Face of arrogant, defiant, mean, nasty, revengeful
men
(Cut from same cloth, Peas in same pod)
There are two key ways a president can abuse the Justice
Department and federal prosecutorial powers: (1) he can protect his friends,
and (2) he can go after his enemies.
Trump announced Wednesday (August 16, 2018) that in
addition to stripping former CIA director John Brennan of his security
clearance, he’s reviewing the clearances of nine other former top government
officials who have – in some cases harshly – criticized the president.
Yes, the
president has an enemies list. How Nixonian of him.
Until Trump came along, Nixon was probably the nation’s
most paranoid president, and a man who, like Trump, had few qualms about abusing
the power of his office.
In recent days and months, especially with developments
around the Michael Flynn and Roger Stone cases, observers have been deeply
concerned that Trump is engaging in the first kind of abuse.
The Post explains:
Behind that public fight, according to people familiar
with the discussions, is a deeper tension between Trump and Barr’s DOJ over the
lack of criminal charges against former FBI director James Comey and those
close to him. The flare-up over the Stone case comes against a backdrop of
growing behind-the-scenes anger from the president toward the Justice
Department — more about whom the department has not charged with crimes than
about whom it has charged, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Justice Department IG Michael Horowitz referred
Comey’s handling of the memos to prosecutors for possible criminal prosecution,
but lawyers quickly determined it was not a close call and did not seek to
build a case. That sent Trump into a rage, according to people briefed on his
comments. He complained so loudly and swore so frequently in the Oval Office
that some of his aides discussed it for days, these people said.
Trump repeatedly said that Comey deserved to be charged,
and in his rage said: “Can you [expletive] believe they didn’t charge him?”
It’s not
just Comey. The report noted that Trump has also been eager to see charges
against Comey’s former FBI deputy, Andrew McCabe.
Trump also
reportedly became enraged when the Washington Post reported in January that
U.S. Attorney John Huber’s investigation into vague allegations about Hillary
Clinton came up dry.
(NOTE: Trump had asked former AG Jeff
Sessions, whom Trump later forced out, to look into Clinton; that according to
former Mueller’s report).
The Post continued:
Separately, Barr has tapped U.S. Attorney John Durham
in Connecticut to investigate whether any crimes were committed by FBI and CIA
officials in the pursuit of allegations in 2016 that Russia interfered in the
election to benefit Trump’s campaign.
After learning that the Huber investigation is not
likely to produce charges, Trump has become more insistent that Durham finish
his work soon, according to people familiar with the discussions. Trump, these
people said, wants to be able to use whatever Durham finds as a cudgel in his
reelection campaign.
I Note: All this has fed into the public
fight now over the Stone and soon Flynn case. and maybe later, the Manafort cases
(my hunch).
What’s not
clear from the report is how much Trump has directly expressed this anger and
desire for prosecutions to Barr himself.
Barr claimed as seen in this interview with ABC News that
Trump hasn’t asked him to do anything in a criminal case. It’s not clear if
that’s true — but even if Trump hasn’t made his demands explicit to Barr,
there’s no doubt Barr knows what Trump expects from him to do.
My 2 cents: Back to my lead Nixon example at the top
of the page shows how abundantly clear that Trump is on the warpath and clearly abusing
the power of his office that even a novice can see, albeit not to most Republicans
in Congress, who stick to Trump like “Gorilla Glue.”
We are in for very troubling times until Election Day 2020,
and God forbid not after than with more Trump.
We 100% need change, and if that
word ever meant anything in politics, it does now.
Thanks for stopping by.
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