Tag: Trump Justice Department

Five takeaways from acting AG’s fiery House hearing

Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker was grilled by House Judiciary Committee lawmakers for close to six hours Friday in an explosive hearing dominated by partisan clashes.

During the hearing, Whitaker fielded a slew of questions on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which he repeatedly declined to answer directly, infuriating House Democrats in their first crack at a top Trump administration official since recapturing the chamber in last year’s midterm elections.

The conclusion of the tense and highly dramatic hearing left Democrats unsatisfied and pledging that they will request a return appearance from Whitaker — even as his days as the top law enforcement official are numbered with the impending confirmation of William Barr.

View the complete February 8 article by Jacqueline Thomsen, Olivia beavers and Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Whitaker says he won’t testify unless Dems withdraw subpoena threat

Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker is threatening to not testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Friday after Democrats on the panel voted to authorize the use of a subpoena against him if he did not attend or refused to answer certain questions.

Whitaker said in a statement Thursday that the Democratic-led panel “has deviated from historic practice and protocol and taken the unnecessary and premature step of authorizing a subpoena to the me [sic], the acting attorney general, even though I had agreed to voluntarily appear.”

“Such unprecedented action breaches our prior agreement and circumvents the constitutionally required accommodation process. Based upon today’s action, it is apparent that the Committee’s true intention is not to discuss the great work of the Department of Justice, but to create a public spectacle. Political theater is not the purpose of an oversight hearing, and I will not allow that to be the case,” he said.

View the complete February 7 article by Olivia Beaver on The Hill website here.

Congress Wants To Know Whether Matthew Whitaker Talked To The White House About The Special Counsel’s Response to A BuzzFeed News Report

Credit: Jamie Squire, Getty Images

The House Judiciary Committee chair will ask the acting attorney general at an upcoming hearing about the report that President Trump directed his lawyer to lie to Congress.

The chair of the House Judiciary Committee will ask the acting head of the Justice Department about his communications with the White House in the wake of BuzzFeed News’ report that President Trump directed his personal lawyer to lie to Congress.

Committee chair Jerry Nadler has told acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker that he will be asked about whether he discussed the report, or the decision by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller to issue a statement disputing it, at a hearing on Feb. 8.

“If so, with whom?” Nadler told Whitaker he plans to ask, in a letter dated Tuesday. “What was discussed?”

View the complete January 22 article by Emma Loop on the BuzzFeed website here.

Trump Lies Again About 19,000 ‘Deleted’ FBI Text Messages

The inspector general of the president’s own Justice Department concluded the texts were missing due to technological glitches; 20,000 were recovered.

As President Donald Trump raged against “angry Democrats” in a tweet Saturday, he repeated a lie that 19,000 FBI texts had been deliberately deleted and were missing. More than 20,000 FBI agent texts lost in a technological glitch were recovered, which was clearly stated in a report early this month by the Office of the Inspector General in Trump’s own Justice Department.

“All Texts Demanded!” Trump tweeted, claiming “Mueller Angry Democrats” recently “deleted approximately 19,000 Text messages” between former FBI agent Peter Strzok and his girlfriend, FBI lawyer Lisa Page. “This is a total Obstruction of Justice,” he added.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

The Mueller Angry Democrats recently deleted approximately 19,000 Text messages between FBI Agent Lisa Page and her lover, Agent Peter S. These Texts were asked for and INVALUABLE to the truth of the Witch Hunt Hoax. This is a total Obstruction of Justice. All Texts Demanded!

114K

Twitter Ads info and privacy
70.3K people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy

Strzok was fired in August for derogatory comments about Trump he sent to Page, who resigned in May.

View the complete December 29 article by Mary Papenfuss on the Huffington Post website here.

Sarah Sanders comes out of hiding for 15 minutes to trash the FBI

Sarah Sanders has been hiding from the press for nearly a month. After emerging she attacked the FBI to defend Trump’s criminality.

