Barr Can’t Fire Berman, Trump Can, Says Obscure DOJ Memo

https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/barr-can-t-fire-berman-trump-can-says-justice-department-memo

“Nerds like me will fixate on the technical legal questions here -- can the president fire a judicially appointee U.S. Attorney; and, if so, can he also replace him,” Vladeck said in a tweet on Saturday. “But don’t lose sight of the bigger story here -- this stinks to high heaven. Finding out *why* this happened is the key.”

Read more at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/barr-can-t-fire-berman-trump-can-says-justice-department-memo
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“Nerds like me will fixate on the technical legal questions here -- can the president fire a judicially appointee U.S. Attorney; and, if so, can he also replace him,” Vladeck said in a tweet on Saturday. “But don’t lose sight of the bigger story here -- this stinks to high heaven. Finding out *why* this happened is the key.”

Bridges Burned: Watch Trump Hire 'Best People' And Trash Them As 'Not Qualified' On Their Way Out

Trump mocks coronavirus and Democrats in rally with sparse turnout

Trump: Tulsa rally fails to draw expected crowds amid virus fears

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53121488

 

Mr Trump had boasted earlier this week that almost a million people had requested tickets for the event at Tulsa's Bank of Oklahoma Center.

But the 19,000-seat arena was far from full and plans for him to address an outside "overflow" area were abandoned.

Trump holds comeback rally, but fails to fill arena after infections among staff

https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-comeback-rally-features-empty-seats-staff-infections/

Slamming ‘unhinged left-wing mob’ for ‘trying to vandalize our history,’ US president goes on the offensive as he blames media for low turnout at event that defied health warnings

 

Trump's Tulsa rally was a flop

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/21/opinions/trump-rally-tulsa-oklahoma-covid-19-ghitis/index.html

President Donald Trump couldn't wait. His presidency is nosediving, with bad news erupting all around him. His answer was Tulsa, a campaign rally in blood-red Oklahoma, the state he won by a crushing 36 points in 2016.

 

But Tulsa did not deliver. The event that was supposed to trumpet his return to greatness -- and the country's return to normalcy -- instead brought embarrassing scenes of empty bleachers, a dismantled stage and a familiar speech unsuccessfully trying to reignite public fears.

AP FACT CHECK: Trump Is Not Credible on Virus Death Tolls

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2020-05-09/ap-fact-check-trump-is-not-credible-on-virus-death-tolls

President Donald Trump is claiming a low death rate from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

Top NYC Prosecutor, Who Led Investigation of Trump Allies, Resigns After Feud With Justice Department

https://time.com/5856478/justice-department-berman-barr-trump-allies-refuses-resign/

The Trump administration on Saturday fired the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, escalating tensions with the high-profile office that has overseen numerous investigations into President Donald Trump’s allies. Attorney General William Barr said Trump personally issued the order; the president denied he was involved.

The extraordinary clash between the White House and U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman fueled new accusations of political interference in the Justice Department, particularly given that Berman’s office is engaged in an ongoing investigation into Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

Barr set off a whirlwind chain events on Friday night with a surprise announcement that Berman was resigning.

Bill Barr fires U.S. Attorney Berman. Bolton's book reveals why.

Fact check: Trump's Tulsa rally littered with familiar false claims

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/21/politics/fact-check-donald-trump-tulsa-rally/index.html

 In his first rally in more than three months, President Donald Trump repeated a bunch of false claims he has made before. Trump's return to the rally circuit, in a Tulsa, Oklahoma, arena that was not full, featured familiar inaccurate accusations about Democratic opponent Joe Biden, about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, about health care and a variety of other subjects.

In a speech that lasted for more than an hour and forty minutes, Trump also called for the burning of the US flag to be illegal, claimed victory over a recent loss in the Supreme Court, and spent 10 minutes on a story about walking down a ramp.

Here's a look at what Trump got wrong.

 

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman Fired By Trump, William Barr Says In Letter

https://www.newsweek.com/us-attorney-geoffrey-berman-fired-trump-william-barr-says-letter-1512357

 In his letter, Barr told Berman that he was "was surprised and quite disappointed by the press statement you released last night" and that he hoped for the attorney's "cooperation to facilitate a smooth transition" for the new appointee to the post, Jay Clayton, the current Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Unfortunately, with your statement of last night, you have chosen public spectacle over public service. Because you have declared that you have no intention of resigning, I have asked the President to remove you as of today, and he has done so," Barr stated in his letter, adding that Deputy U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss would become the acting U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York until a permanent successor is named.

