was set to expire early next month. Continue reading.

Trump’s slow-motion Friday night massacre of inspectors general

Washington Post logoThe Friday news dump — also known as the Friday night news dump — is a political trick with plenty of precedent. Wait till the vast majority of the news business clocks out for on the week, and announce something you’d rather they not cover as much. People won’t be reading as much news at that point anyway, and perhaps it’ll be dismissed as old news by Monday morning.

Few are as blatant about using this tactic, though, as the Trump White House.

News broke late Friday night that Trump had removed the inspector general for the State Department, Steve Linick. It’s the third time in six weeks that such a move has been announced on a Friday night, with each inspector general having done something to pretty obviously alienate Trump. The unprecedented spate of removals has reinforced how Trump is rather obviously seeking to undermine independent oversight of his administration — and the timing of each of them only reinforces that. Continue reading.

Federal judge who sentenced Roger Stone to prison orders Trump administration to turn over FOIA’d Ukraine emails

AlterNet logoThe Trump Administration has been refusing to publicly release 20 e-mails pertaining to President Donald Trump’s decision to withhold military aid to Ukraine in 2019, insisting that executive privilege protects them from having to do so. But Amy Berman Jackson, the federal judge and Barack Obama appointee who sentenced Trump ally Roger Stone to three years in federal prison, disagrees — and she has ordered the Trump Administration to release the e-mails.

Jackson’s decision, reporter Jerry Lambe notes in Law & Crime, “stems from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the New York Times, which sought communications between Michael Duffey, principal associate director for national security programs at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and Robert Blair, a senior advisor to then-Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.”

Trump and his allies have been arguing that keeping the e-mails from being released publicly is a matter of national security and that a sitting president can claim executive privilege on such matters. OMB Deputy General Counsel Heather Walsh argued that making the e-mails available to the public would “risk harming the quality of the information and advice.” Continue reading.

Appeals court rejects Trump effort to throw out emoluments case

The Hill logoA federal appeals court on Thursday ruled against President Trump, refusing to throw out a lawsuit alleging that he’s violated the Constitution’s emoluments clauses.

The decision from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals keeps the case alive, rejecting the president’s efforts to preserve immunity from the suit, which was filed by the attorneys general from Washington, D.C., and Maryland.

The court did not rule on the merits of the case against Trump.

The majority in the 9-6 decision dismissed his lawyers’ argument that violations of the constitutional provisions are not grounds for a lawsuit. Continue reading.