Tag: Trump corrupting rule of law

Nadler to subpoena AG Barr over Berman firing

The Hill logoHouse Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) confirmed Monday night he plans to issue a subpoena to compel Attorney General Bill Barr to testify before Congress on July 2.

“We have begun the process to issue that subpoena. It is very much true. We are doing that,” Nadler said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show.” 

Democratic Judiciary staffers also held a conference call Monday and discussed the subpoena, said a source on the call. But Democrats said they expect Barr to ignore the subpoena. Continue reading.

Bill Barr Is Wrong: Police Abuses Breed Disrespect

The day before Attorney General William Barr complained about disrespect for the police, Harris County, Texas, District Attorney Kim Ogg announced that her office had identified 69 more convicted drug offenders who may have been framed by a veteran Houston narcotics officer. The skepticism that Barr decries cannot be understood without taking into account the sort of corruption that Ogg is investigating.

Speaking to police officers in Miami last Friday, Barr condemned “a deeply troubling attitude” toward police. “Far from respecting the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect us,” he said, overzealous critics “scapegoat and disrespect police officers and disparage the vital role you play in society.”

While Barr may prefer to believe that attitude has no basis in fact, every day brings news of police officers who foster such disrespect by lying, using excessive force and abusing their power for personal gain. Although it is unfair to portray those cases as an indictment of the entire profession, the way police officials respond to such revelations often invites that conclusion. Continue reading.

Trump Takes Up Call for Barr to ‘Clean House’ at Justice Dept.

New York Times logoWith a series of retweets, President Trump kept up attacks on federal law enforcement agencies, despite pleas from the attorney general.

WASHINGTON — Ignoring appeals from his attorney general to stop tweeting about the Justice Department, President Trump renewed his attacks on the agency on Wednesday, demanding “JUSTICE” for himself and all future presidents.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

There must be JUSTICE. This can never happen to a President, or our Country, again! https://twitter.com/repleezeldin/status/1229982311330066433 …

Lee Zeldin

✔@RepLeeZeldin

There are high expectations that the Justice Dept will very soon deliver transparency & ACCOUNTABILITY regarding DOJ/FBI officials who weaponized the awesome powers at their disposal in order to target the Trump campaign. Frustrated Americans demand justice! ⚖️ It’s LONG overdue!

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With a series of retweets, Mr. Trump appeared to embrace the suggestion that Attorney General William P. Barr “clean shop” at the department. And the president promoted the idea of naming a special counsel to investigate what Tom Fitton, the head of the conservative nonprofit Judicial Watch, described as a “seditious conspiracy” at the department and the F.B.I.

A day earlier, Mr. Barr was, according to some of his associates, considering a different sort of shop cleaning: If his boss did not stop meddling with Justice Department investigations, he was said to be considering his own future.

Barr breaks with Trump: His tweets ‘make it impossible for me to do my job’

The attorney general’s declaration of independence comes as he and the president have faced blowback over the handling of Roger Stone’s case.

Attorney General William Barr on Thursday sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s prolific Twitter habit, saying that the president’s affinity for opining about the goings-on at the Justice Department “make it impossible for me to do my job.”

“I think it’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases,” Barr told ABC News’ Pierre Thomas in an interview, acknowledging that he had a problem with “some” of Trump’s tweets.

The attorney general‘s very public distancing from Trump’s complaints comes as both men have faced fierce blowback over the handling of a court case featuring Trump’s longtime political adviser Roger Stone.

NOTE:  Our concern is that  AG Barr’s statement was neutral enough to not clearly say what President Trump’s behavior is interfering with.  Is it stopping AG Barr from conducting impartial judicial investigations or is it calling too much attention to his actions to shield the president’s abuses of power?