 

Graham says he won't advance Trump nominee for SDNY prosecutor without Schumer, Gillibrand consent

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/drama-over-ny-us-attorney-heads-to-capitol-hill

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Saturday he will not take up President Trump's nomination for a new U.S. attorney for Manhattan unless New York's Democratic senators sign off.

Graham, a Republican from South Carolina who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he will honor the "blue slip" tradition and require the consent of home state senators to proceed -- in this case, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

 

AG Barr says Trump has fired SDNY federal prosecutor who refused to leave; president says he's 'not involved'

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/william-barr-trump-fired-sdny-federal-prosector

 

Trump, however, distanced himself from Berman's ouster Saturday as he left the White House for Tulsa, Okla., and said it was Barr's call.

"That's all up to the Attorney General," Trump said when asked about Berman's firing. "Attorney General Barr is working on that. That's his department, not my department."

"We have a very capable Attorney General so that's really up to him," Trump said before leaving for his first rally since March. "I'm not involved."

Drain the swamp! - Geoffrey Berman: Trump fires top US prosecutor who refused to quit

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53123847

Geoffrey Berman, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on Friday that he had learned he was "stepping down" in a press release.

Mr Berman insisted he would stay in post and continue his investigations.

On Saturday, Mr Barr told him that he had asked the president to remove him immediately, and that he had done so.


The situation was made more complicated by the fact that Berman was never formally nominated for his position by Trump and instead appointed by a federal court. Berman argued that as a result, federal law allows for him to stay on the job until a presidential nominee is confirmed by the Senate. Earlier Saturday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally and chair of the Senate Judiciary committee, suggested he would not rubber-stamp a new nominee.

“He’s the Chosen One to Run America”: Inside the Cult of Trump, His Rallies Are Church and He Is the Gospel

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/06/inside-the-cult-of-trump-his-rallies-are-church-and-he-is-the-gospel

In Trump’s case, divine backing is more about smiting than healing. When Rep. Elijah Cummings died last October shortly after sparring with Trump about Baltimore, Peterson declared on his radio show, “He dead”—like Trump enemies John McCain and Charles Krauthammer, Peterson noted. “That’s what happens when you mess with the Great White Hope. Don’t mess with God’s children.”

 

‘Magically Protected’: Why Hardcore Trump Supporters Won’t Wear Masks At Rally | All In | MSNBC

As Justice Department Claims U.S. Attorney Investigating Trump Allies Is 'Stepping Down,' Attorney Refuses to Leave His Post

https://time.com/5856478/justice-department-berman-barr-trump-allies-refuses-resign/

A Republican who contributed to the president’s election campaign, Berman worked for the same law firm as Giuliani and was put in his job by the Trump administration. But as U.S. attorney, he won over some skeptics after he went after Trump allies, and had a direct hand in other investigations that have angered the president.

 

Attempt to fire powerful NY prosecutor appears to be latest move to protect Trump

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/20/politics/berman-barr-trump-rule-of-law/index.html

The Trump administration's attempt to oust one of America's most powerful prosecutors raises fresh and glaring suspicions about its assault on the independence of the justice system and its respect for the rule of law that underpins constitutional governance.

Attorney General William Barr's declaration he replaced Geoffrey Berman of the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York renewed the debate over the extent to which Barr is acting on President Donald Trump's interests rather than the nation's. The office of Berman, who is refusing to quit, is leading a probe into Trump's lawyer Rudolph Giuliani and associates and has also indicted a Turkish state-owned firm involved in an Iran sanctions-busting case which Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised with Trump. 

 

An already massive confrontation exploded further when Berman, in a stunning move, issued his own late-night statement rebuking Barr over his decision to oust him and refusing to go, arguing that since he was technically appointed by a panel of judges on an acting basis in 2018, Barr has no power to force him out and that he would continue to serve.

Federal judge denies Trump administration's attempt to block release of Bolton's book

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/20/politics/judge-john-bolton-book/index.html

 A federal judge has denied the Trump administration's attempt to block the upcoming publication of a book by former national security adviser John Bolton.

Judge Royce Lamberth of the DC District Court wrote in a 10-page decision Saturday morning that the Justice Department's arguments weren't enough to stop the book's release. He cited how the book, which is scheduled to be released Tuesday, had already been widely distributed, and could easily be distributed further on the internet, even if the court said it could not be.

