Tag: Trump Justice Department

Feds Now Have Evidence Trump Broke the Law to Become President. Will Whitaker Bury It?

Credit: The Daily Beast

Prosecutors won’t likely charge a sitting president, yet have implicated him in a criminal scheme to pay off Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. What to do then? Go to Congress.

Friday’s in-depth Wall Street Journal report suggests the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York and the FBI appear to possess evidence of Donald Trump’s involvement in a criminal scheme that helped get him elected president. This raises serious questions about what comes next, particularly in light of Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker, a political loyalist, as acting attorney general.

Trump played a central role in hush-money payments made to Karen McDougal and Stephanie Clifford during the 2016 presidential campaign, the Journal reports, adding more detail to the case of Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer-lawyer who pled guilty to federal campaign finance violations in the Southern District in August.

Recall that when Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court, he stated under oath that he had made the payments “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office”—many assumed that that candidate was Trump, of course. We now know from the Journal that the person who directed Cohen in this criminal scheme was, indeed, Donald Trump. The charging document to which Cohen pled guilty states that he “coordinated with one or more members of the campaign, including through meetings and phone calls, about the fact, nature, and timing of the payments.” The Journal reports that “[t]he unnamed campaign member or members referred to Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the document.”

View the complete November 10 article by Mimi Rocah and Elie Honig on TheDailyBeast.com website here.

Trump’s installation of acting AG was unconstitutional, argues husband of Kellyanne Conway

George T. Conway III, husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, seen at the White House in April. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A new opinion piece co-authored by George T. Conway III — husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway — argues that President Trump’s installation of Matthew G. Whitaker as acting attorney general Wednesday was unconstitutional.

“It’s illegal. And it means that anything Mr. Whitaker does, or tries to do, in that position is invalid,” George Conway wrote with his co-author in a piece published by the New York Times on Thursday, less than 24 hours after Trump ousted Jeff Sessions from the post.

George Conway’s piece was his latest in a series of public shots at the policies of his wife’s boss. Just last week, Conway, a lawyer, took aim at Trump’s pledge to end birthright citizenship in another op-ed, calling that plan unconstitutional, as well.

View the complete November 8 article by John Wagner on The Washington Post website here.

Watergate’s John Dean Explains How Trump Planned Sessions’ Firing ‘Like a Murder’ — And Details How Mueller Could Protect the Probe

John Dean Credit: CNN Screengrab

Trump’s move on Wednesday was both predictable and shocking.

John Dean, President Richard Nixon’s White House counsel who eventually turned against his boss in the Watergate scandal, has a unique perspective on investigations of presidents.

After President Donald Trump announced the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday, to be replaced by a person who had been publicly critical of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of ties between the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016, Dean called in to CNN to give his opinion.

Dean said the firing of Sessions was “planned like a murder. I say that given that the president was asked a question at the press conference this morning, he brushed it off, said ‘We’ll deal with it later.’ And he’s clearly been thinking about it — and ‘later’ meant he’s not necessarily going to fire Mueller, he’s going to undercut him by the people around him.”

View the complete November 7 article by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet.org website here.

5 things to know about new acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker

President Trump on Wednesday named Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general after Jeff Sessions turned in his resignation from the top Justice Department role, marking a new era of oversight for the DOJ and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

The president’s relationship with his top cop — and Whitaker’s now former boss — had deteriorated over the past two years following Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the high-profile Russia probe.

In his new capacity, Whitaker will take the reins of overseeing the probe from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has been a loyal defender of the investigation since Sessions stepped aside.

View the November 7 article by Olivia Beavers on The Hill website here.

Sessions out at Justice Department

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has resigned as the top Justice Department official at President Trump’s request, a development that is likely to spark a firestorm of criticism following the midterm elections.

The decision punctuates months of criticism by President Trump of his top law enforcement officer over his recusal from the ongoing Russia investigation. And it confirms widespread speculation that Trump would move to fire Sessions sometime after the midterms.

Sessions agreed to resign at Trump’s request, according to a copy of his resignation letter obtained by The Hill.

View the complete November 7 article by Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Justice Department argues businesses can legally discriminate against transgender employees

The Department of Justice on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that civil rights laws that ban discrimination on the basis of sex do not encompass anti-transgender bias. The argument, if the DOJ wins, would allow employers to legally discriminate against transgender employees, Bloomberg Law reported.

“The court of appeals misread the statute and this Court’s decisions in concluding that Title VII encompasses discrimination on the basis of gender identity,” Solicitor General Noel Francisco wrote in a brief regarding a case against a Michigan funeral home. The business is accused of violating federal employment laws when it fired transgender worker Aimee Stephens.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces civil rights law in the workplace, successfully sued on Stephens’ behalf in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. But the Michigan funeral home has appealed the case to the Supreme Court, where the Justice Department would be forced to represent the government.

View the complete October 25 article by Emily C. Singer on the Mic.com website here.

Justice Dept. Rank-and-File Tell of Discontent Over Sessions’s Approach

Justice Department lawyers have raised concerns about Attorney General Jeff Sessions pursuing legally indefensible cases and a lack of support when they tried to warn him. Credit: Doug Mills, The New York Times

WASHINGTON — During his 20 months in office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has swept in perhaps the most dramatic political shift in memory at the Justice Department, from the civil rights-centered agenda of the Obama era to one that favors his hard-line conservative views on immigration, civil rights and social issues.

Now, discontent and infighting have taken hold at the Justice Department, in part because Mr. Sessions was so determined to carry out that transformation that he ignored dissent, at times putting the Trump administration on track to lose in court and prompting high-level departures, according to interviews over several months with two dozen current and former career department lawyers who worked under Mr. Sessions. Most asked not to be named for fear of retribution.

President Trump has exacerbated the dynamic, they said, by repeatedly attacking Mr. Sessions and the Justice Department in baldly political and personal terms. And he has castigated rank-and-file employees, which career lawyers said further chilled dissent and debate within the department.

View the complete October 19 article by Katie Benner on the New York Times website here.

Want to Know More About: Deputy Director Rod Rosenstein?

Jonathan Karl On Rod Rosenstein’s Relationship With President Trump, “We’re Told The Two Men Spoke For 45 Minutes Aboard Air Force One. Unclear How Much They Discussed Those Reports, Or The Russia Probe, Which Rosenstein Oversees.” DAVID MUIR: “Jon, President Trump was joined on Air Force One today by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Everyone at home likely remembers Rosenstein’s fate had been uncertain after The New York Times first reported that he once allegedly wanted to secretly record the president, even reportedly discussed potentially removing him through the 25th amendment. What are you learning about the conversation today?” JONATHAN KARL: “We’re told the two men spoke for 45 minutes aboard Air Force One. Unclear how much they discussed those reports, or the Russia probe, which Rosenstein oversees. But the bottom line is this, David, after the meeting, Rosenstein was not fired, in fact, the president said he plans on making no changes. And when asked about the conversation, he said, ‘We had a really good talk. We actually get along.’” [World News Tonight, ABC, 10/8/18; VIDEO]

Cecilia Vega On Trump’s Statements Regarding Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s Credibility, “We’ve Seen A Full Arc Here From Him Saying That Christine Blasey Ford Was Credible To That Stunning Moment Overnight Where He Declared Justice Kavanaugh Innocent. That Did Not Happen. The Judge Was Not Declared Innocent.” GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: “The justice now striking the right notes now, of course, very different from his confirmation hearings. What the president wants is for everybody to remember Kavanaugh 30 days from now at the midterms.” CECILIA VEGA: “We’ve seen a full arc here from him saying that Christine Blasey Ford was credible to that stunning moment overnight where he declared Justice Kavanaugh innocent. That did not happen. The judge was not declared innocent. The president said outright yesterday this is going to help him. The fight for Kavanaugh will help republicans in the midterms this is a political line for him I do not think will go away any time over the next few weeks.” [Good Morning America, ABC, 10/8/18; VIDEO]

EXCLUSIVE: Trump says exposing ‘corrupt’ FBI probe could be ‘crowning achievement’ of presidency

President Trump in an exclusive interview with Hill.TV said Tuesday he ordered the release of classified documents in the Russia collusion case to show the public the FBI probe started as a “hoax” and that exposing it could become one of the “crowning achievements” of his presidency.

“What we’ve done is a great service to the country, really,” Trump said in a 45-minute, wide-ranging interview in the Oval Office.

“I hope to be able to call this, along with tax cuts and regulation and all the things I’ve done … in its own way this might be the most important thing because this was corrupt,” he said.

View the complete September 18 article by John Solomon and Buck Sexton on the Hill website here.

 

Want to Know More About: Trump’s Demand for FISA Release

Mika Brzezinski: “In An Unprecedented Move, President Trump Is Using The Power Of His Office To Order The Director Of National Intelligence And The Justice Department Immediately Declassify Materials In The Ongoing Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Election.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 9/18/18; VIDEO]

Joe Scarborough: “The FBI Not Wanting To Release, The Justice Department Hasn’t Wanted It To Release. The Director Of National Intelligence Didn’t Want It Released. You Have Sources And Methods That Are Highly Likely To Be Exposed Which The President Was Warned About.” SCARBOROUGH: “The FBI not wanting to release, the Justice Department hasn’t wanted it to release. The Director of National Intelligence didn’t want it released. You have sources and methods that are highly likely to be exposed which the President was warned about, the Commander in Chief was warned about. And you have one of the more highly classified programs in the United States of America, the FISA courts, that now we’re going to allow our enemies to see exactly how we do things as it pertains to the FISA courts.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 9/18/18; VIDEO]

Matt Miller: “He Is Really Taking The Powers Of His Office, The Powers Of The Presidency And Using Them To Advance His Personal Interest.” MILLER: “He is really taking the powers of his office, the powers of the presidency and using them to advance his personal interest which he defines as using this war against the FBI rather than protect the national interests.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 9/18/18; VIDEO] Continue reading “Want to Know More About: Trump’s Demand for FISA Release”