On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from two Department of Justice attorneys who said that improper political influence had warped multiple cases, including the sentencing recommendation for President Donald Trump’s associate Roger Stone.
These insider accounts of political abuse by Attorney General William Barr confirmed what thousands of former DOJ employees suspected when they recently signed onto letters calling for Barr’s removal. The testimony detailed how federal prosecutors were pressured to change tactics and recommendations based on the president’s tweets and political pressure from the administration.
As damning as this testimony is, however, it was quickly overshadowed by the fact that the Judiciary Committee is a clown show. Republicans on the committee immediately sought to derail proceedings by turning to familiar tactics. Democratic leadership on the committee, as exemplified by Chairman Jerrold Nadler, consistently allows committee Republicans to wreck proceedings any time the committee attempts to address Barr’s efforts to put Trump and his allies above the law. The theatrics have become so predictable they may as well be scripted. Continue reading.