Senate Democrats Call For DOJ Ethics Probe After Attorney General Matt Whitaker Non-Recusal

[KelleyKramer]

Last edited Sat Jan 12, 2019, 09:11 AM - Edit history (1)

Senate Democrats Call For DOJ Ethics Probe After Whitaker Non-Recusal

Senate Democrats sent the letter just days before Attorney General nominee William Barr's confirmation hearing.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/senate-democrats-call-for-doj-ethics-probe-after-whitaker-non-recusal?via=twitter_page


All the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter on Friday to the Justice Department’s inspector general calling for him to scrutinize and potentially investigate the department’s ethics practices. In the letter, the lawmakers expressed concern about Attorney General Matt Whitaker’s decision to oversee Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, despite having previously criticized the investigation and claimed it would find no evidence of coordination between Trump World and the Kremlin. The letter will not necessarily result in any action from the DOJ’s government watchdog.


“Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker’s decision to disregard the advice of career DOJ ethics officials to recuse himself from oversight of Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicates that DOJ’s internal ethics procedures have failed,” the senators wrote. “Not only does this raise serious concerns about Mr. Whitaker’s current actions as Acting Attorney General, but it also calls into question DOJ’s ethics procedures to assess and address potential conflicts of William P. Barr, President Trump’s nominee to be Attorney General.”

Career ethics officials at the department recommended to Whitaker that he recuse himself from supervising the Mueller investigation, according to a letter from a top DOJ official to Congress. But Whitaker did not take their advice, and now supervises the probe he once claimed would be fruitless.

That decision has raised concerns that political calculations will inform decisions about the investigation into Russia’s intrusion in the 2016 election. Whitaker, as acting attorney general, has insight into the moves Mueller and his team are making. If he still holds that post when Mueller files a report on the probe, he will decide whether or not to make the report public (though refusal to release it would result in a court fight).


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[Shell_Seas]

1. Every single one of them are corrupt