Trump special counsel appointment tests Biden pledge to keep politics out of DOJ

Naomi Lim

November 22, 06:00 AM November 22, 06:00 AM

Attorney General Merrick Garland's appointment of a special counsel to spearhead the Justice Department's criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump has incensed Republicans, already rankled by the idea the federal agency has become bogged down by politics since the 2016 election.

But as Republicans, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), call for Garland's impeachment and to "defund" Justice Department Trump investigations, President Joe Biden's promise to respect the agency's independence will be tested, especially as the new GOP House majority seeks to keep its pledge to look into his son Hunter.

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Former Arkansas U.S. attorney Bud Cummins criticized Garland for proving "beyond doubt" he is a "politicized prosecutor," repeating "nothing" can rehabilitate his and the Justice Department's reputation without a "top to bottom" reorganization, incorporating the FBI.

"A real, non-political prosecutor can create an atmosphere where decisions are made for the right reasons and nobody doubts it," Cummins told the Washington Examiner. "But DOJ history since at least 2016 has been hyper-partisan and they simply have no credibility. Special counsel won’t change that. May make it worse."

Cummins, Arkansas chairman of Trump's 2016 campaign and a member of his White House transition team, dislikes special counsels on principle since they spend months "staffing up" before facing pressure to "keep going." Republicans cite special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in that election, while Democrats point to independent counsel Kenneth Starr's inquiry into former President Bill Clinton's Whitewater real estate investments.

"They struggle to quietly close cases that just aren’t there, and inevitably the scope of investigations expand further and further," Cummins said. "We cannot tolerate this trend of exhaustively using government resources to investigate political opponents. It has to stop."

Trump reportedly hoped announcing his third presidential campaign last week would complicate the Justice Department's investigations into him. But Garland choosing special counsel Jack Smith to look into Trump's connection to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and his alleged mishandling of government documents, including classified materials, addresses conflict of interest concerns and provides political cover for Biden, according to Democrats.

Douglas Gansler, former Democratic state attorney general of Maryland, applauded Garland for tapping Smith, the one-time Justice Department public integrity unit chief and International Criminal Court prosecutor's office investigation coordinator. Republicans have countered Democrats' rhetoric by underscoring Smith's part in the Supreme Court-overturned 2014 corruption conviction of ex-Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA).

"To prevent any appearance of conflict, and because there is an array of issues that need to be probed, the special counsel provides complete independence," Gansler, a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP who ran for governor this year, said. "The selection of this particular special counsel makes it more likely that charges will ultimately be brought."

Democratic political analyst Paul Henderson contended Trump is under "so many" investigations, "doing anything other than continuing [them] would undermine the credibility of prosecutions throughout the various agencies."

"At this point, if the Biden-Harris administration intervened to delay, suspend, or end any of the investigations led by the DOJ, it would be interpreted as an abuse of power given what we already know," he said.

Henderson, chief of administration and a prosecutor for Vice President Kamala Harris when she was San Francisco's district attorney, underlined how some of the Justice Department's investigations involve joint jurisdiction authority so state and local counterparts of federal officials can proceed undeterred.

"Aside from naming a special counsel, one of the strongest moves Attorney General Merrick Garland can do is to share the evidence of his ongoing investigations with other prosecutorial jurisdictions so that they can evaluate their own authority to evaluate criminal charges as well," he said.

Smith's appointment coincides with Trump's weakened standing among Republicans after this month's midterm elections, when an anticipated so-called red wave never eventuated, and potential GOP presidential candidates started distancing themselves from the former party standard-bearer. At the same time, incoming House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Comer (R-KY) has already indicated Republicans on his panel will not subpoena Joe Biden, preferring instead to focus on his son Hunter.

The White House insisted last week it was not advised of Garland's decision, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterating "we do not politicize the Department of Justice."

"That is something that the president said during the campaign. That is something that the president said in his early days of being in the White House. And that continues to be true," she told reporters. "We were not involved in this particular issue. We were not involved in — let me just say that more broadly — we're not involved in criminal investigations that are done independently by the Department of Justice."

