A Thousand Cuts: How the Acting Attorney General Could Kill Russia Investigations Without Firing Mue

[douglas9]

The Acting Attorney General is in a position to seriously undermine the Russia investigation. He could potentially take several steps behind closed doors without the public being able to know in a timely manner. Other steps would be immediately visible. In the final analysis, the principal constraints on the Acting Attorney General if he is considering ways to undercut the investigation are the degree to which that individual is concerned about the personal repercussions of violating the most fundamental norms of his profession, the longer term damage to the institutions of justice, and any political blowback from Congress or the public.

Some individuals may risk those consequences, and even delight in thumbing a nose at Congress on the belief that they serve a more noble cause or in the firm knowledge that, as a legal matter, they can get away with it. It is useful to think about the architects of the torture memos, and their contemptuous attitudes when they were “hauled” before Congress.

What the Acting Attorney General could not count upon is any general acceptance that broad decisions to kill the investigation were taken in the interests of justice or that more piecemeal adverse actions against Mueller were taken in good faith application of the existing regulations. That’s because Mueller appears to have operated in a very careful manner in carrying out the investigation, and overruling his actions would very likely demonstrate the Acting Attorney General is not faithfully applying the internal DOJ rules.

In the event the Acting Attorney General embarks on a course of interfering with Mueller’s probe, there seem to be available two wild-card remedies: (1) impeachment and congressional removal of the Acting Attorney General (which would require a supermajority of the Senate) and (2) criminal indictment of the Acting Attorney General for obstruction of justice. Nobody should hold their breath for either of those sanctions, even if the case merited them. However, short of these unlikely scenarios, Congress as a body and individual members of Congress have the power to bring pressure to bear on both the President and DOJ to insist that Mueller be left alone to do his work.


https://www.justsecurity.org/61389/thousand-cuts-acting-attorney-general-kill-russia-investigations-firing-mueller-and-norms-stop/

[Iliyah]

1. t-rump and acting DOJ are heading for

prison. Enough already.

[BigmanPigman]

2. Tonight over 900 protests are showing the moron that he is NOT above the law!

This has been planned since last Dec. NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW! RESIST!
This is it..This is the biggie! Find a rally near you. There are 4 within 45 min of my home.
NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW—MUELLER PROTECTION RAPID RESPONSE
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