A first in US bureaucracy

[robkelk]

Wow. This simply does not happen... except that it just did.

Over a thousand bureaucrats - to be precise, retired bureaucrats, but the culture is strong - from the Department of Justice have called in public for the Attorney General to resign.

The Department has a long-standing practice in which political appointees set broad policies that line prosecutors apply to individual cases. That practice exists to animate the constitutional principles regarding the even-handed application of the law. Although there are times when political leadership appropriately weighs in on individual prosecutions, it is unheard of for the Department’s top leaders to overrule line prosecutors, who are following established policies, in order to give preferential treatment to a close associate of the President, as Attorney General Barr did in the Stone case. It is even more outrageous for the Attorney General to intervene as he did here — after the President publicly condemned the sentencing recommendation that line prosecutors had already filed in court.

Such behavior is a grave threat to the fair administration of justice. In this nation, we are all equal before the law. A person should not be given special treatment in a criminal prosecution because they are a close political ally of the President. Governments that use the enormous power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and reward their allies are not constitutional republics; they are autocracies.

We welcome Attorney General Barr’s belated acknowledgment that the DOJ’s law enforcement decisions must be independent of politics; that it is wrong for the President to interfere in specific enforcement matters, either to punish his opponents or to help his friends; and that the President’s public comments on DOJ matters have gravely damaged the Department’s credibility. But Mr. Barr’s actions in doing the President’s personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words. Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of Justice’s reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr. Barr to resign.

It is unheard-of for a bureaucrat to say something like this about a political appointee. Usually the damage that a political appointee does is worked around, not brought out into the open for everyone to see.

And the letter was signed by bureaucrats on both sides of the political divide.

When the bureaucrats aren't willing to cover for the political master any more, you know that the political master has fucked up big time.

Story here

[Labster]

It is unheard-of for a bureaucrat to say something like this about a political appointee. Usually the damage that a political appointee does is worked around, not brought out into the open for everyone to see.

And the letter was signed by bureaucrats on both sides of the political divide.

I doubt this is true.  Both Republicans and Democrats may have signed it, sure, but the political divide is Trump himself.  I doubt you'll find one pro-Trump signature on that list.  This is simply the work of deep state actors, citizens who think that Trump works for them and not the other way around.

[Rajvik]

Add to this that the "Line Prosecutors" tried to pull a fast one by telling their superiors one thing while sending something COMPLETELY different to the judge in question, iit's at best a bad faith argument.

edit: not citizens in that last line Labster, bureaucrats, while granted they are citizens as well, they have made it clear that their allegiance is to the state and not the citizenry.

[Matrix Dragon]

What a shock. Trump's minions give him an inch, the asshole tries to take a few miles. I expect that this will run around in circles a few times, any serious action will be countered by lackeys, and the USA continues on its path of being a joke.

[Labster]

bureaucrats, while granted they are citizens as well, they have made it clear that their allegiance is to the state and not the citizenry.

Right, we need to get rid of the bureaucrats whose allegiance to the officers of the state overshadows their allegiance to the citizens.

[hazard]

Add to this that the "Line Prosecutors" tried to pull a fast one by telling their superiors one thing while sending something COMPLETELY different to the judge in question, iit's at best a bad faith argument.

You sure about that? I've not heard the line prosecutors talk about what they told Barr, so right now it's one known political hack talking about the prosecutors deviating from standard procedure (following the sentencing guidelines) when the documentation pretty clearly states they followed it. It might even be that the line prosecutors wanted to levy heftier punishments as a result of Stone's clear contempt of the judicial system and that following the guidelines was them being lenient.

[Star Ranger4]

And, to be honest, Hazard, the thought that the line workers (prosecutors, in this case) said one thing to their political supervisors while recommending to the people who actually made the decision something that aligns with the spirit of the law (if not the letter)... Gives me hope?

[Matrix Dragon]

Honestly, that's the sort of breakdown in operations that is not only worrying, but undermines trust in the system and encourages the sort of 'deep state' paranoid thinking Trump and co thrive on when trying to destroy the judical system in favour of more fascist/dictatorial models.

[robkelk]

And, to be honest, Hazard, the thought that the line workers (prosecutors, in this case) said one thing to their political supervisors while recommending to the people who actually made the decision something that aligns with the spirit of the law (if not the letter)...  Gives me hope?

It shouldn't. If the political appointees don't know what's going on, then they can't do their jobs properly.

Not that knowing what's going on is a guarantee that they will do their jobs properly, of course.

[hazard]

What the above two said.

I was thinking more that what the line prosecutors said was not what higher ups heard.

[Star Ranger4]

True. the GIGO factor doesn't just apply to computer programming.

[classicdrogn]

That, or the garbage filter was set to reverse. They seem to hear the antipresident just fine after all.

[Matrix Dragon]

Well, in that case, it's just 'assume the most horrible, racist and generally stupid thing you can'.

[Rajvik]

Verdict in on Roger Stone, 40 months in prison. Even the judge who was an Obama appointee said that the 7-9 year suggestion was out of line.

Now they will hold off on sending him to prison while the appeal on the issue of the Fore-person having an axe to grind is going to earn him a retrial or not

[robkelk]

Stone's defense team didn't call any witnesses, and didn't put him on the stand to testify. With such a crap defense, he should have expected to be locked up as soon as the trial was over.

[Matrix Dragon]

I think he was always expecting his master to step him and cover for him.