Patently illegal- Barr using Giuliani to attack Biden via the DOJ. The Federal Government is not in the business of being Trump's lawyer team.
Why this is so reprehensible. Trump and Barr are using the DOJ to attack Trump political opponents. This is the same abuse of power which got Nixon nailed over Watergate. The DOJ is NOT the Presidents Legal team, but has a mission to serve the entire nation.
Now for the abuse
Quote
Sen. Lindsey Graham laid out the next step on the march to authoritarian rule on Sunday, advertising that Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, is now officially feeding dirt on Trump’s political opponents to the Justice Department with the blessing of Attorney General William Barr. Barr, Graham said on Face the Nation, has "created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if it’s verified.”
Is this true, or is Graham just running his mouth? Well, The New York Times reports, “A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment on Mr. Graham’s assertion,” which is not what you want to see here. The only appropriate response would be to strenuously distance the Justice Department from such a brazenly corrupt scheme, one that would overtly politicize the agency.
As Daily Kos’ Hunter summed up Graham’s claims on Sunday, “the president's self-identified ‘personal lawyer,’ acting on behalf of known-corrupt pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs and ex-officials and in concert with two now-indicted launderers of Russian cash, is now directly channeling conspiracy claims against Trump's election opponent to the U.S. Attorney General's office. There is no longer any pretense of Giuliani's efforts not being state policy.”
As a reminder, the Justice Department’s mission statement is “To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.” Graham is claiming that the department is engaging in behavior that would violate basically all of that. And the department’s response is “No comment.”
If Barr’s Justice Department doesn’t come out and disavow this strongly, it’s a warning sign that Barr is signing on to Trump’s plan to cheat in the 2020 elections, and equally a sign that Barr doesn’t care about the judgment of history—that he, as much as Trump, is unleashed to try to dismantle American democracy and replace it with perpetual Republican rule.
End of quote
The long and short of it, is as follows
A. It is ILLEGAL to have the DOJ act as the Presidents LEGAL team. This is an abuse and need to stop at once
B. The issue of persecution of political opponents is very pertinent. Not to mention the absolute level of damage to the US alliance system. US Allies will NOT wish to become pawns of a POTUS trying to steal an election
C. Trump was NOT exonerated by the Senate "trial". No WITNESSES were allowed, and if no Witnesses were allowed, there was NO due process.
To claim otherwise is despicable lying
D. It is a matter of record that CREDIBLE evidence of abuse of the process to try to fake a narrative into the 2020 POTUS elections was exposed via the House Impeachment hearings and the Senate since it did NOT allow due process, but used a sham process of denying review of evidence, did NOTHING to refute it.
E. The long and short of it, is that it is a violation of the protocol of Free POTUS elections to have the POTUS coerce false testimony from unwilling participants in the international alliance system of the United States.
The GOP defenders of Trump are oblivious to all the above. But they also do not wish there to be democratic elections. It is that simple
Andrew Beckwith, PhD