Fox News Poll: Biden widens lead over Trump; Republicans enthusiastic, but fear motivates Dems

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-biden-widens-lead-over-trump-republicans-enthusiastic-but-fear-motivates-dems

Biden supporters are far more likely to say fear that Trump might win is behind their vote choice (63 percent) than to say it is enthusiasm for Biden (31 percent).  The opposite is true among those backing Trump, as almost twice as many of his supporters say enthusiasm is the motivation (62 percent) rather than fear Biden could win (33 percent).

 

Sweden, Where No Lockdown Was Ordered, Becomes Second Most-Infected Country

https://www.newsweek.com/sweden-where-no-lockdown-was-ordered-becomes-second-most-infected-country-1511885

Sweden's total number of coronavirus cases grew by more than 100 overnight Wednesday, making it the second most-infected country per capita in the world.

The Scandinavian country known for its light-touch approach to battling the pandemic reached 54,562 total cases Wednesday, according to covidgraph.com, which compiles current data from multiple government health agencies and universities across the world.

 

Father of Toddler in Trump's Fake 'Racist Baby' Video Blasts 'Hate Agenda'

https://www.newsweek.com/cnn-chastises-trump-fake-toddler-video-twitter-1512048

The father of a child featured in a mocked-up CNN report titled "terrified toddler runs from racist baby" posted to Twitter by Donald Trump has criticized the president's use of his video.

Trump shared an edited version of the footage that went viral last year of a black and white child running towards each other in the street and hugging, taken by Michael Cisneros.

 

Fearing Internal Dissent Ahead of the Election, Trump Expands His War on Washington

https://time.com/5855482/fearing-dissent-trump-expands-war-on-washington/

The top Democrat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Eliot Engel, was alarmed at the prospect of Pack pushing out career experts at the agency. The agency’s mission is “‘to inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy’—not to be a mouthpiece for the President in the run up to an election,” Engel said in a statement. “Mr. Pack needs to understand that USAGM is not the Ministry of Information. The law requires that our international broadcasting be independent, unbiased, and targeted toward audiences around the world,” Engel said.

Facebook removes Trump ads containing symbol used by Nazis

https://www.timesofisrael.com/facebook-removes-trump-ads-containing-symbol-used-by-nazis/

Anti-Defamation League says inverted red triangle closely resembles badge used to identify political prisoners in concentration camps

Trump calls for ‘new justices’ on Supreme Court, as conservatives rage at Roberts

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-justices-supreme-court-conservatives-roberts

President Trump, in the wake of Thursday's defeat at the Supreme Court in his efforts to repeal the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, called for new justices as conservatives took aim at Chief Justice John Roberts for what they called a “pattern” of siding with the liberal wing in key decisions.

While Democrats and immigration activists cheered the decision, conservatives fumed at the ruling, accusing the justices of preventing Trump from overturning what they have long seen as an illegal executive order. As the day went on, their ire turned to Roberts -- the Bush appointee who has a history of deciding outcomes favorable to liberals by siding with the liberal bloc.

Bolton's Book Further Exposes Trump: What About the Republican Accessories After the Fact?

The Trump presidency is at its absolute lowest point right now

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/18/politics/donald-trump-supreme-court-coronavirus-george-floyd/index.html

 Everywhere Donald Trump looks right now, he sees political fires that threaten to engulf his presidency.

The Supreme Court, with two hand-picked Trump approved justices, has handed the President two stunning rebukes in the last week -- one on gay, lesbian and transgender rights in the workplace and the other, on Thursday morning, blocking the President from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for children brought to America illegally.

In Congress, Senate Republicans have shown increasing willingness to buck Trump. On Wednesday alone, every GOP senator wore a mask at a press conference announcing a package of police reforms. Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander insisted that there will be a second surge of the coronavirus and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley announced he would block future legislation until the White House explains its recent spate of firings of inspectors general.

Trump's repeated attempts to suggest that the United States has effectively beaten the coronavirus are belied daily by reports that almost half the states in the country are experiencing an increase in cases. His push to return to the campaign trail on Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is widely regarded as endangering public health.

Trump's absolutely tone-deaf response to the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis -- most notably a photo-op of Trump holding a Bible outside of St. John's church in Washington -- has been roundly criticized, including by many top former White House officials. "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people -- does not even pretend to try," said former Defense Secretary James Mattis earlier this month. "Instead he tries to divide us."

