That’s not really an option. If your client (in this case the Government) instructs you to act in a certain way and you can’t persuade them otherwise, you either do it or cease acting as their lawyer - but you can’t just not do it and continue as you see fit.
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Immediately hauling Barr up to testify and holding him in actual contempt with actual consequences when he fails to appear would be a good start. (Yes he’s the Senate minority leader. But he has a House counterpart in the majority that he could coordinate this sort of thing with.) There’s nothing in the rule book that says you have to send criminals letters asking them to please knock it off before you’re allowed to actually start an investigation (or better yet, file charges).
After three years of Dems slow-rolling and underplaying any kind of potential accountability or consequences for this administration’s behavior, I feel like I’m entitled to some damn cynicism.
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That’s what’s so bizarre. Trump is, without a doubt, going to pardon Stone (shortly after election day, November 3). But his baby-wants-what-baby-wants mentality demands that “his” guy Stone must be lightly sentenced before the inevitable pardon. What’s truly incredible is the quisling-level of obeisance displayed by Barr.
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Love of Christian style conservative cultism, love of power, blackmail and/or bribe. I hope there’s hearings and convictions when Trump falls from power or dies.
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I just want to live long enough to see orange man in an orange jumpsuit.
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T + 0 hours: “Trump says he did not ask the Justice Dept to change the Roger Stone sentence recommendation but says he would be allowed to do so.”
T + 8 hours: Rudy Giuliani or Donald Trump jr tweets “Trump was so smart to ask the Justice Dept to change the sentence.”
T + 12 hours: Trump says publicly “I told them to change the sentence and it was perfect.”
T + 16 hours: Rapturous crowd at Trump rally chants “Free Roger! Free Roger!”
T + 24 hours: Bill Barr announces investigation into departing AUSA’s, retrospectively fires them, clarifies that Trump did not ask for them to be fired or investigated but says that he would have been within his rights to do so.
T + 32 hours: Rudy Giuliani or Donald Trump jr tweets “Trump was so smart to fire the AUSAs and order an investigation”
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Yes, we are all indignant. What I was hearing was chest beating. “Let’s hang em all!” Which as a mode of expression is understandable but hardly is practical.
What baby wants is unconditional, personal loyalty at every level of government.
In Trump’s eyes it was an unforgivable, personal affront for prosecutors in the Department of Justice to go after one of “his” guys. Not because of what that meant for Stone, but because what it said about the DOJ’s dedication to Trump. Purging anyone who doesn’t demonstrate total fealty to Trump is the whole point.
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This is bad for the country. I understand feeling the need to make a statement, I understand not wanting to have to take the orders of a soulless incompetent monster, but this allows Barr to replace them with lickspittle trash who are eager to please a would-be dictator. I know it would hell for the individuals but it would be better for the country for them to stand and fight.
“Maybe”? I don’t see any “maybe” about this with this regime. It’s no longer a presidency, it has now become a regime.
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how do we disrupt ?
I expect that they may have to avail themselves of said corruptive practices soonish. Well, Graham, at least
Oh, abso-fucking-lutely; I’m not giving up.
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The thing is, these aren’t even resignations in protest of being ordered to do something. These are resignations in protest of being gone around to make something happen. The DOJ, at Barr’s personal direction, overrode the sentencing recommendation that these lawyers had crafted and filed a new recommendation with the court without these prosecutors’ input or consent. At that point they’ve already been cut out of the decision-making process entirely, so I think the reasonable thing to do was to quit in order to draw attention to the farce.
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we have to get rid of these mother f-ckers
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Banana Republic.
If you’re going to protest, doing so silently is not very effective.
You can argue the merits of seppuku, but it’s one effective answer to the “talk is cheap” dismissal, and has been recognized in cultures around the world since ancient times.
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This isn’t “silent.” The timing and visibility of their resignations was designed to draw as much public attention to it as possible without crossing legal or professional boundaries that would expose them to liability/censure/disbarment. The term used in legal circles for this type of move is actually “noisy withdrawal.”
And in that they succeeded: the resignations were front-page news and the message they sent was loud and clear.
There is plenty of cowardice on display in the DOJ this week, but not from these prosecutors.
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I believe we’re in violent agreement.
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