The more we learn about Trump’s corruption of DOJ, the worse it gets

[homersapien 11,405]

Opinion by

Greg Sargent

Columnist

June 15, 2021 at 10:36 a.m. EDT

Another day, another extraordinary revelation about Donald Trump’s efforts to corrupt the Justice Department: We’re now learning that, as president, Trump went to far greater lengths than previously known to actively recruit the department in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

This comes after we learned last week that, during the Trump years, the Justice Department subpoenaed the phone records of two House Democrats, possibly as direct retaliation against two of Trump’s most prominent political foes.

But the latest revelations push us into terrible new territory. First, they fill in important new detail demonstrating that Trump absolutely did fully intend to thwart a duly elected new government — the one chosen by the people — from assuming power, in order to seize a second term for himself illegitimately.

Second, there’s reason to think that in this case, as we learn more the revelations are going to get worse.

Here’s why: There is a chance that House Democrats will soon secure an interview with the person at the center of these new revelations.

That person is Jeffrey Rosen, who became acting attorney general after William P. Barr was pushed out by Trump in December of 2020. If an interview can be secured, Rosen can tell us more about Trump’s efforts to corrupt the department in order to subvert our political system and self rule.

Rosen, we’re now learning, was a key target of Trump’s efforts to get the department to help him overturn the election results. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee just released a tranche of new emails and documents revealing how Trump did this. The department turned the documents over to the committee as part of its ongoing investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Among the key revelations:

• Trump’s White House assistant sent Rosen an email on Dec. 14 that included materials purporting to document extensive election fraud in Michigan. The email included “talking points” that said there must be a “review of votes throughout Michigan.”
• Just after this happened, a senior Justice Department official forwarded a similar email with these materials to U.S. attorneys in Michigan, which seems like it might have been an effort to get an investigation going.
• Less than an hour after those emails were sent, Trump announced on Twitter that Barr would be stepping down, and that Rosen would be replacing him. Importantly, Trump had already sent Rosen his marching orders in terms of helping subvert the election.
• On Dec. 29, Trump’s White House assistant sent a draft brief to Rosen and other top department officials that Trump wanted the department to file with the Supreme Court. It called on the court to declare that electors for Joe Biden in six states that Trump lost must not be counted. The email explicitly says Trump personally asked for the brief to be sent for those officials’ review, a direct presidential order.
• According to the New York Times, that brief echoed the baseless claims made in the Texas lawsuit that also sought to invalidate Biden’s electors, which the Supreme Court had already dismissed. This shows Trump was fully devoted to subverting the election outcome now matter how fraudulent his legal claims were revealed to be.

There’s lots more here, including additional efforts by others in Trump’s orbit — such as then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — to pressure the department to examine claims of purported election fraud.

As bad as all this is, we may learn more that’s still worse. That’s because, as sources on the committee tell me, Rosen is in discussions with committee officials about sitting for a transcribed interview.

What we might still learn

Such an interview could fill in critical details. Among the things Rosen could speak to are whether there were additional communications between Trump and Rosen — including verbal ones, as well as unreleased email communications.

If there were more communications between them, Rosen could fill in additional detail about the full scope of Trump’s efforts to get the department to help overturn the election.

Those could easily demonstrate even worse and more concerted efforts to corrupt the department than those we already know about. According to the committee sources, the department has not indicated that what they did turn over is all it has in its possession along these lines.

Rosen might also be able to say when in the timeline he realized just how serious and deliberate Trump’s efforts to overturn the election really were. And he might be able to say more about possible additional efforts by Trump or people around him to get other department officials to scrutinize other examples of supposed election fraud.

Let’s not lose sight of what really happened

Here’s the larger context: Republicans are still refusing to agree to a bipartisan commission to examine the Jan. 6 insurrection. This is coming amid widespread claims by Trump and his propagandists that the violence wasn’t really all that bad or that he didn’t actually intend for the mob he incited to subvert the election’s peaceful conclusion through intimidation and violence.

This newly revealed pressure on the Justice Department came in the days leading right up to that incitement. The more it’s revealed that Trump absolutely did fully intend to subvert the election via corrupt and illicit means to remain in power illegitimately, the harder it is to deny what we all saw with our own eyes.

After failing to accomplish that via his bottomless efforts to corrupt the process, Trump attempted to complete the task with mob political violence. That’s what happened, and the more we learn, the worse it will be.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/15/trump-recruit-justice-department/

[homersapien 11,405]

If someone had told me 10 years ago that one of our two major political parties would literally condone subverting our democracy for the sake of assuming total power, I wouldn't have believed them.

The Republican party has become a clear and present danger to our country.

