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1,100 Former Justice Dept. Prosecutors and Officials Press for Barr to Step Down

W_Heisenberg

W_Heisenberg

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1,100 Former Justice Dept. Lawyers Press for Barr to Step Down - The New York Times

Former Justice Dept. Lawyers Press for Barr to Step Down

More than 1,100 former prosecutors and officials who served in Republican and Democratic administrations signed an open letter condemning the president and the attorney general over the Stone case.

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WASHINGTON — More than 1,100 former federal prosecutors and Justice Department officials called on Attorney General William P. Barr on Sunday to step down after he intervened last week to lower the Justice Department’s sentencing recommendation for President Trump’s longtime friend Roger J. Stone Jr.

They also urged current government employees to report any signs of unethical behavior at the Justice Department to the agency’s inspector general and to Congress.

“Each of us strongly condemns President Trump’s and Attorney General Barr’s interference in the fair administration of justice,” the former Justice Department lawyers, who came from across the political spectrum, wrote in an open letter on Sunday. Those actions, they said, “require Mr. Barr to resign.”

The sharp denunciation of Mr. Barr underlined the extent of the fallout over the case of Mr. Stone, capping a week that strained the attorney general’s relationship with his rank and file, and with the president himself.

After prosecutors on Monday recommended a prison sentence of up to nine years for Mr. Stone, who was convicted of obstructing a congressional inquiry, Mr. Trump lashed out at federal law enforcement. Senior officials at the department, including Mr. Barr, overrode the recommendation the next day with a more lenient one, immediately prompting accusations of political interference, and the four lawyers on the Stone case abruptly withdrew in protest.

The Justice Department said the case had not been discussed with anyone at the White House, but that Mr. Trump congratulated Mr. Barr on his decision did little to dispel the perception of political influence. And as the president widened his attacks on law enforcement, Mr. Barr publicly reproached the president, saying that Mr. Trump’s statements undermined him, as well the department.

“I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me,” Mr. Barr said during a televised interview on Thursday with ABC News.

In the days after the interview, Mr. Trump has been relatively muted. He said on Twitter that he had not asked Mr. Barr to “do anything in a criminal case.” As president, he added, he had “the legal right to do so” but had “so far chosen not to!”

But lawyers across the Justice Department continue to worry about political interference from the president despite public pushback by Mr. Barr, long considered a close ally of Mr. Trump’s.
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This is the ugly truth: Trump and Barr are authoritarians who do not believe in the Rule of Law. They both must be removed from office as soon as practically possible.
 
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DOJ Alumni Statement on the Events Surrounding the Sentencing of Roger Stone

We, the undersigned, are alumni of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) who have collectively served both Republican and Democratic administrations. Each of us strongly condemns President Trump’s and Attorney General Barr’s interference in the fair administration of justice.

As former DOJ officials, we each proudly took an oath to support and defend our Constitution and faithfully execute the duties of our offices. The very first of these duties is to apply the law equally to all Americans. This obligation flows directly from the Constitution, and it is embedded in countless rules and laws governing the conduct of DOJ lawyers. The Justice Manual — the DOJ’s rulebook for its lawyers — states that “the rule of law depends on the evenhanded administration of justice”; that the Department’s legal decisions “must be impartial and insulated from political influence”; and that the Department’s prosecutorial powers, in particular, must be “exercised free from partisan consideration.”

All DOJ lawyers are well-versed in these rules, regulations, and constitutional commands. They stand for the proposition that political interference in the conduct of a criminal prosecution is anathema to the Department’s core mission and to its sacred obligation to ensure equal justice under the law.

And yet, President Trump and Attorney General Barr have openly and repeatedly flouted this fundamental principle, most recently in connection with the sentencing of President Trump’s close associate, Roger Stone, who was convicted of serious crimes. The Department has a long-standing practice in which political appointees set broad policies that line prosecutors apply to individual cases. That practice exists to animate the constitutional principles regarding the even-handed application of the law. Although there are times when political leadership appropriately weighs in on individual prosecutions, it is unheard of for the Department’s top leaders to overrule line prosecutors, who are following established policies, in order to give preferential treatment to a close associate of the President, as Attorney General Barr did in the Stone case. It is even more outrageous for the Attorney General to intervene as he did here — after the President publicly condemned the sentencing recommendation that line prosecutors had already filed in court.

Such behavior is a grave threat to the fair administration of justice. In this nation, we are all equal before the law. A person should not be given special treatment in a criminal prosecution because they are a close political ally of the President. Governments that use the enormous power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and reward their allies are not constitutional republics; they are autocracies.

