Tag: william barr

"This is going to be a legal battle," Collins said. After two years of anticipation, Collins said he expects a report that will reveal no wrongdoing by Trump. "I also believe it is very important that the public and Congress be informed of the results of the special counsel's work," Barr told senators at his confirmation hearing in January. Barr said the Justice Department should not release "derogatory" information about people who are not charged with crimes. One reason is that some of the information is protected by other federal laws. "The Justice Department cannot now maintain a different policy," Schiff said. Both of the top lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee said it's important that Congress obtain Mueller's report. Udolf cautioned against lawmakers wading into grand jury evidence because prosecutors should be trusted to do their jobs. Six House chairmen of committees wrote to Barr on Feb. 22 saying there is significant public interest in full disclosure of information “about the nature and scope of the Russian government’s efforts to undermine our democracy.” “We write to you to express, in the strongest possible terms, our expectation that the Department of Justice will release to the public the report Special Counsel Mueller submits to you – without delay and to the maximum extent permitted by law,” the chairmen said. Mueller's office is still fighting two legal challenges over its attempts to gain evidence that prosecutors said was important to their investigation.

From the Russia probe to the national emergency, it’s been a busy week in American politics. On Tuesday, The Times published an examination of President Trump’s actions that found the president had actively tried to undermine multiple investigations surrounding his administration. The rules governing the special counsel give Mr. Barr considerable flexibility in deciding how much information from the report he provides to Congress and the public. Democratic lawmakers want to ensure that every detail is shared. But Mr. Trump’s plan to build his border wall involves more than his invocation of emergency powers to redirect military construction funds. Additional Reading • Trump Claims His Wall Is Being Built. Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent and 2016 Democratic primary runner-up whose populist agenda has helped push the party to the left, announced on Tuesday that he was running again. In recent weeks, some Democratic candidates, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, have embraced race-conscious proposals that even the most left-wing elected officials once shied away from — like reparations for slavery. Additional Reading • Bernie Sanders Stumbled With Black Voters in 2016. • How Amy Klobuchar Treats Her Staff • Menendez and Booker, From Newark and the Senate to a Corruption Trial and 2020 Here’s what else happened this week: • Officials in North Carolina ordered a new election for the House race in the Ninth Congressional District after Mark Harris, the Republican whose apparent win is under investigation for voter fraud, called for a new vote himself.

Rod Rosenstein, the US deputy attorney general who appointed a special counsel to investigate possible ties between Russia and President Donald Trump’s campaign, is expected to step down by mid March, a Justice Department official has said. 'So many lies': Trump attacks McCabe over explosive CBS interview Read more Rosenstein, the No. 2 official at the Justice Department, in May 2017 named Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign and Moscow. He and Rod Rosenstein, who was hired by Jeff Sessions (another beauty), look like they were planning a very illegal act, and got caught..... February 18, 2019 In an interview broadcast on Sunday with CBS News 60 Minutes, former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe confirmed the Times account that Rosenstein considered wearing a wire in meetings with Trump. Andrew McCabe says officials discussed removing Trump after Comey firing Read more Earlier on Monday Trump accused both McCabe and Rosenstein of planning a “very illegal act,” which he described in a tweet as “illegal and treasonous.“ Rosenstein ceased overseeing Mueller’s probe on 7 November when Trump named Matt Whittaker acting attorney general. Barr now has oversight of the investigation. Rosenstein had attracted far more attention than is typical for the No. 2 Justice Department official because of his decision to appoint Mueller to lead the investigation eight days after Trump fired James Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The president has denied any collusion and Russia says there was no election meddling, despite findings to the contrary by U.S. intelligence agencies. Mueller’s investigation, which the president has repeatedly called a “witch hunt,” has so far netted 34 individuals and three companies who have pleaded guilty, been indicted or been otherwise swept up in the inquiry.

Rachel Maddow looks at the reasoning of DOJ and intelligence officials that if Donald Trump had been compromised by a foreign power hostile to the United States, he would seek to cover up that fact by attacking the investigations. Though…

A source tells Fox News that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to leave the DOJ by mid-March. #Hannity #FoxNews FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political…

Good Friday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. _____________________ • President Trump was expected to sign a spending bill funding the government through September, which does not include money for his long-promised border wall. But he still intends to build the wall — by declaring a national emergency to bypass Congress, the White House announced on Thursday. deputy director Andrew McCabe said that Justice Department officials, alarmed by Mr. Trump’s decision to fire James Comey in May 2017, had discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office. • The Senate confirmed William P. Barr as attorney general. He will take over the Justice Department at a critical moment, with the special counsel’s Russia investigation said to be wrapping up. • The federal debt ticked past $22 trillion this week — a record, despite continued economic growth. • The Trump Organization gave up indefinitely on plans for two new hotel chains, blaming a political climate in which, as Eric Trump put it, “everything will be used against us.” • Taxpayers are angry about getting smaller tax refunds this year, following the 2017 Republican tax cuts. • Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has inspired a wave of Democratic Party insurgents to challenge as many as a half-dozen established members of Congress in and around New York City in 2020.

What We’re Following Today It’s Thursday, February 14. (Here’s a refresher on the legal showdown that might result.) Here’s what else we’re following: “A Deliberate Liar”: Andrew McCabe writes in an exclusive book excerpt for The Atlantic that “the president and his men were trying to work me the way a criminal brigade would operate.” The former acting FBI director describes interactions with Trump himself—including when the president called him on an unsecured phone line to talk about his firing of former FBI Director James Comey—and his conversations with deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about protecting ongoing investigations into Russian interference. One Year After Parkland: How have students tried to recover from the trauma of a mass shooting, while still keeping the memory of their classmates alive? And although schools across the country have worked to improve security, administrators can only do so much to prevent another attack, Adam Harris reports. Acevedo has been consistently critical of Trump. How the Parkland Shooting Changed My Life (Sarah Lerner) “I went to school the morning of February 14, 2018, to give a quiz to my senior English classes. Later that day, 20 minutes before school ended, my world changed forever. Which makes our current backsliding even more frustrating.” ? Read on. What Will Trump Do If He Realizes He’s Lost the Shutdown Fight?

What We’re Following Today It’s Friday, February 8. Testy Testimony: Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker testified before the House Judiciary Committee that he has not discussed the special counsel’s investigation with President Donald Trump, nor denied funding for it. Tensions ran high: At one point, Whitaker reminded committee Chairman Jerry Nadler that his allotted time was up. This is likely Whitaker’s last testimony before the committee, because the Senate is set to confirm Trump’s nominee, William Barr, to take over the department. Bernie 2020 Is a Go: Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is about to jump into the Democratic primary pool, reports Edward-Isaac Dovere. He’s confident that he can successfully take on Trump in the general elections—and he’s already got a big campaign network ready to push him through the primaries. But the Sanders team is keeping tabs on potential Democratic competitors who haven’t yet formally entered the race, including former Vice President Joe Biden. They’re also watching Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is expected to formally announce her campaign tomorrow, and will likely be Sanders’s closest ideological competitor. A Tenuous Agreement: The United States and South Korea have quietly resolved a months-long disagreement over how to pay for the American troops currently based in Korea. But the deal is only a temporary one—and it’s a sign of how the Trump administration’s treatment of United States allies is making its alliances more and more fragile.

Democratic lawmakers pressed the acting attorney general on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports from Capitol Hill. #ShepSmith #FoxNews FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as…

Happening Now: The Senate Judiciary Committee holds an Executive Business Meeting to vote on nominations, including William Barr to be U.S. Attorney General. Senators will debate before voting at 12:45 p.m. ET FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing…