Sessions Department of Justice
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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April 15, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
For months, Sen. Cory Gardner has been blocking the Trump administration from staffing key positions at the DOJ. Among these position are Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division; Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division; Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division; and, until Gardner was finally shamed into relenting, Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division. In all, around 20 positions reportedly were affected. You might think that Gardner’s obstruction leaves these key divisions
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March 30, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Early this month, President Trump tweeted: Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL! Trump’s tweet was foolish at several levels, as I argued here. For one thing, folks who know what they’re talking about
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March 29, 2018 — John Hinderaker
The Inspector General of the Department of Justice announced yesterday that he will investigate potential abuse of the FISA process by the FBI in connection with its surveillance of Carter Page, and perhaps more broadly of the Trump presidential campaign: Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced today that, in response to requests from the Attorney General and Members of Congress, the Office of the Inspector General
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