Tag: Trump wants to be a dictator

Push to oust Manhattan attorney sparks fresh crisis for DOJ

The Hill logoThe Justice Department’s push to oust a key U.S. attorney who spearheaded multiple probes involving associates of President Trump has spurred a new crisis for the administration.

The chaotic and fast-moving situation began to unfold in public view on Friday night when Attorney General William Barr abruptly announced that Geoffrey Berman would be “stepping down” as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan.

That was met with an extraordinary statement released roughly an hour later by Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, in which he stated, “I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning, my position,” adding that his office’s investigations would continue. Continue reading.

 

‘Republic in grave danger’: Trump slammed for ‘laying the groundwork for a fascist America’

AlterNet logoOn Friday evening, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman of the Southern District of New York — a key figure in the investigations against President Donald Trump’s business associates — announced he was stepping down, and Attorney General William Barr put forward as his replacement Jay Clayton, a lawyer who has represented one of Trump’s major creditors.

The development triggered immediate outrage and suspicion on social media, with commenters warning it was another step to the destruction of the rule of law. Continue reading.

 

Trump: Esper, Milley “should be proud” of Lafayette Square walk

Axios logoPresident Trump declined on Friday to say he retains full confidence in Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and said Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley should have been “proud” to join him on the now-infamous walk across Lafayette Square.

Driving the news: “I personally think they should have done it differently,” Trump told Axios in an interview Friday in the Oval Office. “I think they should be proud to walk alongside of their president for purposes of safety.”

Why it matters: Despite initial indications that he accepted their pushback against him, Trump remains irked by his top military leaders’ public statements. Esper told colleagues he felt deeply uncomfortable being drawn into the photo op at St. John’s church, and Milley publicly apologized for his participation in the episode.

For Trump, It’s Personal

President Donald Trump perceived loyalty to be a job requirement. The last month has tested his expectations.

THE UNITED STATES Supreme Court, the highest authority of the independent judicial branch of government, handed down a ruling Thursday that had a profound impact on some 700,000 young people who faced deportation but now have the hope of staying in America legally, continuing to work, study and serve in the U.S. military.

President Donald Trump took it as a personal affront.

“Do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn’t like me?” the president tweeted after the high court ruled against his effort to undo DACA, the Obama-era policy legalizing the status of certain young people brought here illegally by their foreign-born parents. Continue reading.

4 Ways Congress Can Amend the Insurrection Act

Center for American Progress logoThe United States has seen widespread protests against police brutality and systemic racism in recent weeks, triggered by the brutal murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Despite the largely peaceful nature of the protests and having no real justification, President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to use the military to restore so-called law and order on America’s streets. While Trump ultimately did not invoke the act, these events have underscored that the Insurrection Act of 1807 needs to be substantially amended to put in place appropriate checks on abuse of presidential authority over the active-duty military and federalized National Guard for law enforcement purposes. Congress should consider how best to amend the act with more checks and balances so that it cannot be used for undemocratic purposes.

An arcane but extraordinary authority

The Insurrection Act is a statutory exception to the Posse Comitatus Act that allows the use of military and federalized National Guard to support law enforcement officers when they are overwhelmed or to quell an uprising; the use of the military for domestic law enforcement is otherwise prohibited under Posse Comitatus. Presidents have used this arcane but extraordinary authority sparingly in recent decades. Yet it is clear now that norms with respect to its modern use rely too heavily on the character and whims of the incumbent in the Oval Office—regardless of political party.

The Insurrection Act gives the president authority to use active-duty and federalized National Guard regardless of the consent of governors and local officials if the president believes that the law cannot be upheld in circumstances of domestic unrest, rebellion, or insurrection. The act is surprisingly vague and places few constraints on presidential authority over when and how it can be used. Its use over the course of American history has varied under different circumstances and leaders, from helping enforce desegregation in the 1950s to quelling the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles in 1992—its last use, undertaken at the request of the California governor. Continue reading.