Garland had foreshadowed he would select a special counsel before pointing to Trump's campaign launch and Biden's "stated intention to be a candidate as well." Former President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee was adamant the Justice Department is committed to "independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matter."

Trump has condemned Garland naming a special counsel as "appalling" and a "horrendous abuse of power." Meanwhile, Smith, a registered independent, has promised that "the pace of the investigations will not pause or flag under my watch."

SEE IT: Taylor Swift breaks silence, hammers TicketMaster for ticket sale blunders

Julia Johnson

November 18, 02:23 PM November 18, 02:23 PM

Taylor Swift broke her silence Friday on the botched presales for her tour, which led to the general sale being canceled altogether by TicketMaster.

“Well. It goes without saying that I’m extremely protective of my fans. We’ve been doing this for decades together and over the years, I’ve brought so many elements of my career in house,” she began in the statement posted to Instagram.

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“I’ve done this SPECIFICALLY to improve the quality of my fans’ experience by doing it myself with my team who care as much about my fans as I do. It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse," Swift said.

She added that there were many reasons why the process was so difficult and that her team was working on how to avoid this scenario in the future. Swift did express gratitude for the more than 2 million fans who were able to secure tickets but lamented that the process was so grating.

"It really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them," the singer said.

On Thursday, Liberty Media CEO and Live Nation Chairman Greg Maffei told CNBC that the demand was unprecedented. He further pinned the blame on Swift for not having toured in years.

As a result of the fiasco, tens of thousands have penned letters to the Department of Justice, urging an antitrust investigation into TicketMaster. Several politicians have also called on the DOJ to investigate, citing ticketing problems for Swift's tour.

Gentleman who threatened to destroy Fauci sentenced to 3 many years in federal prison

Cami Mondeaux

August 05, 11:04 AM August 05, 11:04 AM

A West Virginia male who despatched email messages to Dr. Anthony Fauci and other federal officers with threats to hurt or even kill them has been sentenced to a few years in federal prison.

For much more than 6 months, Thomas Patrick Connally Jr. sent anonymous email messages to Fauci, President Joe Biden’s best medical adviser, and other federal officials with threats to hurt them and their family associates, according to the Office of Justice. Connally admitted to sending the email messages as a way to intimidate or interfere with their obligations and retaliate towards federal COVID-19 mandates.

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“Everyone has the correct to disagree, but you do not have the right to threaten a federal official’s existence,” said Erek L. Barron, U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland. “Threats like these will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the regulation.”

Connally was arrested in July 2021 after investigators connected him to the messages that have been sent by an anonymous encrypted email account. Law enforcement also executed a look for warrant at his house, recovering 5 laptops and two cellphones, officials said.

From December 2020 by way of July 2021, Connally despatched several email messages to Fauci with threats he would be “dragged into the street, crushed to dying, and established on fire,” according to the DOJ. In a single instance, Connally sent 7 of these e-mails in fewer than two hours.

Moreover, the West Virginia resident admitted to sending e-mails to Dr. Francis Collins, who was the director of the National Institutes of Health and fitness at the time. In his messages, Connally threatened to attack Collins and her family members if she did not stop promoting “mandatory” COVID-19 vaccinations, officers explained.

Connally ongoing to email other outstanding wellness officers, like Dr. Rachel Levine, who was the secretary of health for the condition of Pennsylvania at the time and now serves as the U.S. assistant secretary for well being.

“Today’s sentencing demonstrates that men and women threatening violence versus federal officers and other individuals will be held accountable for their crimes,” said Christian J. Schrank, deputy inspector normal for investigations of the U.S. Division of Wellness and Human Products and services Workplace of Inspector Normal. “The public, such as community servants, deserve the utmost safety and the assurance that they can complete their duties with out interference. Our company, operating carefully with our law enforcement companions, will go on to provide all those who threaten violence to justice.”