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by homersapien

[DKW 86 7,434]

Among the key revelations:

• Trump’s White House assistant sent Rosen an email on Dec. 14 that included materials purporting to document extensive election fraud in Michigan. The email included “talking points” that said there must be a “review of votes throughout Michigan.” 
• Just after this happened, a senior Justice Department official forwarded a similar email with these materials to U.S. attorneys in Michigan, which seems like it might have been an effort to get an investigation going.
• Less than an hour after those emails were sent, Trump announced on Twitter that Barr would be stepping down, and that Rosen would be replacing him. Importantly, Trump had already sent Rosen his marching orders in terms of helping subvert the election.
• On Dec. 29, Trump’s White House assistant sent a draft brief to Rosen and other top department officials that Trump wanted the department to file with the Supreme Court. It called on the court to declare that electors for Joe Biden in six states that Trump lost must not be counted. The email explicitly says Trump personally asked for the brief to be sent for those officials’ review, a direct presidential order.
• According to the New York Times, that brief echoed the baseless claims made in the Texas lawsuit that also sought to invalidate Biden’s electors, which the Supreme Court had already dismissed. This shows Trump was fully devoted to subverting the election outcome now matter how fraudulent his legal claims were revealed to be.

Blah blah blah. I dont find any of that very "revealing" at all. I would kind of say that was "totally expected, mundane, unsurprising." Look, trump is trump. We all just need to walk away and get a life, and "get him out of living rent-free in our heads." Even the President of the US doesnt ORDER DOJ Officials around. He might suggest and even forcefully suggest, but in the end, the DOJ is a free standing legal entity. Again, all this sounds just as crazy as the "trump wont leave the WH in January..." talk we had ad nauseum here on this forum for almost a year. It didnt happen and no one with a brain ever thought it would, and NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE, that is a vet ever thought for one second that the US Military nor the JCS was going to sit by on their asses and let that happen. 

Here, have a couple of beers and walk away from the s*** show that is American Politics. We will all be a lil happier and healthier for it. If trump destroys the GOP, I wont give a damn. They dont care about the middle class. They dont care about our healthcare. They dont care about those struggling because of COVID. F'em. I am not going to defend them for anything they are actively doing. But at the same time, they are not all evil beings SIMPLY BECAUSE they have an R by their name. The Action Verbs do the telling. Words mean almost nothing in America now. Other than a punchline for those paying attention. 

BOLD PREDICTION: When September 1 gets here and Biden is still President and Trump hasnt been called, maybe the rest of the nation, maybe even half of the Q-Anon idiots will wake up and realize that trump has been a clown for 30+ years. 

Edited June 15, 2021 by DKW 86

[jj3jordan 2,057]

Could any justice department be more corrupt than Obama's? Please give me a break.

[CoffeeTiger 5,147]

34 minutes ago, jj3jordan said:

Could any justice department be more corrupt than Obama's? Please give me a break.

 

[AUFAN78 3,926]

Trump spied on journalists. So did Obama.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/15/donald-trump-barack-obama-us-press-freedom

[Grumps 3,704]

8 hours ago, homersapien said:

If someone had told me 10 years ago that one of our two major political parties would literally condone subverting our democracy for the sake of assuming total power, I wouldn't have believed them.

The Republican party has become a clear and present danger to our country.

 

You mean like Mr. Clinton meeting with AG while his wife is under investigation? Or like lying to obtain FISA warrants? Or like destroying cell phones and other info that has been subpoenaed? Or like the DOJ investigating your political opponents?

Trump is a sleaze (who is no longer in office). We agree on that. But one of us is a hypocrite who thinks that only one side is corrupt.

[jj3jordan 2,057]

3 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

 

Nobody but you thinks it is okay.

[homersapien 11,405]

12 hours ago, Grumps said:

You mean like Mr. Clinton meeting with AG while his wife is under investigation? Or like lying to obtain FISA warrants? Or like destroying cell phones and other info that has been subpoenaed? Or like the DOJ investigating your political opponents?

Trump is a sleaze (who is no longer in office). We agree on that. But one of us is a hypocrite who thinks that only one side is corrupt.

The Democrats have never denied the results of a legitimate election and tried to subvert the process in order to unlawfully assume power.

Regardless of whatever scandals the Democrats have committed, there is no equivalence between them and the party of Trump.

Don't be a useful fool.

Edited June 16, 2021 by homersapien

[homersapien 11,405]

"The presidential election system came perilously close to blowing up in 2020. Had Justice Department lawyers and state and local election officials not stood up to pressure from the White House and the administration’s toadies in state legislatures, we could well have reached a constitutional crisis. As Republicans set the groundwork to put partisans in charge of vote counting and testing out “audits” (not run by qualified state officials under existing law) to overturn election results, the Justice Department must douse the flames before one party burns down our democratic system. And it better come armed with more than the equivalent of a water pistol."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/16/justice-department-must-recognize-how-close-we-came-disaster/

[AUFAN78 3,926]

5 hours ago, homersapien said:

The Democrats have never denied the results of a legitimate election and tried to subvert the process in order to unlawfully assume power.

