Tag: Trump abuse of power

Watchdog Group Calls For Criminal Probe Into Rudy Giuliani’s Ukraine Role

Engaging in a plan to hold up congressionally approved funds to advance a partisan political agenda is illegal, CREW said in a statement.

A watchdog group is calling for a criminal investigation into Rudy Giuliani’s alleged leverage of government funds to benefit the reelection of client Donald Trump.

Trump has admitted that he sent Giuliani, his personal lawyer, to Ukraine to pressure officials to investigate unfounded accusations against political rival Joe Biden. During some of that time, Trump held up $390 million in military aid for Ukraine that had been approved by Congress.

Giuliani’s business associate Lev Parnas, who has been indicted for alleged campaign finance violations, has said that he followed Giuliani’s instructions to tell Ukrainian officials that their nation would not receive any aid unless they announced an investigation into Biden.

The return of fascism — Who will stand up and fight it? Lawrence Wittner

Back in 1941, the year of my birth, fascism stood on the brink of conquering the world.

During the preceding decades, movements of the Radical Right — mobilized by demagogues into a cult of virulent nationalism, racial and religious hatred, and militarism — had made great strides in nations around the globe. By the end of 1941, fascist Germany, Italy and Japan, having launched massive military invasions of other lands, had conquered much of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

It was a grim time.

Fortunately, though, an enormous movement arose to resist the fascist juggernaut. Led by liberals and assorted leftists around the world and eventually bolstered by the alliance of Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States, this resistance movement ultimately prevailed. Continue reading.

Trump Costing Taxpayers And Putting Money In His Pocket With Stay At His Own Hotel

The president insisted on returning to Las Vegas each night of his western states swing, rather than overnighting where he was appearing.

LAS VEGAS ― President Donald Trump’s choice to stay at his own Las Vegas hotel each night during the western states swing that wraps up Friday likely cost taxpayers a million extra dollars as well as diverted thousands of them into his own cash registers.

Previous presidents on extended trips away from the White House typically stayed in the city of each day’s final event, or traveled to the city of the following day’s first event. Trump, instead, traveled back to Las Vegas each night from California, Arizona and Colorado to overnight at his Trump International Hotel ― requiring several extra hours’ flying time on Air Force One, a plane that costs taxpayers about a quarter-million dollars per hour in the air.

“At this point in his presidency, there’s no way to look at it other than Donald Trump is using his position and taxpayer dollars to make money for his businesses,” said Jordan Libowitz with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “This is beyond a conflict of interest. This is corruption, plain and simple.” Continue reading.

Trump’s government full of temps

Washington Post logo“Acting” officials have held down 22 Cabinet and Cabinet-level jobs for a combined 2,700 days — about 1 out of every 9 days across those jobs.

President Trump announced this week that acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire will be replaced by a new acting director, Richard Grenell, after a blowup with Maguire. Yet even with the move, there is still no nominee for the permanent job, nor has there been for more than six months.

It’s merely the latest top Trump administration job for which the president hasn’t bothered to find a permanent replacement for long periods of time. As Trump’s Cabinet has churned thanks to discord and scandal, he has increasingly opted to just go with acting officials for indefinite periods.

The result is a U.S. government that is increasingly run by people who haven’t been confirmed, or whom the president hasn’t otherwise seen fit to make official. Continue reading.

Trump critics explain why White House purge of Mueller-friendly DOJ elements is ‘retaliation and most likely illegal’: report

AlterNet logoEleven months have passed since former Special Counsel Robert Mueller completed his Russia investigation, but President Donald Trump and his loyalists continue to hold a grudge — and Trump still denounces the probe as a “witch hunt.” Legal reporter Colin Kalmacher, in a February 20 article for Law & Crime, examines the Trump White House’s plans to purge the U.S. Department of Justice(DOJ) of Mueller-friendly elements. And according to some legal voices, doing so is an unethical act of revenge.

Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and former White House ethics attorney under President George W. Bush, told Law & Crime, “This is retaliation and most likely illegal. Some of these investigations are ongoing — meaning this is obstruction of justice.”

