Tag: Trump wants to be above the law

Trump slammed for suggesting Barr must prosecute critics like Obama to become ‘greatest’

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President Donald Trump is telling Bill Barr he must prosecute the president’s critics, like former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in order for him to become “the greatest Attorney General” in history.

As usual, Trump telegraphed his wishes to Barr right out in the open, in a Fox News interview that aired Tuesday night.

“I say this openly: Bill Barr can go down as the greatest Attorney General in the history of our country, or he can go down as just another guy,” Trump told Fox host Laura Ingraham. “They have all the stuff, you don’t need anything else. You know they want everything. You don’t need anything else. They all lied to Congress, they were liars, they were cheaters. They were treasonous it was treason.” Continue reading.

Federal court blocks release of Trump taxes while case appealed

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A federal appeals court in New York on Tuesday temporarily halted a lower court ruling that would have sped up the disclosure of President Trump‘s tax returns to prosecutors in Manhattan.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals allows Trump to continue shielding eight years of corporate and personal tax returns while he appeals the lower court decision.

The 2nd Circuit on Tuesday also scheduled a Sept. 25 hearing over Trump’s claim that the New York grand jury subpoena seeking his tax returns is overbroad and was issued in bad faith. A federal trial judge dismissed those assertions in a lengthy opinion last month. Continue reading.

Judge throws out Trump effort to block subpoena for tax returns

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A federal judge in New York on Thursday dismissed President Trump’s latest effort to stymie a New York grand jury subpoena for his tax returns and a trove of other financial documents.

The ruling by District Judge Victor Marrero relied heavily on the Supreme Court’s landmark decision last month that rejected Trump’s claim that presidents enjoy absolute immunity from criminal probes.

“That notion, applied as so robustly proclaimed by the president’s advocates, is as unprecedented and far-reaching as it is perilous to the rule of law and other bedrock constitutional principles on which this country was founded and by which it continues to be governed,” Marrero wrote. Continue reading.

Trump’s lawyers say subpoena for his tax records is ‘wildly overbroad,’ amounts to ‘harassment’

Washington Post logoNEW YORK — President Trump’s lawyers are pushing to kill a grand jury subpoena for his tax records by arguing that the Manhattan district attorney’s order to produce documents is “wildly overbroad” and tantamount to “harassment,” according to an amended lawsuit filed in federal court here on Monday.

The president’s latest attempt to shield his financial records comes as Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. seeks to accelerate his investigation into hush-money payments made to two women during the 2016 presidential campaign. It follows a major Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that found Trump’s status as a sitting president does not make him immune to investigation by local authorities.

Trump’s civil complaint seeks to block Vance from obtaining Trump’s records through a subpoena to his accounting firm, Mazars USA. His lawyers, barred by the Supreme Court’s 7-to-2 ruling from arguing presidential immunity, are focused now on challenging the subpoena’s legality. Continue reading.

Trump Tweet Extorts Gov. Cuomo Over Tax Probe

When Walter Shaub resigned in protest from President Donald Trump’s administration in July 2017, he had been heading the Office of Government Ethics (OGE). Shaub is still voicing his concerns about Trump’s administration, and this week, he spoke out about a Trump tweet that has been drawing criticism for seemingly linking the possible end of travel restrictions affecting New York State to Trump-related investigations there.

Trump, on Thursday, tweeted, “I’m seeing Governor Cuomo today at The White House. He must understand that National Security far exceeds politics. New York must stop all of its unnecessary lawsuits & harassment, start cleaning itself up, and lowering taxes.”

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

I’m seeing Governor Cuomo today at The White House. He must understand that National Security far exceeds politics. New York must stop all of its unnecessary lawsuits & harrassment, start cleaning itself up, and lowering taxes. Build relationships, but don’t bring Fredo!

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After Shaub saw that tweet, he compared it to the “quid pro quo” that House Democrats accused Trump of during his impeachment trial: military aid to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. Continue reading.

‘Fear and the paralysis is the point’: Former federal prosecutor warns Trump will bully and intimidate any DOJ officials who investigate him

AlterNet logoIn his July 2 column for USA Today, former federal prosecutor Michael J. Stern describes a pattern in which President Donald Trump — with the help of Attorney General William Barr — has gone about trying to bully and intimate any U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials who investigate him. And based on recent communications with DOJ employees he knows, Stern asserts, he has to conclude that Trump’s campaign of intimidation is working.

Stern, who spent 25 years as a federal prosecutor, writes that he has a list of family, friends and DOJ employees he sends his articles to. And recently, Stern notes, he has been receiving e-mails from some DOJ employees saying things like, “Please keep sending me your articles, but don’t send them to my office e-mail anymore.”

Stern goes on to note why they feel that way: they fear becoming a target of Trump.

View the complete July 2 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.