Regardless of whatever scandals the Democrats have committed, there is no equivalence between them and the party of Trump.

Don't be a useful fool.

To some it's as if 2016 never happened. Amazing. 

I think most will agree they don't like how Trump handled the 2020 election, but to dismiss what happened in 2016 and dems trying to subvert that election should not be lost. Russia? Ukraine? Come on man. Sure different tactics but same intent.

Just some honesty and integrity would be nice on occasion. 

[DKW 86 7,434]

7 hours ago, homersapien said:

The Democrats have never denied the results of a legitimate election and tried to subvert the process in order to unlawfully assume power.

Regardless of whatever scandals the Democrats have committed, there is no equivalence between them and the party of Trump.

Don't be a useful fool.

The 2000 and 2016 Elections say hi….

[CoffeeTiger 5,147]

30 minutes ago, DKW 86 said:

The 2000 and 2016 Elections say hi….

A small number of Democrats questioned the results or outcomes but never made a big stink about it and quickly shut up after a short period of time. In both 2000 and 2016 the Democratic nominee quickly acknowledged defeat and didn't press the issue.Trump and his supporters to this day still say he won the 2020 election.

 

2 hours ago, AUFAN78 said:

To some it's as if 2016 never happened. Amazing. 

I think most will agree they don't like how Trump handled the 2020 election, but to dismiss what happened in 2016 and dems trying to subvert that election should not be lost. Russia? Ukraine? Come on man. Sure different tactics but same intent.

 

Yes they were different tactics. The Democrats actually found real issues (Russia influencing the election in favor of Trump and Trump trying to bribe Ukraine to investigate Democrats, and then they launched legitimate investigations into these events. No, some of what many Democrats thought happened  couldn't be proven and they accepted that.

The Republicans don't have any legal or legislative authority to investigate any of their election fraud claims because they cant find any problems to investigate.

When Dems find a problem we get actual legal and authoritative investigations and findings.

When Republicans "Find" a problem all we get is the loony toon MAGA Cyber Ninjas recounting ballots in a broom closet.

[AUFAN78 3,926]

2 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

A small number of Democrats questioned the results or outcomes but never made a big stink about it and quickly shut up after a short period of time. In both 2000 and 2016 the Democratic nominee quickly acknowledged defeat and didn't press the issue.Trump and his supporters to this day still say he won the 2020 election.

Some still question the election in 2016 and still claim collusion. Just a quick Google search verifies this. You are correct regarding Trump and some of his supporters, but I don't think DKW nor I questioned that.

 

2 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

The Democrats actually found real issues

Always debatable.

https://www.cato.org/commentary/stop-saying-donald-trump-colluded-russia

[Grumps 3,704]

10 hours ago, homersapien said:

The Democrats have never denied the results of a legitimate election and tried to subvert the process in order to unlawfully assume power.

Regardless of whatever scandals the Democrats have committed, there is no equivalence between them and the party of Trump.

Don't be a useful fool.

Do you care to comment on the Steele dossier?

[DKW 86 7,434]

For the record, we had Academics on Mahers show recently saying that Bush 43  stole the 2000 Election. So they are still undermining history and facts. Some are still declaring “trump is not my president” from 2016.

Personally, i cant really tell that much difference in GOP and GOP Lite. trump and his troglodytes are obviously crazier but not by much. 

[DKW 86 7,434]

10 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

A small number of Democrats questioned the results or outcomes but never made a big stink about it and quickly shut up after a short period of time. In both 2000 and 2016 the Democratic nominee quickly acknowledged defeat and didn't press the issue. Trump and his supporters to this day still say he won the 2020 election.

Really? We still have people claiming fraudulently  that Bush43 Stole 2000.
We had half the nation grind America's political process to a halt for four years over a completely debunked dossier that the FBI knew was completely unverifiable by August of 2017. They wrote bad faith warrants for garbage investigations. and lets face it, some here on this forum lost their mind in TDS for four years or more.One or two apparently have still lost their minds.

trump is a threat only in possibly running again in 2024, if he is even alive at that point. He is 75 now. He would be 78-79 and we all know he is in poor health. Like i said CORRECTLY. You beat trump at the ballot box, not with never ending monotonous trials and investigations that ultimately proved nothing. He left office, apparently much to the surprise of some extreme bat-crap morons here and elsewhere in America, like I said he would. We have people running around sharing bat-crap thinking with the American Public and scaring them to death. They need to STFU. We need to STOP LISTENING TO THEM. They were born crazy. They are crazy. And they will die crazy. Spending a second listening to them is a waste of your precious life's time.