 

Supreme Court rules against Trump administration bid to end DACA program

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-rules-against-trump-administration-over-move-to-end-daca-program

President Trump quickly reacted to the decision, which came days after an opinion from his own appointee Justice Neil Gorsuch that said employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity was prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

"These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives," Trump tweeted Thursday morning, suggesting that the Second Amendment could be at risk if he does not get elected and have the chance to potentially appoint more justices.

 

Supreme Court blocks Trump from ending DACA

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/18/politics/daca-immigration-supreme-court/index.html

 The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Trump administration's attempt to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program that protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the US as children from deportation.

The 5-4 ruling was written by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor.

 

The Unhappy Liberals Inside Trump’s Favorite Network

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/18/oan-liberal-reporters-327915

One America News employees say a majority of the reporters at its San Diego headquarters are liberals—and they’re chafing at their own network’s coverage of national protests and the coronavirus.

 

Lawrence O’Donnell: Donald Trump And John Bolton Deserve Each Other | The Last Word | MSNBC

Trump bashes 'washed-up' Bolton over forthcoming book, says ex-national security adviser 'broke the law'

https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-bashes-washed-up-bolton-broke-the-law

President Trump lashed out at former national security adviser John Bolton in an exclusive interview on "Hannity" on Wednesday night, saying Bolton "broke the law" by writing a forthcoming book about his time in the Trump administration.

"He was a washed-up guy," Trump told host Sean Hannity, referring to Bolton. "He couldn't get Senate-confirmed. So I gave him a non-Senate-confirmed position. I could just put him there, see how we worked. And I wasn't very enamored."

 

John Bolton betrayed his country

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/17/opinions/boltons-staggering-profile-in-cowardice-honig/index.html

 John Bolton has offered the nation a staggering profile in cowardice. He has left no doubt about his own monumental betrayal of his country.

By his own belated admission, Bolton directly witnessed not one but multiple acts that could have been cited in the impeachment of President Donald Trump. But Bolton did nothing about it while he held a powerful post in the Trump administration. And he stayed quiet and took cover when Congress and the nation pleaded with him to speak out during the impeachment process. Yet now that he has entered book promo mode, Bolton suddenly has summoned the spine that he was sorely missing back when it would have made an actual difference.

Bolton had ample opportunity to speak up throughout the monthslong impeachment of Trump over the Ukraine scandal. House investigators first asked that he appear to give voluntary testimony; Bolton was a no-show. Bolton then retained counsel, who requested a subpoena and promised to go to the courts for adjudication.

 

What we learned from John Bolton's eye-popping tale of working with Trump

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/17/politics/bolton-book-what-we-learned/index.html

John Bolton details a troubling and shocking series of allegations in a new book about his tenure as President Donald Trump's national security adviser, alleging Trump requested Chinese help to win the 2020 election, that the President argued Venezuela is part of the US, that he casually offered to intervene in the criminal justice system for foreign leaders and that his own senior officials mocked him behind his back.

 

The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell Highlights: June 16 | MSNBC

Tulsa

Chyna

Conservatives Should Feel No Investment in Confederate Monuments

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/17/conservatives-should-feel-no-investment-in-confederate-monuments-327137

The Richmond statue of Lee, which Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has said is coming down, has long been a point of contention. Its unveiling in 1890 was a key moment in the creation of a cult of Lee, as a man of “moral strength and moral beauty” as a speaker put it that day.

Frederick Douglass appropriately scorned this movement. “It would seem,” he wrote sarcastically, “that the soldier who kills the most men in battle, even in a bad cause, is the greatest Christian, and entitled to the highest place in heaven.”

 

Antifa, Big Tech, and abortion: Republicans bring culture war to police brutality debate

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/17/judiciary-color-327023

The House Judiciary Committee late Wednesday approved a major police reform bill on a party-line vote, the first step by Congress to address a crisis that has roiled the country since George Floyd died in police custody on May 25.

Yet for much of the day, the panel was ensnared in acrimonious cultural and political quarrels that had little to do with the underlying issue of police brutality, which the legislation is supposed to address.

 

The "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone," in fact, was a recurring theme throughout the proceedings. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) at one point offered an amendment to cut off federal police grants to any municipality that allows an autonomous zone to be created within its borders.

 Rep. Pramilya Jayapal (D-Wash.), whose district is home to the Seattle zone, was upset by Republicans’ repeated attempts to raise the issue. She blamed Fox News and “right-wing media pundits” for what she said was “misinformation” being spread about her hometown.

“I don’t know how to keep telling people that what they’re saying are lies,” Jayapal said, growing exasperated as she again slapped down Republican accusations of a “law-enforcement-free micro-state” in her district. “Please stop this nonsense and let’s get back to the bill that's at hand.”

Bolton says Putin 'thinks' he can play Trump 'like a fiddle' in new claims ahead of book release

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bolton-putin-play-trump-like-fiddle-book

Former national security adviser John Bolton took President Trump to task Wednesday, saying he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin can play Trump “like a fiddle.”

Bolton made the claim during an appearance on ABC News’ “World News Tonight with David Muir,” ahead of his 592-page memoir. The book is expected to paint a scathing portrait of Trump and his administration, lending the most vivid first-person account yet of how Trump conducts himself in office.

 

“I think Putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle. I think Putin is smart, tough -- I think he sees that he’s not faced with a serious adversary here,” Bolton said of the president’s relationship with Putin. “I don’t think he’s worried about Donald Trump.”

Host Martha Raddatz asked Bolton why certain deals with other leaders like Putin have gone awry despite Trump seeing “himself as a dealmaker.”

“Well the president may well be a superb dealmaker when it comes to Manhattan real estate. Dealing with arms limitation treaties on strategic weapons, dealing in many many other international security issues are things far removed from his life experience,” Bolton said. “When you’re dealing with somebody like Putin who has made his life understanding Russia’s strategic position in the world, against Donald Trump, who doesn’t enjoy reading about these issues or learning about them -- it’s a very difficult position for America to be in.”

George Floyd protests: Who are Boogaloo Bois, antifa and Proud Boys?

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-53018201

While in many cases peaceful, the protests have also featured scenes of police brutality, looting and violence.

Politicians, law enforcement and commentators on the left and right have accused a number of fringe groups of encouraging and participating in acts of violence.

BBC News has been examining these groups on social media platforms.

 

Trump's Niece Is About To DESTROY Him With New Book

Bolton Blames Democrats For Failed Impeachment Despite Refusing To Testify | All In | MSNBC

NY Times Reporter Who Obtained John Bolton’s Book Ahead Of Release Discusses What’s Inside | MSNBC

Bolton, in book, accuses Trump of 'obstruction of justice as a way of life,' asking China's Xi for 2020 help

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bolton-in-book-accuses-trump-of-obstruction-of-justice-as-a-way-of-life-asking-chinas-xi-for-2020-help

Former national security adviser John Bolton alleges in his upcoming 592-page memoir that President Trump regularly gives "personal favors to dictators he liked," backed the idea of more concentration camps in China, and asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him in the 2020 election, according to excerpts obtained and published by several media outlets.

 

Bolton claims Trump asked China to help him win re-election

Bolton book bombshells: Trump asked China's Xi for reelection help and told him to keep building concentration camps

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/17/politics/bolton-book-trump/index.html

 Former national security adviser John Bolton has leveled a stunning accusation against his former boss, claiming in his new book that President Donald Trump personally asked his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to help him win the 2020 US presidential election, according to a copy obtained by CNN Wednesday.

Bolton also charged that when Xi told Trump last year that China was building concentration camps for the mass detention of Uyghur Muslims, Trump said Xi should go ahead building the camps, "which he thought was exactly the right thing to do."

At another meeting during last year's G-20 Summit in Osaka, Bolton writes Trump "stunningly" turned the conversation to the upcoming 2020 election. The former national security adviser said Trump "stressed the importance of farmers and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome," adding that he "would print Trump's exact words, but the government's prepublication review process has decided otherwise."

Judaism's holiest sites to be left out of sovereignty plan?

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/282035

Rachel's Tomb, Tomb of Patriarchs and Joseph's Tomb may be left out of sovereignty map. Dagan: 'We can't abandon our holy places.'

12 false claims Trump has made about Obama since last month

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/17/politics/fact-check-trump-obama-lies-policing-justice/index.html

President Donald Trump keeps taking shots at former President Barack Obama.

A lot of them are lies.

Trump has long been fixated on his predecessor. Since May 1, as his presidential campaign against former Vice President Joe Biden has heated up, Trump has made at least 12 separate false claims about Obama and his record in office.

Trump added a new one Tuesday in a speech about police reform, declaring that Obama and Biden "never even tried" to fix problems in policing. That's not even close to true.

'Appalling' And 'Lawless': AG Barr Hammered For Protecting Trump | The Beat With Ari Melber | MSNBC