Barr's Justice Department serves up talking points for Trump
Source: Politico
POLITICS
Barr's Justice Department serves up talking points for Trump
DOJ officials say they are just following the law. But department veterans see political motives in Barr's recent moves.
By KYLE CHENEY
09/29/2020 04:30 AM EDT
The prosecution of Michael Flynn. A Senate investigation into the provenance of the Steele Dossier. The nascent federal probe of discarded absentee ballots in Pennsylvania.
In recent days, the Justice Department has declassified or disclosed sensitive materials related to each of these proceedings that, on the surface, have little to do with each other. Yet within hours, President Donald Trump had weaponized each to boost his reelection campaign.
It's the latest evidence that veteran prosecutors and attorneys -- and, over the weekend, even a current DOJ official -- describe as an intensifying effort to use the department to support Trump's political fortunes.
"These actions are not typical," said William Jeffress, a veteran defense lawyer who represented former President RIchard Nixon after he left the White House. "Tradition is that politically sensitive actions by DOJ go dark at least 60 days before an election." ... Jeffress called the Justice Department's unusual press release last week regarding a handful of discarded military ballots in Luzerne County -- a crucial area of a crucial state that swung to Trump in 2016 -- "particularly striking."
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Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/29/barrs-justice-department-serves-up-talking-points-for-trump-422831
Hat tip, Joe.My.God.
DOJ Funnels Campaign Talking Points To Trump
September 29, 2020
https://www.joemygod.com/2020/09/doj-funnels-campaign-talking-points-to-trump/
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Dave Weigel Retweeted
https://twitter.com/daveweigel
NEW: Three times last week, the Justice Department released explosive documents about politically sensitive cases. And three times the president folded them into his campaign speeches within hours.
Link to tweet
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