Here is why Bill Barr’s lawsuit against John Bolton may only have an ‘audience of one’: Law professor

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice filed a civil suit against President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser John Bolton over the publication of his tell-all book alleging misconduct in the administration.

In a lengthy Twitter thread, law professor Rick Hasen explained why the lawsuit is likely just for show, to put Trump’s mind at ease, rather than to actually block the book or win any sort of legal relief.

Rick Hasen

✔@rickhasen

I’ve looked at the Bolton complaint, and a bit about the remedies portion t (https://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Bolton.pdf …).
The suit seeks declaratory relief (saying Bolton breached agreements), a constructive trust (disgorging any profits), and what looks like an injunction /1

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Prosecutor in Roger Stone Case Will Testify About Barr’s Intervention

New York Times logoThe prosecutor is one of two Justice Department officials coming forward whom Democrats are calling whistle-blowers.

WASHINGTON — A career Justice Department prosecutor who quit the case against President Trump’s friend Roger J. Stone Jr.after political appointees intervened to seek a more lenient sentence has agreed to testify under subpoena next week before the House Judiciary Committee.

House Democrats issued subpoenas on Tuesday to the prosecutor, Aaron S.J. Zelinsky, along with a second Justice Department official, John W. Elias, who has also agreed to testify in public on June 24 about politicization under Attorney General William P. Barr — setting up a potential fight with the department about what they will be permitted to say.

Mr. Elias is a career official in the Justice Department’s antitrust division, which opened an inquiry into a fuel efficiency deal between major automakers and the State of California; congressional Democrats have called the scrutiny politically motivated. Continue reading.

Inspectors general ask Congress for help in monitoring coronavirus relief payments

The federal watchdogs complained in a letter that the Trump administration was limiting their oversight ability.

In a two-page letter to several House and Senate committees last week, but disclosed for the first time on Monday, the inspectors general responsible for coronavirus relief oversight said an “ambiguity” in the main coronavirus response law — the CARES Act — allowed administration officials to sharply limit how much of the law’s spending requirements they must collect and report. This narrow interpretation of the law, the inspectors general warn, would dramatically impede their ability to gather information about some of the most expansive programs in the law, from the $670 billion Paycheck Protection Program to the $454 billion Treasury fund to protect businesses and industries damaged by the outbreak.

The legal opinions are the latest squeeze put on inspectors general by the Trump administration, which has gradually chipped away at the ability of internal watchdogs to monitor aspects of the administration’s conduct independently. The letter from the inspectors general, first revealed by The Washington Post, was signed by the Justice Department inspector general, Michael Horowitz, who leads a panel of inspectors general charged with coronavirus-related oversight known as the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, and its executive director, Robert Westbrooks. Continue reading.

House Democrats subpoena two whistleblowers over allegations of DOJ politicization

Axios logoHouse Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) announced on Tuesday he has issued subpoenas for two Department of Justice whistleblowers as part of the committee’s probe into alleged politicization of the agency under President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr.

Why it matters: One of the officials, Aaron Zelinsky, resigned from the team that was prosecuting Trump associate Roger Stone after Barr intervened to soften Stone’s sentencing recommendation.

  • The other, John Elias, was reportedly looking into a fuel efficiency deal between large automakers and the state of California. Democrats have called the probe politically motivated.
  • The two will testify before the committee, along with former Deputy Attorney General Donald Ayer, on June 24. Continue reading.

Trump heads to West Point amid fresh military tensions

The Hill logoPresident Trump will address a group of West Point Military Academy graduates Saturday against a backdrop of disagreements with current and former military officials over his handling of demonstrations against racial injustice.

Former military officials have increasingly spoken out to rebuke Trump over his response to recent protests against the police-involved death of George Floyd and the president’s threat to dispatch active-duty troops to cities to quell violence and looting that accompanied some of the demonstrations.

In an extraordinary statement Thursday, the top U.S. general expressed regret for his involvement in Trump’s photo opportunity at St. John’s Episcopal Church earlier this month that followed an aggressive clearing of protesters. The general, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, noted that the military is traditionally apolitical. Continue reading.