Attorney Bradley P. Moss is also troubled by the Trump White House’s purge of Mueller-friendly elements within the DOJ. Continue reading.

Trump’s Politicization of the Justice System

Center for American Progress logoSince the vast majority of Republican senators failed in their constitutional duty to be a check on serious government corruption, President Donald Trump has repeatedly exhibited his willingness to abuse the power of his office. But involving himself in the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recommended sentencing of Roger Stone, a convicted federal criminal—and Trump’s close political ally—was perhaps the most flagrant display of how little respect Trump’s administration has for American democracy.

As the situation develops, the president has attacked not only federal prosecutors but also the federal judge overseeing the case. Throughout his presidency, Trump and his attorneys general have worked to turn the DOJ and the federal judiciary into political puppets, thereby delegitimizing both institutions. This most recent scandal, however, signals that these attacks are only ramping up.

Undermining the DOJ’s independence

After Trump’s longtime confidant Roger Stone was convicted of multiple federal crimes tied to investigations into the 2016 Trump campaign’s efforts to work with Russia—including making false statements, obstructing Congress, and threatening a witness—career prosecutors at the DOJ issued a sentence recommendation of seven to nine years in prison, consistent with the sentencing guidelines that the agency uses to make these determinations. The president subsequently took to twitter to criticize the recommendation as “horrible and very unfair,” adding: “The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!”  Continue  reading.

Assange Says Trump Promised Pardon If He Cleared Russians

President Donald Trump offered Julian Assange a pardon if he covered up Russia’s hacking of the DNC’s server, attorneys for the Wikileaks founder say, The Daily Beast reports.

Assange’s lawyers “said Dana Rohrabacher, a former Republican congressman, had brought the message to London from Trump.” The attorneys are arguing that Assange should not be extradited to the U.S., claiming the case was political and not criminal.

“Mr Rohrabacher going to see Mr Assange and saying, on instructions from the president, he was offering a pardon or some other way out, if Mr Assange… said Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks,” Edward Fitzgerald, Assange’s lawyer, told the court, relaying a statement produced by another Assange’s attorney.The case, however, is not political. Continue reading.

Federal judges postpone emergency meeting on Barr’s political interference after Trump tweets at them

AlterNet logoA group of judges have reportedly cancelled an emergency meeting on possible political corruption at the Justice Department after President Donald Trump tweeted about the event.

The Federal Judges Association was set to discuss political interference by Trump and Attorney General William Barr. According to CNN, a decision was made on Wednesday afternoon to postpone the meeting.

A spokesperson for the group did not offer an immediate explanation and did not say if a new meeting had been scheduled. Continue reading.

Trump, tweeting a Tucker Carlson segment, hints of possible pardon for Roger Stone

Washington Post logoPresident Trump tweeted a clip from a Fox News segment early Thursday that suggested he is leaning toward pardoning confidant Roger Stone, who is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday for lying to Congress and witness tampering.

Tucker Carlson, along with other Fox News personalities, serves as an informal adviserto the president. While it was unclear whether Carlson knows something about Trump’s plans to which the public is not privy, or was again lobbying the president, the fact that Trump retweeted the clip suggests at least that he approves of the idea, which he claimed Tuesday he had not thought about.

“President Trump could end this travesty in an instant with a pardon, and there are indications tonight that he will do that,” the Fox News host said on his show Wednesday night, noting the series of pardons the president has already offered this week. Continue reading.

George Conway: Trump’s ‘King Kong’ nickname has come into full fruition

Washington Post logoNot for nothing did President Trump’s first White House counsel give him the nickname “King Kong.”

Former White House counsel Donald McGahn, who resisted Trump when he sought to violate the law and sometimes engaged in “epic” “shouting matches” with him, reportedly selected the sobriquet to connote Trump’s “volcanic anger” and “emotional decision-making.”

But as Trump’s behavior this week demonstrates, the moniker fits for another reason as well. It reflects Trump’s desire to escape constraints — in particular, legal constraints. That Kong-like urge was illustrated by two developments: the president’s latest executive clemency spree and his continued attacks against the federal judiciary. Continue reading.