Friends,
Many of us are familiar with the Injustice system. But what
is happening now hints at fascism. We have a corrupt president, a Department
of Justice which is on the side of the criminals and Moscow Mitch appointing
unqualified arch-conservative federal judges. Unless Trump is taken out
by the voters or by the Twenty Fifth Amendment and the Democrats take the
Senate, the right-wing onslaught will damage this country for the next fifty
years. Check out Poland, as the right wing is following the same play
book. Kagiso, Max
Barr Accused of 'Capturing Justice System' for Benefit of Trump as DOJ Drops Case Against Michael Flynn
President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr. (Photo: U.S.
Department of Justice, courtesy of Wikimedia)
Government
watchdogs on Thursday called the U.S. Justice Department's decision to drop its
case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn "an
outrage," saying the move was made for the political benefit of President
Donald Trump.
U.S.
Attorney Timothy Shea wrote in a filing that the Justice
Department was no longer convinced that Flynn should be prosecuted for lying to
the FBI in 2017 about his discussions with former Russian ambassador Sergey
Kislyak during the 2016 election.
"Make
no mistake: today is the day Barr flipped from fighting crime to openly
facilitating it."
—Norm Eisen, Brookings Institution
—Norm Eisen, Brookings Institution
"The
government is not persuaded that the Jan. 24, 2017, interview was conducted
with a legitimate investigative basis and therefore does not believe Mr.
Flynn's statements were material even if untrue," Shea wrote.
Upon
hearing of the DOJ's decision, Trump called Flynn a "warrior" and
"an innocent man," despite the fact that Flynn twice pleaded guilty
to the charges.
Noah
Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics
in Washington, accused Attorney General William Barr of meddling "in
prosecutions to help the president's friends and allies."
“Attorney
General Barr has consistently acted for the personal and political benefit of
President Trump, rather than fulfilling his duty as chief law enforcement
officer of the United States," said Bookbinder. "Today's dismissal
of the case against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, previously
affirmed by prosecutors, the presiding judge, and a guilty plea from Flynn
himself, needs to be seen through that lens. We have to be deeply skeptical
that this is anything other than a further capturing of our criminal justice system
for the benefit of the president."
The
case was dropped nearly three months after Barr hired an outside prosecutor to review the
case against Barr, a move which triggered accusations of political
interference.
Flynn's
lawyers have accused DOJ investigators of misconduct during their probe of
Flynn's FBI interview. Brandon Van Grack, the lead prosecutor on the case, was
repeatedly targeted by Flynn's lawyers in court filings for what they called
"incredible malfeasance."
In
what the New York Times called "a possible sign of
disagreement" with the department's decision, Van Grack withdrew suddenly
from the case Thursday, hours before the DOJ dropped it.
The
dismissal of Flynn case represents "a dark day for the Justice
Department," wrote Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers' Committee for
Civil Rights Under Law.
This
is outrageous. There was clear evidence of obstruction and, on top of that,
Flynn pled GUILTY to lying to federal investigators.
Fairness, independence and the rule of law are principles that have no meaning to Barr. This is a dark day for the Justice Department. https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1258477969544273928 …
Fairness, independence and the rule of law are principles that have no meaning to Barr. This is a dark day for the Justice Department. https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1258477969544273928 …
Trump
critics on social media accused Barr of working to represent the president's
interests rather than those of the public.
Under
Trump we have a Dept of Injustice that lets a confessed felon go free under a
president who violates his oath of office to take care of his cronies via
Attorney Specific Barr. @AP scoop: charges against Michael Flynn
dropped.
Make
no mistake: today is the day Barr flipped from fighting crime to openly
facilitating it. The Flynn dismissal is an outrage. He repeatedly admitted to
the crime! https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/01/opinion/trump-flynn-fbi.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytopinion …
According to the Times, the
president's advisers last week urged him to hold off on issuing a pardon for
Flynn and to instead allow to DOJ's case to be completed.
"The
president doesn't need to issue pardons to his cronies when his attorney
general appears willing to terminate their cases before justice can be
served," said Bookbinder.
Our work
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. Feel
free to republish and share widely.
Donations can be sent
to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206,
Baltimore, MD 21212. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at]
comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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