We welcome Attorney General Barr’s belated acknowledgment that the DOJ’s law enforcement decisions must be independent of politics; that it is wrong for the President to interfere in specific enforcement matters, either to punish his opponents or to help his friends; and that the President’s public comments on DOJ matters have gravely damaged the Department’s credibility. But Mr. Barr’s actions in doing the President’s personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words. Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of Justice’s reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr. Barr to resign. But because we have little expectation he will do so, it falls to the Department’s career officials to take appropriate action to uphold their oaths of office and defend nonpartisan, apolitical justice.

For these reasons, we support and commend the four career prosecutors who upheld their oaths and stood up for the Department’s independence by withdrawing from the Stone case and/or resigning from the Department. Our simple message to them is that we — and millions of other Americans — stand with them. And we call on every DOJ employee to follow their heroic example and be prepared to report future abuses to the Inspector General, the Office of Professional Responsibility, and Congress; to refuse to carry out directives that are inconsistent with their oaths of office; to withdraw from cases that involve such directives or other misconduct; and, if necessary, to resign and report publicly — in a manner consistent with professional ethics — to the American people the reasons for their resignation. We likewise call on the other branches of government to protect from retaliation those employees who uphold their oaths in the face of unlawful directives. The rule of law and the survival of our Republic demand nothing less.

If you are a former DOJ employee and would like to add your name below, click here. Protect Democracy will update this list daily with new signatories.
 
Probably why they are "former". Just a bunch more crooks.
 
They and other lawyers and DOJ attys should pool their resources and start their own nationwide legal group if Trump is reelected. Perhaps a number of them should do so now.
 
You guys really think Barr or Trump care about this?
 
W_Heisenberg said:
1,100 Former Justice Dept. Lawyers Press for Barr to Step Down - The New York Times

Former Justice Dept. Lawyers Press for Barr to Step Down

More than 1,100 former prosecutors and officials who served in Republican and Democratic administrations signed an open letter condemning the president and the attorney general over the Stone case.

--



This is the ugly truth: Trump and Barr are authoritarians who do not believe in the Rule of Law. They both must be removed from office as soon as practically possible.
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This shows just how deep the deep state goes.
 
OrphanSlug said:
You guys really think Barr or Trump care about this?
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Nobody should. These are a buncha deep state bureaucrats. Where were they when McCabe and his crew were uo to no good?
 
These people should be very careful what they wish for.

We welcome Attorney General Barr’s belated acknowledgment that the DOJ’s law enforcement decisions must be independent of politics
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Here is the danger the entire country faces if Barr conducts himself entirely "independent of politics".

There is no way of prosecuting Andrew McCabe without putting Rod Rosenstein into the same crosshairs of consequence. {Go Deep} Rosenstein facilitated the FBI operations being run by Comey, McCabe, Baker, Strzok, Page, Clinesmith, Pientka and eventually culminating in Robert Mueller, Andrew Weissman et al.

When you truly understand this context you also understand why Joseph Pientka III has a blanket protective order over him. The all-encompassing protective order is as much about preserving and protecting the institution of the DOJ as it is protecting the fulcrum of corrupt activity Supervisory Special Agent One, Joseph Pientka III, represents.

The DOJ had to throw a bag over Pientka or eliminate him. Thankfully, and not surprisingly, they chose the former and now he’s under protection.

DAG Rosenstein could not prosecute James Wolfe without exposing ‘seditious‘ activity within the U.S. government itself. Not pretend sedition or theoretical sedition, but an actual pre-planned subversive operation with forethought and malice.

Likewise AG Bill Barr cannot prosecute Andrew McCabe without exposing the same ‘seditious‘ activity; which also encompasses the activity of Rod Rosenstein. Whether Barr wants to protect Rosenstein is moot; if Barr wants to protect the institutions from sunlight on two years of actual seditious activity, he has to protect Rosenstein.

It’s the underlying activity that cannot be allowed to surface; the institutions of government are not strong enough, nor are they set-up to handle, prosecutions that overlap all three branches of government. [ex. read former questions]

However, that said, now AG Bill Barr is facing a downstream and parallel issue within the prosecution of Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. How can Michael Flynn be sentenced for lying to the FBI when the DOJ is necessarily refusing to prosecute Andrew McCabe (at least what has been made public) for the exact same behavior?

Against this dynamic, the DOJ has two options: (Option A) go even harder at General Flynn using additional charges that are not as comparable to McCabe. (Option B) find a way to drop the prosecution.

This dynamic is why the McCabe prosecution was not resolved in 2018. This issue explains why there has been such a delay in the McCabe issue(s) since Bill Barr came into the picture in February 2019.

