Fearful of Trump's Attacks, Justice Dept. Lawyers Worry Barr Will Leave Them Exposed
Source: msn.com
Katie Benner, Sharon LaFraniere and Nicole Hong 2 hrs ago
WASHINGTON In an email a few days ago to the 270 lawyers he oversees, Nicola T. Hanna, the United States attorney in Los Angeles, offered a message of reassurance: I am proud of the work you do, he wrote.
a statue in front of a building: The Justice Department has been grappling with President Trumps tweets almost since he took office.© Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times The Justice Department has been grappling with President Trumps tweets almost since he took office.
Other U.S. attorneys in the Justice Departments far-flung 93 field offices relayed similar messages of encouragement after President Trumps efforts to influence a politically fraught case provoked the kind of consternation the department has rarely seen since the Watergate era. All I have to say, another United States attorney wrote to his staff, is keep doing the right things for the right reasons.
But the fact that the departments 10,000-odd lawyers needed reassurances seemed like cause for worry all by itself.
In more than three dozen interviews in recent days, lawyers across the federal governments legal establishment wondered aloud whether Mr. Trump was undermining the Justice Departments treasured reputation for upholding the law without favor or political bias and whether Attorney General William P. Barr was able or willing to protect it.
Mr. Trump elicited those fears by denouncing federal prosecutors who had recommended a prison sentence of up to nine years for his longtime friend and political adviser Roger J. Stone Jr. Mr. Barr fanned them by scrapping the recommendation in favor of a far more lenient one, leading the prosecutors to quit the case in protest..............................................
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fearful-of-trumps-attacks-justice-dept-lawyers-worry-barr-will-leave-them-exposed/ar-BB102m5e?li=BBnb7Kz
I would be fearful also.
bitterross
(4,066 posts)There is no need to spend time worrying about the mere possibility Barr will throw people under the bus for Trump. He will do that.
All anyone can do is to ensure their behinds are covered as much as is possible. Even then, it will not be easy.
CatMor
(6,212 posts)mdbl
(4,972 posts)That awful Dick Cheney started to normalize the behavior of attacking citizens working to keep our justice system fair. It has just gotten worse from there. I thought Cheney should have been charged with treason and jailed but since he got away with it, the practice has just gotten worse. Trump's trajectory is 10 times more severe.
azureblue
(2,131 posts)if the lawyers simply refused to leave? What would happen if all the lawyers walked out at the same time?
greymattermom
(5,751 posts)Would there be any negative consequences for Barr-Trump?
Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth