Posted on 02/19/2020 10:38:00 AM PST by Red Badger
Key Points
President Donald Trump retweeted a claim that he was “the victim of a seditious conspiracy out of the” Justice Department and the FBI.
Attorney General William Barr has warned people close to Trump that he might resign if the president continues commenting on criminal cases.
Trump has publicly complained about the case against his friend, political operative Roger Stone, who lied to Congress about his contacts with WikLeaks.
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Your move, Mr. Attorney General.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday retweeted claims that he is “the victim” of a Justice Department conspiracy, hours after reports that the department’s chief official has threatened to quit if the president continues such criticism.
A tweet Trump promoted to his nearly 73 million followers also said that Attorney General William “Barr should clean house” at the Justice Department — and argued that Trump “can also appoint a special counsel directly” to investigate the purported conspiracy against him.
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Tom Fitton ✔ @TomFitton
Barr should clean house at DOJ...@realDonalldTrump,was the victim of a seditious conspiracy out of DOJ/FBI, etc. President Trump can also appoint a special counsel directly. Embedded video 15.6K 9:18 PM - Feb 18, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy
6,825 people are talking about this
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That tweet was first posted by Tom Fitton, president of the right-wing advocacy group Judicial Watch, and included a link to a more than eight-minute-long appearance by Fitton on Fox News.
Trump soon afterward retweeted another post by Fitton, who said Judicial Watch is “doing the heavy lifting exposing the worst corruption scandal in American history.”
That post referenced so-called astonishing emails that show former Justice Department official Rod Rosenstein “had many Obama/Clinton and media friends” supporting him when he “infamously appointed” former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel.
Trump’s retweets Wednesday morning came after reports on Tuesday night that Barr — who is the head of the Justice Department — has told people close to the president that he might resign if Trump does not stop making public comments about cases lodged by federal prosecutors who report to the attorney general.
A Justice Department spokeswoman said later Tuesday that Barr has no plans to resign.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said Wednesday that Trump “has a right to make his opinion known.”
Trump has raged since early in his presidency about the investigation by the Justice Department and FBI into Russian interference in the 2016 election, which Trump won, and contacts by Trump campaign officials and others affiliated with the president with Russians during and before the campaign. Mueller took over that probe as special counsel in 2017.
Trump is said to be furious that the Justice Department last week decided not to pursue criminal charges against Andrew McCabe, a former FBI deputy director, who had been under investigation for allegedly misleading investigators about leaks to journalists related to a probe of 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Trump has repeatedly blamed McCabe, along with former FBI Director James Comey, for what the president has called a baseless investigation into Russian election meddling.
On Tuesday, Trump told reporters that “I’m actually, I guess, the chief law enforcement officer of the country.”
“But I’ve chosen not to be involved,” the president added.
Barr last week, in an ABC News interview, said that Trump’s tweets about federal criminal cases, including ones targeting people connected to the president, are making it “impossible for me to do my job.”
The attorney general has faced withering criticism from former Justice Department officials, congressional Democrats and others in the past week after reversing a recommendation by trial prosecutors that Trump’s longtime friend, Republican operative Roger Stone, receive a prison term of between seven and nine years when he is sentenced Thursday for crimes related to lying to Congress and witness tampering.
Nearly 2,500 former Justice officials have signed a petition calling on Barr to resign because of the attorney general’s “actions in doing the President’s personal bidding.”
Barr has claimed that he decided to recommend a far less severe prison term after being blindsided by the first suggestion by prosecutors, but before Trump blasted that initial recommendation on Twitter hours after it was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
Barr’s critics have been highly skeptical of his claim that he did not respond to Trump’s pressure.
On Tuesday, Trump joined calls for Stone to be granted a new trial, retweeting comments by a Fox News legal analyst who said that “almost any judge in the Country would order a new trial,” but “I’m not so sure about” Stone’s trial judge, Amy Berman Jackson.
Stone’s lawyers last week filed a motion seeking a new trial on the heels of disclosures that the jury forewoman had posted articles and comments critical of Trump on social media. A court filing Tuesday indicates that Stone’s lawyers in that sealed motion are “alleging juror misconduct.”
The Federal Judges Association on Wednesday is set to hold an emergency meeting to discuss concerns about political pressures placed on the judiciary.
If only Trump would shut up so we could only hear his words filtered through the lips of Chuck Todd.
The media will spin everything in an effort to damage Trump.
Trust the plan! /snort
I’ll say it again. I love this President!!
What criminal cases? Who has he charged with anything? Fat bag of gas. Resign already. Go write your pathetic book. I'll give you the title: "Blow Hard: How I Bagpiped My Way To Irrelevance".
Time has long passed for the DOJ to bring forward the evidence and begin the prosecutions. Trump could spank Barr and the entire DOJ in public and I wouldn’t get upset.
Good point.
I’ll take Trump over NoOneGetsPutBehindBarrs any day of the week.
Breaking: @realDonaldTrump is the President.
Reagan ordered halt of a criminal grand jury investigation against British Airways in 1984.
George HW Bush ordered to DOJ to investigate police in wake of Rodney King rioting.
Obama directed DOJ action after Eric Garner acquittal. https://t.co/lc5qh0IWIZ— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) February 19, 2020
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President @realDonaldTrump has a positive constitutional obligation to speak up about DOJ corruption. pic.twitter.com/FMTTT7CsJP— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) February 19, 2020
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Barr should clean house at DOJ...@realDonalldTrump,was the victim of a seditious conspiracy out of DOJ/FBI, etc. President Trump can also appoint a special counsel directly. pic.twitter.com/SH4Eu4JCbP— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) February 19, 2020
Take that, Mr. AG!
When asked if he was resigning.....he said "No".
A man of few words.!! Love, Bless and protect Barr.
Start with himself.
‘
I think we all know Sessions has secretly indicted 69,000 in a small county in Indiana with his Utah bud, John Huber.
I can’t explain it further because it’s Super Secret.
Trust is the key word.
White Hats and Black Hats, you know.
.
Wow. Dirtect salvo at the Main Justice coupists from the USS Donald J. Trump. Bravo.
This reminds me of Trump’s split with Mattis. Barr very well may quit. Maybe when Trump gets back from India. Something big is going on behind the beltway scenes and POTUS is not a happy camper. No way he carpet bombs the DOJ like that if he was happy with Barr.
I don’t believe a word of this because I don’t believe that Barr “told associates close to the President” that he “might quit” if Trump didn’t stop his tweeting on JD issues.
That’s a complete refutation of Barr’s TV interview talking points and all but challenges him to a duel. I don’t see how Barr stays. Thanks for nothing, Bagpipe Bill.
Fascinating.
When Trump retweets “Barr should clean house at the DOJ” it’s a way of telling Barr to sh** or get off the pot.
Perhaps he’s ramping-up the tweets because he WANTS Barr to resign.
Barr plays the bagpipe, the most martial, soul-stirring musical instrument there is. What does he play - jazz?
Well done.
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