Justice Dept. asks judge to toss lawsuit against Trump, Barr for violent clearing of Lafayette Sq
Source: Washington Post
Trump and other U.S. officials are immune from civil lawsuits over police actions taken to protect a president and to secure his movements, government lawyers said of the actions taken ahead of a photo op of Trump holding a Bible in front of the historic St. Johns Church. A crowd of more than 1,000 largely peaceful demonstrators were protesting the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis before the park was cleared.
A year to the week after Floyds death, Justice Department lawyers argued that the lawsuits should also be tossed because last Novembers presidential election made future violations unlikely. The government said the square has been reopened, and President Bidens administration does not share Trumps stated hostility toward Floyd and the racial justice movement.
The American Civil Liberties Union of D.C., Black Lives Matter, other civil liberties groups and individual protesters accuse Trump and senior officials of driving the June 1 events. Military, federal and local police forcibly cleared the square using batons, clubs, horses, pepper spray, smoke and fired projectiles 30 minutes before a citywide curfew began. Images of violence drew a national backlash against Trumps calls for overwhelming force to put down those he called THUGS and domestic terrorists. The nations top military official later apologized for walking with Trump before television cameras that day.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/trump-lafayette-square-civil-lawsuit/2021/05/28/c413c840-bfb3-11eb-b26e-53663e6be6ff_story.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=wp_main
Comfortably_Numb
(3,789 posts)No words describe....
WVreaper
(620 posts)pazzyanne
(6,542 posts)Watched that happen and there was no reasonable purpose for that to happen. It was political theater. General Mark Millney apologized for taking part in that fiasco.
"Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on his participation in Trump's bible photo op/tear gassing: "I should not have been there." He also says, "As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/11/top-us-military-general-mark-milley-issues-public-apology-trump-church-photo-op
brooklynite
(94,294 posts)pazzyanne
(6,542 posts)by clubbing people with batons, with riot shields and firing pepper balls at them, then forcibly pushing them out of the theater with mounted horsemen using law enforcement and the US military.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)brooklynite
(94,294 posts)Marrah_Goodman
(1,586 posts)But that's only for people in power. Not regular folks like us.
ewagner
(18,964 posts)I think there is no expectation on the part of DOJ that the petition will be granted.
At least...I sure as hell hope so!
Layzeebeaver
(1,613 posts)Let them run their processes according to precedent.
Warpy
(111,117 posts)Bettie
(16,058 posts)Kind of feels like the first step in letting them entirely off the hook.
Hoping that is not happening.
Crowman2009
(2,490 posts)Is this the garbage left over from the last administration?
pazzyanne
(6,542 posts)Layzeebeaver
(1,613 posts)They are doing their job.
It's not just the current government, they also defend previous governments.
We may not like it but that's the way the system works.
The DOJ can't selectively choose 'WHICH" government or administration that wish to protect - imagine the can of worms that would be opened if we accept the DOJ can just do as they please. We had a taste of that under Barr!
Marthe48
(16,892 posts)Let every single charge be heard, every shred of evidence entered into the record. So there is a record.
Stop giving all of the racist violence a pass.
Stop letting this traitor and his henchmen off the hook.
Polybius
(15,328 posts)While I disagree strongly with this, I hope no one comes down too hard on him in this thread.
Mawspam2
(722 posts)n/t
Firestorm49
(4,028 posts)and Merrick Garland has yet to show his fangs. But as we sit here and contemplate, time is racing past. I feel ridiculous stating this over and over, but were not in this dog fight. Republicans simply dont give a shit, and their colors are on full display.
Fight! Damn it! If the filibuster needs to go, then do it, but quit standing around while Republicans continue to show that they run the game.
Justice matters.
(6,915 posts)That case is not over yet. The DOJ only "asked" to dismiss: Doesn't mean it will be.
We'll get to dRumpf and his co-conspirators like barR through other means.
Firestorm49
(4,028 posts)Marrah_Goodman
(1,586 posts)I don't care what side they are on. When someone fucks up, I won't be nice about it just because I think they are a nice guy.
Fullduplexxx
(7,839 posts)questionseverything
(9,645 posts)N/t
questionseverything
(9,645 posts)N/t
Justice matters.
(6,915 posts)Justice matters.
(6,915 posts)gab13by13
(21,234 posts)Dustlawyer
(10,494 posts)If we dont hold them accountable for their crimes they will keep committing crimes.
BigmanPigman
(51,560 posts)What the fuck is going on? They (Garland and the DOJ) still have to decide if the fucking moron can be held for Obstruction of Justice (Senator Whitehouse told this to Rachel Maddow this week).
Marrah_Goodman
(1,586 posts)I expect there to be zero consequences for Trump and his gang. He has never faced real consequences and I doubt he will now.
