Tag: Trump wants to be a dictator

D.C. Prosecutors’ Tensions With Justice Dept. Began Long Before Stone Sentencing

New York Times logoMonths of strain date back to the investigation into the former F.B.I. official Andrew McCabe and growing fears of political interference.

WASHINGTON — In the days before they filed the sentencing recommendation for President Trump’s friend Roger J. Stone Jr. that helped plunge the Justice Department into turmoil, the prosecutors on the case felt under siege.

A new boss, Timothy Shea, had just arrived and had told them on his first day that he wanted a more lenient recommendation for Mr. Stone, and he pushed back hard when they objected, according to two people briefed on the dispute. They grew suspicious that Mr. Shea was helping his longtime friend and boss, Attorney General William P. Barr, soften the sentencing request to please the president.

In an attempt to ease the strain, David Metcalf, Mr. Shea’s chief of staff, clasped his hand on the shoulder of one of the prosecutors, Aaron S.J. Zelinsky, as they passed in a hallway. But the gesture prompted a terse and sharp verbal exchange, according to three people briefed on the encounter. As word of the spat spread through the office, unfounded rumors swirled that the altercation had been physical. Continue reading.

Trump’s intel moves spark Democratic fury

The Hill logoPresident Trump’s sudden decision to replace his top intelligence chief sparked criticism among congressional Democrats this past week after reports that the dismissal stemmed from a classified briefing on election security with a key House panel.

Trump reportedly moved to oust acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Joseph Maguire after a senior DNI official briefed the House Intelligence Committee about Russian efforts to aid his reelection.

The president is said to have viewed the briefing as an act of disloyalty, in part because it involved sharing information with a House panel led by one of his political foes, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). He also reportedly said the briefing should not have occurred, while denying the analysis by intelligence officials and claiming the intelligence community is being “played.” Continue reading.

Trump-style vengeance is not limited to individuals. He can also exact revenge on an entire population

AlterNet logoIt is a threat no one has contemplated and, therefore, not thought to address. We can only hope that that will change and that we will anticipate events that may confront us in November and begin planning to protect the country.

It is a threat no one has contemplated and, therefore, not thought to address. We can only hope that that will change and that we will anticipate events that may confront us in November and begin planning to protect the country.

It is a threat no one has contemplated and, therefore, not thought to address. We can only hope that that will change and that we will anticipate events that may confront us in November and begin planning to protect the country. Continue reading.

Trump Gets Served A Brutal Fact-Check On Fox News After Griping About Bad Coverage

The president tried to blame Fox board member Paul Ryan for unfavorable coverage on the network.

President Donald Trump blasted Fox News on Thursday for giving airtime to a pundit who criticized his debate performances in 2016, and network host Neil Cavuto served Trump an unpleasant truth in return.

In her analysis of billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s poor performance at Wednesday night’s Democratic debate, A. B. Stoddard of RealClearPolitics told Cavuto on his show that even Trump’s “disastrous” and “cringeworthy” 2016 debate performances did not hold him back from the presidency.

In a tweet soon afterward, Trump attacked Stoddard for being a “Trump hater” with “zero talent” and called on somebody at Fox News to explain that “I won every one of my debates.” Continue reading.

In one incident, a series of realities about Trump’s presidency seem to be confirmed

Washington Post logoWhat happened last week seems to be straightforward.

An intelligence official briefed the House Intelligence Committee on assessments establishing that Russia would work to aid President Trump’s reelection in November. That briefing was relayed to Trump by his loyal ally, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), leading Trump to reportedly believe that only committee chairman Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) had received the information. In a meeting the next day, Trump blew up at then-acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire about the briefing. Maguire was removed from his position Thursday.

Why was Trump angry? According to sources who spoke with The Washington Post, it was at least in part because Trump thought that the information being provided to the committee could be used against him and, further, was a continuation of what Trump has constantly argued is a false narrative about Russia’s efforts to boost his candidacy in 2016. Republicans on the committee pushed back during the hearing in a way that Trump would appreciate: Why would Russia want to aid Trump’s reelection when his administration had levied sanctions against the country? Continue reading.

