Sessions Department of Justice
November 8, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions has received an outpouring of praise from conservatives whose focus is public policy. I quoted some of that praise last night. There’s a lot more I could add, but instead I’ll confine myself to this article by Heather Mac Donald. She argues that by firing Sessions, President Trump has put key portions of his agenda at risk: Trump won the presidency by promising to restore
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October 11, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Today, the Senate voted to confirm my good friend Eric Dreiband as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. It also voted to confirm my new friend Jeff Clark as Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division. The Senate confirmed Clark by a vote of 52-45. Sens. Joe Manchin and Claire McCaskill crossed parties lines to vote for Jeff. The two Florida Senators, Rubio and Nelson,
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October 9, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
On Saturday, shortly after the Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh, Majority Leader McConnell filed for cloture on the nominations of Eric Dreiband and Jeff Clark. Both have been nominated for Assistant Attorney General positions — Eric to head the Civil Rights Division, Jeff to head the Environmental and Natural Resources Division. For Democrats, McConnell’s move surely added insult to injury. The Dems bitterly oppose Eric and Jeff because both are strong
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September 13, 2018 — John Hinderaker
I wrote last night about the leaked Google video that confirms, once and for all, that Google is an arm of the Democratic Party. Now, word emerges that the Department of Justice has invited 24 state attorneys general to meet for the purpose of discussing possible antitrust actions against the dominant technology platforms: On Thursday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that nearly half of the state attorneys general would
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September 8, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post reports that the grand jury investigation of former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe has been proceeding apace and now seems to be intensifying. As I understand it, McCabe is under investigation for misleading government officials about leaking. The investigation was triggered by the Justice Department inspector general’s finding of wrongdoing by McCabe. The inspector general, Michael Horowitz (an Obama appointee), concluded in a detailed report that McCabe
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September 5, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
We’re in the middle of a busy news week, but I don’t want to overlook something President Trump tweeted on Monday. It was this: Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff…… I
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August 31, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Catherine Rampell, a knee-jerk leftist columnist for the Washington Post, writes: “How on earth did Jeff Sessions — Jeff Sessions! — find himself abandoned by the right and embraced by the left?” (Emphasis in the original). Actually, the left isn’t really embracing Sessions (Rampell certainly doesn’t) and conservatives as a group aren’t really abandoning him. Hard-core Trumpians are very unhappy with Sessions, to be sure. And, as Rampell notes, some
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August 30, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
The Department of Justice today filed a Statement of Interest on the side of the plaintiff in Students For Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard College. Students For Fair Admissions, an organization of students and parents, alleges that Harvard intentionally discriminates against Asian-American applicants when making admissions decisions. The Justice Department opened a Title VI investigation into Harvard’s admissions process in 2017 based upon a complaint filed by more than 60
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August 25, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
President Trump continued publicly to criticize Jeff Sessions, his Attorney General, yesterday. He tweeted: “Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.” Jeff, this is GREAT, what everyone wants, so look into all of the corruption on the “other side” including deleted Emails, Comey lies & leaks, Mueller conflicts, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr. FISA abuse, Christopher Steele & his phony and corrupt Dossier, the Clinton Foundation, illegal
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August 23, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
This morning, President Trump attacked his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, once again. He complained that Sessions “never took control of the Justice Department.” Trump fails here to distinguish between taking control of the Russia investigation and taking control of the Justice Department generally. He also fails to recognize that it’s not the Attorney General’s job to protect the president or to promote his political interests — to be the president’s
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June 8, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
The constitutionality of Obamacare is under challenge once again. Six years ago, the Supreme Court held that the federal government does not have the power to order people to buy health insurance, but does have the power to impose a tax on those without health insurance. The ruling saved Obamacare. However, the tax bill Congress passed last year eliminates the tax penalty contained in Obamacare. Thus, Texas now argues that
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June 7, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Earlier this week, Majority Leader McConnell cancelled most of the Senate’s August recess. He did so in response to the unprecedented obstruction of Senate Democrats in blocking floor votes on President Trump’s nominees. The cancellation hurts Democrats, and not just because it’s a blow against their obstruction. There are more vulnerable Democrats than vulnerable Republicans up for reelection this year. The lack of a month-long recess will keep them off
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June 5, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Canceling recess was a common punishment for bad behavior when I was in elementary school. I’m happy to report that Majority Leader McConnell says he’ll punish the bad behavior of Democrats by canceling most of the Senate’s August recess. Here is McConnell’s statement: Due to the historic obstruction by Senate Democrats of the president’s nominees, and the goal of passing appropriations bills prior to the end of the fiscal year,
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May 31, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Scott has already linked to the New York Times’ story on the Andrew McCabe memos. As he suggests these memos add to the evidence that Rosenstein should recuse himself from the Mueller investigation. Even without the McCabe memos, there seemed to be a solid case for recusal. By all accounts, Mueller is investigating the firing of his good friend James Comey to determine whether, somehow, it is obstruction of justice
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May 16, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Some of us have been clamoring for Mitch McConnell to take special measures to break the logjam on Senate confirmation of Trump nominees for the judiciary and key sub-cabinet positions. One such measure would be to limit the number of hours nominees can be debated on the Senate floor, as the Senate agreed to do when Obama nominees were waiting their turn. Another would be to have the Senate work
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May 14, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
In my first post on this subject, I argued that 15 months into the Trump presidency, those who claim he’s a threat to democracy should have to point to actions he’s taken that support this assertion. I then submitted that Trump’s actions do not support claims that he threatens free speech, flouts the rule of law, assaults minority rights, or colludes with foreign adversaries. In this post, I’ll argue that
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May 9, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
For conservatives, the rolling back of oppressive, costly, and unnecessary federal regulations is probably the signature achievement of the Trump administration so far. This rolling back, if it continues and if it survives challenge, will deliver a major blow to the administrative state and provide the equivalent of a large national tax cut. EPA is the federal agency at the center of the rollback. Indeed, most of the “tax cut”
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