I hope I am wrong, but I don't think I am.
Fool me once...etc (merry Fitzmas)
JohnSJ
(92,058 posts)Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)If there are any consequences for any of them I will be surprised.
oldsoftie
(12,485 posts)than him go to jail
Trump going to jail just gives the MAGA crowd more "witch hunt" crap to yell. And you KNOW he would be yelling it loudest
Him failing as a businessman cant be blamed on revenge seeking democrats. And is probably a bigger embarrassment.
PatSeg
(47,236 posts)isn't a very powerful inspiring leader and he will have even fewer resources to reach his crazed base. He can blame whoever he wants, but it is unlikely anyone will be listening. His money or perception of wealth was a huge selling point.
oldsoftie
(12,485 posts)His dad probably had to bail him out of 100 failures
PatSeg
(47,236 posts)bought into his hype. He couldn't have been a more obvious fraud if he'd worn a sign on his back.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,164 posts)Either through the natural process, or bad actors slowing it down, or both, by the time a case like this gets to the docket, the media have moved on, and the courts know they can dismiss it without too much fanfare.
orangecrush
(19,384 posts)THIS CANNOT STAND!!!
Time to start making lots of phone calls.
This is a huge middle finger to every one of us who risked our lives to go out and vote to remove the filthy sewer rat from office.
My fucking blood pressure is probably spiking right now.
JohnSJ
(92,058 posts)did.
I doubt calling the DOJ will accomplish anything
Biden could fire the AG, but it is doubtful that will happen
orangecrush
(19,384 posts)Enough outrage from Democratic voters to reach Joe's ears.
LiberalFighter
(50,759 posts)orangecrush
(19,384 posts)JohnSJ
(92,058 posts)Unlike trump, He doesn't interfered in their decisions.
orangecrush
(19,384 posts)It's time to fire them.
Jay25
(417 posts)Jose Garcia
(2,581 posts)future Presidents will be held to.
orangecrush
(19,384 posts)For Trump.
Jose Garcia
(2,581 posts)Pachamama
(16,884 posts)This is so wrong
jmowreader
(50,524 posts)And because he also has more than 33 Republicans in the Senate, he could basically do whatever the hell he wanted in his official capacity while he was still in office.
Given that, he didn't rip off the government to the tune of millions while he was in office in his official capacity, so we can still go after him for that.
GB_RN
(2,322 posts)If its not dismissed, the next time the tRumptards were to have a shitfit and the feds broke it up, theyd sue Biden under this precedent. Its bad optics, but theyre taking a longer view of it, IMO.
notinkansas
(1,096 posts)Their shitfits happen every day. And we don't need to be hiding under a rock for fear of that.
I don't know that longer views are particularly useful under our current circumstances.
LenaBaby61
(6,972 posts)IF there is a next time and the GQP manages to steal the House and Senate, this country will effectively become the USSR, only this time somebody might get hung at the US Capitol, and we who oppose them won't be able to to shit about it.
Yeah, I better start planning my move to Mexico much sooner rather than later, if this country is captured an or stolen by the GQP during the next big election cycles. I'm pretty sure Pres. Biden will be impeached and probably hauled off to jail, and whose gonna stop the GQP? 😳
Scruffy1
(3,252 posts)Any ruling otherwise could be a time bomb. With the Supremes anything can happen. Look at Citizens United should scare the shit out of anyone seeking relief from them. It was as bad as the Dred Scott decision in taking a very narrow matter, which was already settled and using it to blow a gaping hole in the Constitution with judicial overreach.
SunSeeker
(51,502 posts)I totally get that US officials should have immunity when carrying out police actions in good faith to protect the president, but this was not to protect the president. This was to clear Lafayette Square so Trump could have his photo op.
Mr.Bill
(24,228 posts)This will look like no big deal when you see what is to come.
Lonestarblue
(9,958 posts)I waited for the Mueller report. Nothing happened. I waited for indictments of Trump on obstruction of justice after he left office. Nothing happened. I waited for all the emoluments lawsuits. Nothing happened. I waited for the end of Trumps presidency so Individual 1 could be prosecuted for campaign finance violations the same as Michael Cohen, who spent time in jail. Nothing happened, case dismissed. I waited for the inauguration committee fraudstill ongoing four years later, but will anything happen? Probably not.
Im tired of waiting for justice to be enforced, but it never seems to come for most rich white men like Trump. For all the crooks like Bernie Madoff who do get caught and sent to prison, thousands more just skate around the law and never suffer any consequences. So far, Trump has been one of them.