Sarah Sanders emerged from hiding and used an extremely brief press briefing to attack the FBI and to promote absurd conspiracy theories about the prosecution of Trump’s criminal former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

The White House press operation has been in hiding since November 27, the date of the last briefing — nearly a month ago. In total the Trump administration has only held four such briefings since September.

They have avoided questions on the growing evidence that Trump stands at the center of a criminal enterprise, directing the commission of federal crimes and covering them up.

View the complete December 18 article by Oliver Willis on the ShareBlue.com website here.

Trump’s new AG pick thinks Hillary, not Trump, should be investigated

Credit:  Time Warner via AP

William Barr, Trump’s choice for attorney general, has already called for Clinton to be investigated and downplayed any concerns about Trump. That’s probably why he was chosen.

Earlier this morning, President Trump nominated William Barr to be his next attorney general. Barr previously served in that same role under George H.W. Bush.

But don’t be fooled into thinking that Barr’s past experience means he’ll be an adult in the room and provide a check on Trump. Barr has already made outrageous public statements that show he is entirely in line with Trump’s way of thinking.

Although Barr might not have as tawdry or shady a past as acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, he’s just as committed to baselessly accusing Hillary Clinton of crimes while blithely dismissing any of Trump’s wrongdoings.

View the complete December 7 article by Lisa Needham on the ShareBlue.com website here.

‘The president is a crook’: Legal experts tear into Trump as he lies and says new court filings ‘clear’ him

Trump claims that the court filings against Cohen “clear” him. They do not.

In response to the two court filingsmade by federal prosecutors against Michael Cohen on Friday, President Donald Trump took to the internet.

And this time, unlike his early morning outburst in which the president seemed to be on the verge of panic, Trump confidently proclaimed that the new filings mean he is proven innocent and home free.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

Totally clears the President. Thank you!

112K

Twitter Ads info and privacy

123K people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Only one problem: he isn’t.

View the complete December 7 article by Matthew Chapman on the AlterNet.org website here.

The red flags on Trump’s new attorney general pick, William Barr

President George H.W. Bush listens as Deputy Attorney General William P. Barr speaks in the early 1990s. Credit: Dirck Halstea, /Getty Images

President Trump insisted when he made Matthew G. Whitaker his acting attorney general that he wasn’t familiar with Whitaker’s past commentary critical of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe.

But his new pick to be the attorney general has a record of making similar comments, and despite some favorable comments from Democrats, those could pose a problem in his coming confirmation fight.

President Trump confirmed Friday that former attorney general William P. Barr will be his nominee to head the Justice Department. Picking George H.W. Bush’s attorney general would seem a pretty safe and confirmable pick, on its surface.

View the complete December 7 article by Aaron Blake on The Washington Post website here.

Prosecutors recommend ‘substantial’ prison time for ex-Trump lawyer Cohen

Federal prosecutors in New York on Friday recommended that Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal attorney, receive “substantial” prison time for several federal crimes, despite his cooperation with ongoing law enforcement investigations, including special counsel Robert Mueller‘s Russia probe.

In a filing late Friday afternoon, prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York recognized Cohen’s cooperation with law enforcement in “ongoing matters” but argued the seriousness of his crimes warrant a “substantial term of imprisonment.”

The filing also cites Cohen’s decision not to become a traditional cooperating witness with federal authorities in New York, despite offering assistance in numerous ongoing investigations.

View the complete December 7 article by organ Chalfant on The Hill website here.

DNC on William Barr’s Nomination To Be Attorney General

DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement in response to President Trump nominating William Barr as his next attorney general:

“Our next attorney general must be able to stand up to the president and act as an independent law enforcement official. Trump has consistently shown a corrupt disregard for the rule of law and used his office to undermine civil rights, workers’ rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and voting rights.

“William Barr must assure the American people that he will resist any attempt by the president to interfere in law enforcement matters, and he must unequivocally commit to protecting the special counsel’s investigation and defending our constitutional rights.”