If Flynn just took the plea, everything would have been easier for the DOJ. There would have been nothing to compare between the two, and time would have created distance to avoid any real comparison. But Flynn reversed position and backed away from the plea.

So what do we see?

We see McCabe given an institutionally necessary free pass, and now Barr bringing in another federal prosecutor from St. Louis to reevaluate Flynn’s position. The two options are again being debated: Crush Flynn on other matters; or drop it.

Take the totality of all these issues together. Think about them for a while…

…Now do we see why AG Bill Barr needs President Trump to shut up?

Rod Rosenstein essentially protected James Wolfe because he saw no way the institutions of the U.S. government could survive the potential evidence in a trial. Setting aside opinion on Rosenstein’s enabling of the sedition; enabling underpinning seditious activity; the decision makes sense. [Consequences too big to jail]

Bill Barr is essentially protecting Andrew McCabe, and as a consequence Rod Rosenstein, out of a similar necessity. From AG Barr’s perspective, there’s no way the institutions of government could survive the potential evidence at a McCabe trial; and McCabe would call Rosenstein as a defense witness. [Consequences too big to jail]

At the heart of the matter, in the real activity that took place, there was a multi-branch seditious effort to remove President Donald J Trump. From the perspective of those charged with the actual administration of justice – there is no way to put this in front of the American public and have the institutions survive. What we are witnessing is a dance between increasingly narrowing rails and the DOJ trying to find an exit.

The Sentencing of Michael Flynn Represents a Very Big Problem for AG Bill Barr… | The Last Refuge
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apdst said:
This shows just how deep the deep state goes.
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Yes it does, and thank god for the deep state. Somebody needs to defend our institutions. Over 1,100. Yep, pretty damn deep. Strength in numbers, ya know.
 
Michael Cole said:
Yes it does, and thank god for the deep state. Somebody needs to defend our institutions. Over 1,100. Yep, pretty damn deep. Strength in numbers, ya know.
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This is why the Left is so ****ed up. They want unelected bureaucrats to have more power than the representitives elected by the people.
 
apdst said:
Nobody should. These are a buncha deep state bureaucrats. Where were they when McCabe and his crew were uo to no good?
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"Deep state" is quickly becoming one of the most overused terms turned worthless because of.
 
W_Heisenberg said:
1,100 Former Justice Dept. Lawyers Press for Barr to Step Down - The New York Times

Former Justice Dept. Lawyers Press for Barr to Step Down

More than 1,100 former prosecutors and officials who served in Republican and Democratic administrations signed an open letter condemning the president and the attorney general over the Stone case.

--



This is the ugly truth: Trump and Barr are authoritarians who do not believe in the Rule of Law. They both must be removed from office as soon as practically possible.
Click to expand...

The is the ugly truth is this means nothing, absolutely nothing! You guys have tried over and over to remove the president and have failed in grand fashion. Now you are
going to try to remove AG Barr. Again you are doomed to a spectacular failure! But by all means keep trying. It's fun to watch the clown show in progress! :peace
 
apdst said:
This is why the Left is so ****ed up. They want unelected bureaucrats to have more power than the representitives elected by the people.
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God this is annoying with Trumpists. What does the left have to do with anything? It's like a punt. When a Trumpist says "the left" he's punting.

I don't care about the left. We're discussing over 1,100 former DoJ officials who worked through Democratic and Republican administrations, writing a letter denouncing the actions of the current elected officials. You may have heard a current official resigned. You can dismiss this as deep state whatever. All you want. Knock yourself out. What I'm saying is 1,100 is a lot bigger than 2. The deep state is huge. Just ask Trump. Therein lies its strength, and thank god for that, because we're all deep staters, even you. You just haven't gotten over your infatuation yet.

"It's the institutions, stupid," to steal a phrase from Carville.
 
OrphanSlug said:
"Deep state" is quickly becoming one of the most overused terms turned worthless because of.
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We're pretending it's "Borne Identity".

When in reality it's more like "Parks and Recreation".
 
IMO, the biggest 'crime' Barr has committed and is why the big push to remove Barr exists is because Barr is looking into possibly reversing convictions in the Trump campaign probe.
 
W_Heisenberg said:
1,100 Former Justice Dept. Lawyers Press for Barr to Step Down - The New York Times

Former Justice Dept. Lawyers Press for Barr to Step Down

More than 1,100 former prosecutors and officials who served in Republican and Democratic administrations signed an open letter condemning the president and the attorney general over the Stone case.

--



This is the ugly truth: Trump and Barr are authoritarians who do not believe in the Rule of Law. They both must be removed from office as soon as practically possible.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree with you more, with those types in the white house, this no longer looks like the United States of America. They should be booted, one way or another.
 
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