I no longer believe in the basic fairness of the US legal system. It is filled with lawyers and judges who protect white people, especially rich white people, and businesses to the detriment of everyone else. Republicans have been passing laws to give their state legislatures the right to overturn the votes of the people. Lawsuits have been filed, but I doubt that many of these laws will be overturned because states have the right to regulate elections. One federal law, Senate bill 1, could negate most of these laws, bu Congress refuses to pass it. What does that say about our desire to maintain white privilege in this country, even if democratic principles get trampled into the ground to do so?
Paladin
(28,243 posts)It's as if the Democratic Party is wearing a big sign on its back, saying "I'M A REALLY NICE PERSON! PLEASE KICK ME IN THE ASS!" and the Republicans are always more than willing to climb out of the sewers and oblige us. I believe it may take another civil war to put things back in order.
Mr.Bill
(24,228 posts)I think there are people who just want to make a career out of perpetual investigations. But I have some hope that something will come from this.
NJCher
(35,616 posts)It already seems to be authoritarian rights over peoples rights.
The excerpts from the DOJ seem lame, too.
HariSeldon
(454 posts)The most obvious are "I'm stuck with a case I don't really want to win" and "I'm stuck with a case where the law and the facts are against me." Neither one looks much like a full-on win for the DOJ, but maybe they are angling for the court to rule the President has immunity from such action taken "for the President's safety or necessarily for the discharge of the President's duties," which this was not.
louseb
(27 posts)A civil lawsuit against former administration officials is pointless. They can't go to jail if found guilty anyways.
Ace Rothstein
(3,139 posts)Who needs Republican voter suppression when the Dems give voters reasons to not vote for them anyway.
LymphocyteLover
(5,636 posts)they certainly have bigger fish to fry
msfiddlestix
(7,270 posts)Maybe this is being contemplated as opposed to a "lawsuit"?
Wouldn't the effect of a victorious lawsuit be awarding plaintiffs a significant financial judgment if brought before a civil jury?
Perhaps that isn't a good thing for justice, it would be better file criminal charges instead. Obviously that would mean taking it to a Grand Jury and see how it plays with the GJ.
I dunno, just thinking of other potential options.
Layzeebeaver
(1,613 posts)"Trump and other U.S. officials are immune from civil lawsuits over police actions taken to protect a president and to secure his movements, government lawyers said of the actions taken ahead of a photo op of Trump"
My underline for highlight.
I believe this is in-line with historical precedent - HOWEVER... If the court finds a different perspective, then all bets are off.
It also opens up the doors for wild and crazy lawsuits against the Biden administration by the Right wing crazies on a whole range of matters (some real and some not so real).
Let's not over react to this. Let the DOJ run their processes according to how they're historically conducted. Let the judge decide.
Personally, I believe there was foul play by Barr and Trump, and I hope it plays out to a conviction.
ALSO: let's not forget that there are a number of concurrent cases in play - it may be appropriate for the DOJ to try and fight a few for whatever reason - I really don't know the logic...
LymphocyteLover
(5,636 posts)and have bigger fish to fry.
I always felt like the Lafayette Square thing was one of the smaller scandals of the Trump administration
bucolic_frolic
(43,026 posts)Very unfortunate, but in some cases that may mean acting as if formerguy45 never happened. I would call this an excision.
KPN
(15,634 posts)Evolve Dammit
(16,689 posts)going to be restored. If not, we are screwed. If DOJ is OK with "events" like Lafayette Square which was a total dictator, incendiary staged propaganda abuse of power, resulting in injuries to further divide and inflame, then it will be the norm. And so much more.
samsingh
(17,590 posts)this is why we may lose Democracy.
Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)Snowflakes,,,,,
Bayard
(21,991 posts)Why? Why? WHY?!
This is not, "moving on", and putting the past behind us! Its not holding miscreants accountable.
Are they only going for the most hideous and flagrant instances of misdeeds? Don't know about giving them the benefit of the doubt on this one.
I don't get it.
Marcuse
(7,442 posts)Last edited Sat May 29, 2021, 01:37 PM - Edit history (1)
Another example is the AG opinion re not prosecuting sitting presidents, which works as long as the President and more than a third of the Senate are not corrupt.
The DOJ will continue to represent the former administration to the best of its ability as with its pitifully limp response to Judge Jacksons ruling that Barr lied about the existence of Muellers evidence of obstruction.
(I know, I know.)
BradBo
(526 posts)Maggiemayhem
(807 posts)I mean Gaetz was just advocating overthrowing the government. If you think this shit is over, you aint paying attention.
MarcA
(2,195 posts)If they are paying attention, the majority of the public will see it as Dems doing nothing.
lees1975
(3,839 posts)Trump needs to suffer more than just the consequence of losing an election to make sure we never have a presidency like that again. He won't ever change his mind, but he needs to spend some time in prison as a deterrent to the next demagogue who might think that since Trump got away with it, he could too. Voters need to see it.