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Dear Group, Join the rally this noon Today, Friday, November 9 at the Tom Foley Federal Building 920 W Riverside Ave Spokane, WA 99201 Here’s the link to the event: https://www.trumpisnotabovethelaw.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response/search/ Enter 99203 on the zip code line. I’m not writing today. I offer below a copy of an analysis by Judd Legum. Please read it and then give McMorris Rodgers’ office a call. It is time for her to stand up for democracy and to put action to her own words, “We need to let Mueller do his job.” Here are the numbers: Spokane Office (509) 353-2374 Colville Office (509) 684-3481 Walla Walla Office (509) 529-9358 D.C. Office (202) 225-2006 The Wednesday afternoon massacre Just hours after the polls closed, President Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Trump has had it in for Sessions ever since March 2017, when Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation. That decision, in turn, led to the appointment of Robert Mueller. Trump’s move, which has been telegraphed for months, is an apparent effort to curtail Mueller’s investigation just as it reaches a critical stage. Mueller is expected to either issue additional indictments or produce a report, which the Justice Department will have to decide whether or not to make public. Trump announced that Sessions would be replaced, on a temporary basis, by Matthew G. Whitaker, Sessions’ chief of staff. According to Bloomberg, Trump has removed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein from his role overseeing Mueller’s investigation. Whitaker is now in charge. If that report is accurate, Whitaker will be able to block Mueller from issuing any indictments Whitaker believes are outside Mueller’s purview. The move is reminiscent of the Saturday Night Massacre, when President Richard Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliott Richardson to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Richardson refused and resigned. Then Nixon issued the same directive to Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, who also refused and resigned. In the end, Solicitor General Robert Bork fired Cox. John Dean, Nixon’s former White House Counsel, said Wednesday’s events were worse. “Unlike the Saturday Night Massacre…that was sort of a culmination of disregard for the president’s direction not to go after his tapes. Here, this seems to be planned like a murder,” Dean said on CNN. Meet the new boss Whitaker’s appointment is notable because he has been an outspoken critic of Mueller. Shortly before joining the Justice Department, Whitaker wrote a column in August 2017 entitled, “Mueller’s investigation of Trump is going too far.” In the piece, Whitaker argued that “investigating Donald Trump’s finances or his family’s finances falls completely outside of the realm of his 2016 campaign and allegations that the campaign coordinated with the Russian government or anyone else. That goes beyond the scope of the appointment of the special counsel.” Mueller is “only authorized to investigate matters that involved any potential links to and coordination between two entities — the Trump campaign and the Russian government,” Whitaker writes. This cramped definition of Mueller’s authority has been rejected by the courts. Paul Manafort unsuccessfullymade the same argument in an attempt to get the charges against him dismissed. On Twitter, Whitaker favorably cited a piece describing Mueller’s investigators as a “lynch mob.” Matt Whitaker 🇺🇸@MattWhitaker46Worth a read. “Note to Trump’s lawyer: Do not cooperate with Mueller lynch mob” https://t.co/a1YY9H94Ma via @phillydotcom August 7 2017 765 Retweets613 Likes He also shared an article exploring how Trump could fire Mueller, including through the appointment of an acting Attorney General. Matt Whitaker 🇺🇸@MattWhitaker46Worth a read–“Could Trump Fire Mueller? It’s Complicated”. https://t.co/sG2igd5qkJ via @politicomag August 4 2017 68 Retweets57 Likes Whitaker defended Trump’s role in dictating a false statement about his son’s meeting in Trump Tower with Russian operatives. Matt Whitaker 🇺🇸@MattWhitaker46Buried lead? “Although misleading the public or the news media is not a crime….” https://t.co/Y2cedHDIE3 August 1 2017 4 Retweets4 Likes In July 2017, Whitaker suggested that an acting Attorney General could reduce Muller’s “budget to so low that his investigations grind to almost a halt.” Whitaker also chaired Sam Clovis’ campaign for Iowa State Treasurer. Clovis is a witness in the Mueller investigation Ken Dilanian@KenDilanianNBCWhaddaya know: Mark Whitaker, now in charge of the Mueller investigation, chaired the 2014 campaign of Sam Clovis, a grand jury witness in that investigation. https://t.co/NzUkgjwOp1 November 7 2018 8057 Retweets9500 Likes What Whitaker can do with Mueller Whitaker could attempt to fire Mueller for cause, but he also has a lot of options to kneecap the investigation without resorting to such a drastic measure. The tools at Whitaker’s disposal were detailed in a September article by Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes: The biggest and most frequent opportunity to obstruct the investigation comes in the broader consultation requirement. Throughout the investigation, the regulation requires that the special counsel “shall consult with appropriate offices within the Department for guidance with respect to established practices, policies and procedures of the Department, including ethics and security regulations and procedures.” The special counsel is also required to notify the acting attorney general “of events in the course of the investigation in conformity with the Departmental Guidelines with respect to Urgent reports.” In practice, that means Mueller has to tell the acting attorney general about any “major developments,” like filing criminal charges, in advance. Such information-sharing alone could be a problem if sensitive law enforcement information improperly made its way to the White House—much less to subjects of the investigation. Beyond such obviously improper conduct, however, an acting attorney general could determine under the rules that a proposed action should not be pursued at all. Indicting Hillary In 2016, Whitaker wrote an op-ed saying that he would indict Hillary Clinton, something Trump has called for repeatedly. Previously, Whitaker headed up the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, an organization that spent much of its time investigating Clinton. Schumer calls for Whitaker’s recusal In short order, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for Whitaker to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. “Given his previous comments advocating defunding and imposing limitations on the Mueller investigation, Mr. Whitaker should recuse himself from its oversight for the duration of his time as acting attorney general,” Schumer said. Republicans are “concerned” We have been told for nearly two years that if Trump moved to undermine the Mueller investigation, as he did on Wednesday, Republicans would spring into action and protect Mueller’s independence. Instead, a couple of Republican Senators issued milquetoast tweets expressing “concern.” Sen. Susan Collins@SenatorCollinsIt is imperative that the Administration not impede the Mueller investigation. I’m concerned Rod Rosenstein will no longer be overseeing the probe. Special Counsel Mueller must be allowed to complete his work without interference—regardless of who is AG. November 7 2018 1939 Retweets6820 Likes You can subscribe to his newsletter for free (for now) here. More info here. Keep to the high ground, Jerry |