We do definitely need to weed thru the MTGs and other crazies, on both sides...Maddow, Hannity, Hayes, Carlson, and others have made their life's work to stir the crazy pot

[homersapien 11,405]

On 6/16/2021 at 9:27 PM, Grumps said:

Do you care to comment on the Steele dossier?

SQUIRREL !!!  

[Grumps 3,704]

3 hours ago, homersapien said:

SQUIRREL !!!  

HYPOCRITE!!! 😏

[homersapien 11,405]

1 hour ago, Grumps said:

HYPOCRITE!!! 😏

Bullschitt!

You are trying to equate whatever random scandal by a Democrat with attacking the very basis of our democracy. (Which one in particular is equivalent to overturning a legal election - the Steele dossier??  How so?)

You are making a pathetically desperate attempt to excuse sedition - if not treason - because the democratic party is not perfect.  You are literally excusing a coup attempt and justifying the past and future actions of politically-motivated terrorists.

If you cannot bring yourself to focus specifically on Trump's claims the election was stolen and he is the rightful president - a claim that the majority of the Republican party supports, then you are indeed a useful idiot who doesn't deserve the democratic freedoms you currently enjoy.

[jj3jordan 2,057]

3 hours ago, homersapien said:

Bullschitt!

You are trying to equate whatever random scandal by a Democrat with attacking the very basis of our democracy. (Which one in particular is equivalent to overturning a legal election - the Steele dossier??  How so?)

You are making a pathetically desperate attempt to excuse sedition - if not treason - because the democratic party is not perfect.  You are literally excusing a coup attempt and justifying the past and future actions of politically-motivated terrorists.

If you cannot bring yourself to focus specifically on Trump's claims the election was stolen and he is the rightful president - a claim that the majority of the Republican party supports, then you are indeed a useful idiot who doesn't deserve the democratic freedoms you currently enjoy.

Dude, the Steele dossier, Russia investigation, and bogus impeachment were ACTUAL COUP ATTEMPTS!!

[aubaseball 2,642]

On 6/16/2021 at 5:48 PM, CoffeeTiger said:

A small number of Democrats questioned the results or outcomes but never made a big stink about it and quickly shut up after a short period of time. In both 2000 and 2016 the Democratic nominee quickly acknowledged defeat and didn't press the issue.Trump and his supporters to this day still say he won the 2020 election.

 

Yes they were different tactics. The Democrats actually found real issues (Russia influencing the election in favor of Trump and Trump trying to bribe Ukraine to investigate Democrats, and then they launched legitimate investigations into these events. No, some of what many Democrats thought happened  couldn't be proven and they accepted that.

The Republicans don't have any legal or legislative authority to investigate any of their election fraud claims because they cant find any problems to investigate.

When Dems find a problem we get actual legal and authoritative investigations and findings.

When Republicans "Find" a problem all we get is the loony toon MAGA Cyber Ninjas recounting ballots in a broom closet.

Hillary says hold on a minute.   I never concede.  And what was her other comment...oh yay, under no circumstances believe the outcome of the election (2020).  

[aubaseball 2,642]

5 hours ago, homersapien said:

Bullschitt!

You are trying to equate whatever random scandal by a Democrat with attacking the very basis of our democracy. (Which one in particular is equivalent to overturning a legal election - the Steele dossier??  How so?)

You are making a pathetically desperate attempt to excuse sedition - if not treason - because the democratic party is not perfect.  You are literally excusing a coup attempt and justifying the past and future actions of politically-motivated terrorists.

If you cannot bring yourself to focus specifically on Trump's claims the election was stolen and he is the rightful president - a claim that the majority of the Republican party supports, then you are indeed a useful idiot who doesn't deserve the democratic freedoms you currently enjoy.

Coup, insurrection and whatever other terms that Democrats and media put on Jan. 6th is almost laughable.   

Why not, civil disturbance meant to challenge and disrupt the electoral college votes.  

[DKW 86 7,434]

Dem voodoo: 

January 6th is 1000 times worse than smearing an entire administration IN BAD FAITH by destroying a nation with 4.5 years of strident abuse of powers and dragging a nation thru two Meaningless Inpeachments  by taking out BS warrants and lying to the courts by manufacturing bogus evidence. 

But all that is 100% acceptable, even the bogus warrants, because OMB. 

Edited June 19, 2021 by DKW 86

[aubiefifty 16,846]

On 6/15/2021 at 5:56 PM, jj3jordan said:

Could any justice department be more corrupt than Obama's? Please give me a break.

that is a what aboutism that titan says is a nono. trump is not in office now and folks know he was a clown show and more people are waking up. but with jan 6 and other unhinged repukes this country is seriously unhinged. the repukes will destroy this country to keep power and it is very obvious to see with the wingnuts still clinging to trumps fuzzy sack.