Tag: everyone Trump touches becomes corrupt

House Judiciary Goes After AG Barr Over Back Channel For Giuliani To Give Info On Ukraine

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) wrote a letter to the attorney general demanding answers about the DOJ’s new “intake process” to vet tips from Rudy Giuliani.

The House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Monday demanding answers regarding the Justice Department’s new so-called “intake process” to receive information from Rudy Giuliani about Ukraine and the Bidens.

Rep. Jerry Nadler’s (D-N.Y.) letter comes hours after Barr admitted that the department would evaluate material that Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, had collected from Ukrainian sources claiming to have damaging information about 2020 candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

Giuliani’s gathering of such information was a huge part of Trump’s attempt to get Ukraine to announce an investigation into the Bidens ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, which led to the president’s impeachment (and eventual acquittal). Much of what the former New York City mayor has said to media outlets so far has consisted of conspiracy theories and misinformation. Continue reading.

Perdue Using Taxpayer-Funded USDA Podcasts To Promote Trump

Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer used a taxpayer-funded USDA podcast to suck up to their boss, President Donald Trump, and praise his agricultural trade policies, which have left farmers hurting.

Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer used a taxpayer-funded USDA podcast to suck up to their boss, President Donald Trump, and praise his agricultural trade policies, which have left farmers hurting.

Perdue peppered his podcast with Lighthizer, the president’s top trade policy adviser, with his signature praise of Trump. Introducing his guest, Perdue described Trump as “an unapologetic advocate for America around the globe” and said that he wanted to congratulate Lighthizer because he “can’t think of anyone who can support President Trump better than you have in these trade negotiations. You’re tough and you reinforce his ability to use leverage … You’ve been quite a sidekick to the president.”  Continue reading.

Barr acknowledges Justice Dept. has created ‘intake process’ to vet Giuliani’s information on Bidens

Washington Post logoAttorney General William P. Barr acknowledged Monday that the Justice Department would evaluate material that Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, had gathered from Ukrainian sources claiming to have damaging information about former vice president Joe Biden and his family — though Barr and other officials suggested Giuliani was being treated no differently than any tipster.

At a news conference on an unrelated case, Barr confirmed an assertion made Sunday by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) that the Justice Department had “created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if it’s verified.”

Barr said he had established an “intake process in the field” so that the Justice Department and intelligence agencies could scrutinize information they were given. Continue reading.

Graham Says DOJ Will Probe Bidens, Warns Russia Probers ‘Going To Jail’

Sen. Lindsey Graham took to the Sunday talk shows to bask in the Senate’s nullification of Donald Trump’s impeachment for using the tools of his power to extort the Ukrainian government into providing him “dirt” on a Democratic election opponent. It is not just Trump who appears to feel unleashed; Graham, too, was eager to describe the next steps of the administration-led descent into American fascism.

A first step: Trump “private lawyer” Rudy Giuliani’s smear campaign against the Bidens is now moving into Attorney General William Barr’s Justice Department. Whatever Barr’s prior pretenses may have been, Barr is now explicitly establishing the means by which Rudy’s propaganda can be filtered into official “investigations” of Trump’s targeted enemies.

Throughout the House and press investigations into the Ukraine scandal, Trump Attorney General Barr either refused comment or denied that he was involved with the Giuliani efforts, despite Trump specifically naming both Barr and Giuliani as contacts for the Ukrainian president in the “transcript” of Trump’s now-infamous phone call. Whether this was a lie or not—and it is almost certainly a direct lie by a complicit Barr—such pretenses have now vanished. Continue reading.

The Sad Implosion Of Alan Dershowitz

The road leading to President Donald Trump’s acquittal from charges of which he is plainly guilty is littered with a trail of public figures selling their souls and abandoning their consciences. Few have been more dispiriting, however, than retired law professor Alan Dershowitz, whose reputation imploded in national view during Trump’s impeachment trial, all seemingly because of an unquenchable thirst for limelight. Dershowitz’s embarrassing performance in the service of a corrupt president who positively basks in a totalitarian’s view of his own power (speaking of the Constitution, he said, “I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president”) left Dershowitz looking like a sad and simple toady, so enthralled by media attention that he is willing to say anything for anyone in order to get it.

From its outset, the Trump presidency provided Dershowitz the welcome opportunity for attention, and he has taken advantage of it. He has been ubiquitous on cable television, sounding somewhere between silly and ridiculous on the president’s behalf, arguing that the poor beleaguered Trump was being persecuted by those bent on trampling his civil liberties. As impeachment proceedings got underway, Dershowitz found himself in increasing demand and was tapped to be on Trump’s defense team, an appointment he appeared to relish. His pitch: However accurately the articles of impeachment passed by the House summarize Trump’s conduct, Trump cannot be impeached because he has not committed a statutory crime. Before you could say, “egg on his face,” a clip surfaced of Dershowitz proclaiming the precise opposite with equal self-assurance in 1999. “It certainly doesn’t have to be a crime,” Dershowitz had said. “If you have somebody who completely corrupts the office of the president and who abuses trust and who poses great danger to our liberty, you don’t need a technical crime.”

Faced with this direct contradiction from his own lips, Dershowitz launched a series of cringeworthy “clarifications” that damaged his credibility further. “I wasn’t wrong. I have a more sophisticated basis for my argument,” he explained to one interviewer. “I didn’t do research back then. I relied on what professors said,” he told another. “I am much more correct right now,” he insisted to a third, a line that may live on for its hubris and its inanity.

Lindsey Graham faces revolt from Republican colleagues over plan to investigate whistleblower: WaPo reporter

AlterNet logoAppearing on CNN’s “New Day” on Monday morning, Washington Post congressional reporter Rachael Bade claimed some Republican lawmakers are balking at a plan by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to go after the whistleblower whose report led to the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) served notice that the Republican-majority Senate Intelligence Committee will investigate the whistleblower, stating, “The Senate Intel Committee under Richard Burr has told us that they will call the whistleblower,” before adding, “I want to understand how all this crap started.”

According to Bade, that sentiment is not universal among Republican lawmakers. Continue reading.

Parnas attorney asks William Barr to recuse himself from investigation

The Hill logoA lawyer for Lev Parnas, an associate of President Trump‘s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, is asking Attorney General William Barr to recuse himself from an investigation into alleged campaign finance violations against Parnas.

Joseph Bondy made the request in a letter sent to Barr and filed in New York federal court on Monday, CNN reported. In it, Bondy argues that Barr has a “conflict of interest” in the matter and that he should appoint a special prosecutor from outside the Justice Department to handle the case.

“Given the totality of the circumstances, we believe it is appropriate for you to recuse yourself from the ongoing investigation and pending prosecution of Mr. Parnas,” wrote Bondy.  Continue reading.