The following release was posted on the New York Attorney General’s website on March 22:
“As the top law officers in states across the country, we strongly urge United States Attorney General Barr to immediately make public the findings of the Mueller investigation. The American people deserve to know the truth.”
The following Attorneys General signed onto this statement: Continue reading “18 State Attorneys General Urge US Attorney General Barr To Release Mueller Report”
Attorney General William Barr’s summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusions, in the fancy language of lawyers, impeaches itself. That means that its own words and reasoning call some of Barr’s conclusions into doubt, particularly Barr’s eagerness to say that Donald Trump can’t be proven to have obstructed justice.
It is hard for any of us to know how much credence to give Barr’s précis of the Mueller investigation without knowing more about the evidence. Barr’s letter, however, acknowledges that much and pledges to work to disclose as much as he can without violating Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e), which bars making public grand jury proceedings. But the attorney general’s eagerness to clear Trump of possible obstruction of justice, after having the report in hand for less than 48 hours, is unbecoming of his office and Mueller’s two-year investigation. Furthermore, some of the reasoning in his letter is clearly deeply flawed. Continue reading ““A Crime in Public View”: How William Barr Pardoned Donald Trump”
While Democratic lawmakers and many of their Republican colleagues called on Attorney General William P. Barr to publicly release the full Mueller report, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham left room for Barr to keep parts of it under wraps at the Justice Department.
Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III delivered the final report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections and possible collusion between Russia and the Donald Trump campaign to Barr on Friday.
“The Attorney General has said he intends to provide as much information as possible. As I have said previously, I sincerely hope he will do so as soon as he can, and with as much openness and transparency as possible,” McConnell said in a statement.
View the complete March 22 article by Griffin Connolly on The Roll Call website here.
President Trump said he doesn’t mind if the public sees the special counsel’s report, while calling the probe “ridiculous” and touting his 2016 election win. (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
President Trump said Wednesday for the first time that he would be okay with making the Mueller report public. And in doing so, he nixed a major argument against its release. Continue reading “Trump just nixed a major argument against releasing the Mueller report”
Attorney General William Barr will not recuse himself from oversight of the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, following the advice he received from Justice Department senior career ethics officials, a DOJ spokeswoman said Monday.
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Barr did not commit to recusing himself. “I will seek the advice of the career ethics personnel, but under the regulations, I make the decision as the head of the agency as to my own recusal,” he told the Judiciary Committee in January.
Some Democrats have called for his recusal due to his past criticism of Mueller’s investigation.
View the complete March 4 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.
The White House announced Tuesday night that President Donald Trump plans to nominate Deputy Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Rosen to replace Rod Rosenstein as deputy attorney general.
Rosenstein has been overseeing special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe of Russia’s 2016 election meddling and related actions by the president and his associates. He said earlier Tuesday he plans to leave in mid-March.
Rosen is a Washington veteran who returned to the Transportation Department in 2017 after being its general counsel under President George W. Bush from 2003 to 2006. He also served as general counsel and senior policy adviser for Bush’s Office of Management and Budget from 2006 to 2009.
View the complete February 19 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.
Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein plans to leave the Justice Department in mid-March, an official familiar with the matter said Monday night, and an announcement on his successor is expected imminently.
Rosenstein, the No. 2 Justice Department official who has spent nearly two years in the hot seat since appointing Robert S. Mueller III to lead an investigation into whether President Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, had made it known in recent weeks that he planned to leave if and when a new attorney general was confirmed by the Senate.
With William P. Barr’s swearing in to that post last week, Rosenstein has set a more precise timeline for departure — though the official stressed his plan could shift if needed to ensure a smooth transition.
View the February 18 article by Matt Zapotosky on The Washington Post website here.
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said he was ousted from the bureau in March 2018 because he opened two investigations into President Donald Trump 10 months earlier.
“I believe I was fired because I opened a case against the president of the United States,” McCabe told host Scott Pelley during an interview on CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday.
Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions dismissed McCabe — a little more than a day before he was set to formally retire — at, Sessions said, the recommendation of the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which cited findings from a report by the Justice Department’s inspector general.
View the complete February 17 article by Quint Forgey on the Politico website here.
William Barr was sworn in as President Trump’s second attorney general on Thursday, putting a new face atop the Justice Department who will assume oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
The Senate confirmed Barr in a largely party-line vote amid intense speculation that Mueller’s probe into links between the Trump campaign and Russia is wrapping up.
The investigation — and Barr’s oversight of it — is likely to dominate his first weeks and possibly months as attorney general, depending on when Mueller submits his final report.
View the complete February 18 article by Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.
The Senate voted Thursday to approve William Barr as attorney general, giving the Justice Department its first confirmed chief since President Trump ousted Jeff Sessions last fall.
Senators voted 54-45 for Barr’s nomination, capping off a relatively low-drama fight over Trump’s second pick for the post. Barr was largely on a glide path after he cleared the Judiciary Committee and a procedural vote without any missteps that threatened GOP support for his nomination.
Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) was the only Republican who voted against Barr on Thursday, while Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Doug Jones (Ala.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) broke with their party and supported him.
View the complete February 14 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.
