Tag: Trump weakening American justice

Trump fires intelligence community watchdog who flagged Ukraine whistleblower complaint

The Hill logoPresident Trump has fired the inspector general for the intelligence community, saying he “no longer” has confidence in the key government watchdog.

Michael Atkinson, who had served as the intelligence community inspector general since May 2018, was the first to alert Congress last year of an “urgent” whistleblower complaint he obtained from an intelligence official regarding Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. His firing will take effect 30 days from Friday, the day Trump sent a notice informing Congress of Atkinson’s dismissal.

“This is to advise that I am exercising my power as President to remove from office the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, effective 30 days from today,” Trump wrote to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence committees in a letter obtained by The Hill. Continue reading.

I was a juror in the Roger Stone trial. Attacking our foreperson undermines our service.

Washington Post logoSeth Cousins was a juror in the Roger Stone trial.

Lost amid the avalanche of allegations about the trial and sentencing of Roger Stone are some critical facts and a striking irony: The jury foreperson, who has been the subject recently of numerous ad hominem attacks, was actually one of the strongest advocates for the rights of the defendant and for a rigorous process. She expressed skepticism at some of the government’s claims and was one of the last people to vote to convict on the charge that took most of our deliberation time.

Stone received a fair trial. But events since his trial threaten to undermine the equal administration of justice.

In November, I joined 13 of my fellow citizens as jurors and alternates in the case of United States v. Roger Stone. After several days of testimony and argument — and eight hours of deliberation — we returned guilty verdicts on all seven charges of obstruction, witness tampering and lying to Congress. Federal prosecutors recommended on Feb. 10 that Stone be sentenced to seven to nine years in prison. Early the next day, President Trump tweeted his outrage, and soon the Justice Department announced that the sentencing recommendation would be amended. All four prosecutors handling the case withdrew in protest.

Federal judge slams Trump and his allies for targeting juror in Roger Stone case

AlterNet logoTomeka Hart, who served as the forewoman on veteran GOP operative Roger Stone’s criminal trial last year, has been lambasted by President Donald Trump as well as by some well-known figures in the right-wing media — including InfoWars’ Alex Jones and Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. And Judge Amy Berman Jackson, according to CNN, asserted on Tuesday that attacks on Hart are part of a campaign of intimidation against the jurors.

Jackson, who presided over Stone’s trial, sentenced him to three years and four months in federal prison on February 20. Stone has requested a retrial, and Jackson — during a hearing on Tuesday — stressed that making the identities of the jurors public “would put them at substantial risk of harm.” Although Hart has spoken publicly about Stone’s trial, Jackson asserted that the privacy of the jurors must be respected.

“While judges may have volunteered for their positions … jurors are not volunteers,” Jackson explained. “They are deserving of the public’s respect.”  Continue reading.

Conservative judge stands up to Trump and slams AG Barr in ‘jaw-dropping opinion’

AlterNet logoDemocrats and Never Trump conservatives have been highly critical of U.S. Attorney General William Barr as well as Republicans in Congress for becoming loyal servants of President Donald Trump and doing his bidding at every turn. But law professor and former federal prosecutor Kimberly Wehle, in a February 12 op-ed for Politico, asserts that there is one conservative in the judiciary who clearly doesn’t consider himself a Trump servant: Judge Frank H. Easterbrook of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Wehle opens her op-ed by lamenting that it was painfully evident how much Trump has “defanged Congress’ oversight authority” when “the Senate acquitted the president of obstruction” during his impeachment trial. But Easterbrook, Wehle quickly adds, is “one conservative judge isn’t willing to let the executive branch steal power from his branch of government.”

n a “jaw-dropping opinion issued by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals,” Wehle asserts, Easterbrook “rebuked Attorney General William Barr for declaring in a letter that the court’s decision in an immigration case was ‘incorrect’ and thus, dispensable.”  Continue reading.