Trump’s Politicization of the Justice System

Center for American Progress logoSince the vast majority of Republican senators failed in their constitutional duty to be a check on serious government corruption, President Donald Trump has repeatedly exhibited his willingness to abuse the power of his office. But involving himself in the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recommended sentencing of Roger Stone, a convicted federal criminal—and Trump’s close political ally—was perhaps the most flagrant display of how little respect Trump’s administration has for American democracy.

As the situation develops, the president has attacked not only federal prosecutors but also the federal judge overseeing the case. Throughout his presidency, Trump and his attorneys general have worked to turn the DOJ and the federal judiciary into political puppets, thereby delegitimizing both institutions. This most recent scandal, however, signals that these attacks are only ramping up.

Undermining the DOJ’s independence

After Trump’s longtime confidant Roger Stone was convicted of multiple federal crimes tied to investigations into the 2016 Trump campaign’s efforts to work with Russia—including making false statements, obstructing Congress, and threatening a witness—career prosecutors at the DOJ issued a sentence recommendation of seven to nine years in prison, consistent with the sentencing guidelines that the agency uses to make these determinations. The president subsequently took to twitter to criticize the recommendation as “horrible and very unfair,” adding: “The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!”  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.

Post-impeachment, Trump declares himself the ‘chief law enforcement officer’ of America

Washington Post logoDuring his Senate impeachment trial, Democrats repeatedly asserted that President Trump is “not above the law.” But since his acquittal two weeks ago, analysts say, the president has taken a series of steps aimed at showing that, essentially, he is the law.

On Tuesday, Trump granted clemency to a clutch of political allies, circumventing the usual Justice Department process. The pardons and commutations followed Trump’s moves to punish witnesses in his impeachment trial, publicly intervene in a pending legal case to urge leniency for a friend, attack a federal judge, accuse a juror of bias and threaten to sue his own government for investigating him.

Trump defended his actions, saying he has the right to shape the country’s legal systems as he sees fit. Continue reading.

Bolton Hints at Further Revelations if He Overcomes White House ‘Censorship’

New York Times logoIn his first public appearance since the impeachment trial, the president’s former national security adviser said he was fighting efforts to suppress his unpublished book.

DURHAM, N.C. — John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser to President Trump, suggested on Monday that his unpublished book contained far more revelations than just the campaign to pressure Ukraine for help with domestic politics but said he was fighting “censorship” by the White House.

In his first public appearance since the Senate impeachment trial in which Republicans refused to hear his testimony, Mr. Bolton said that the White House was trying to keep him from publishing important parts of his new memoir by terming them classified. He said he was pushing back but feared that a pre-publication review could stop the book from being published next month.

“For all the focus on Ukraine and the impeachment trial and all that, to me, there are portions of the manuscript that deal with Ukraine, I view that like the sprinkles on the ice cream sundae in terms of what’s in the book,” Mr. Bolton told an audience at Duke University during a forum on foreign policy on Monday evening. “This is an effort to write history and I did it the best I can. We’ll have to see what comes out of the censorship.”

A Presidency Increasingly Guided by Suspicion and Distrust

New York Times logoPresidential paranoia is not a new phenomenon but Mr. Trump, burned by impeachment, seems to have elevated it to a governing philosophy of his White House.

WASHINGTON — President Trump suggested in recent days that he had, in fact, learned a lesson from his now-famous telephone call with Ukraine’s president that ultimately led to his impeachment: Too many people are listening to his phone calls.

“When you call a foreign leader, people listen,” he observed on Geraldo Rivera’s radio show. “I may end the practice entirely. I may end it entirely.”

Mr. Trump has always been convinced that he is surrounded by people who cannot be trusted. But in the 10 days since he was acquitted by the Senate, he has grown more vocal about it and turned paranoia into policy, purging his White House of more career officials, bringing back loyalists and tightening the circle around him to a smaller and more faithful coterie of confidants. Continue reading.