Focused Read in 3 minutes
"Thoughts on Rod
Rosenstein’s Testimony
(Commentary By Benjamin Wittes)
I have not watched all
of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s testimony before the
House Judiciary Committee yesterday. But I watched three hours of it,
and that was quite enough to convey the disturbing and dangerous
nature of the current moment.
It was enough to highlight
the apparent breadth of the congressional Republican effort to
delegitimize the Robert Mueller investigation.
The attacks on Mueller
and his staff and allegations of supposed conflicts of interest were
not the province of a fringe but a matter of an apparent consensus
among House Republicans, at least on the famously partisan judiciary
committee.
It was enough to loose
upon the world an almost hysterical attack on an FBI agent and an FBI
attorney in the presence of little evidence that either has done
anything wrong...
It was enough to lay bare
the absurdity of Republican demands for the appointment of a special
counsel to investigate a series of matters about which there is not
even the barest allegation of criminal conduct...
It was enough to bring to
the surface the bizarre fixation in the Republican caucus on
conspiracy theories involving Fusion GPS, the so-called Steele
Dossier, FISA surveillance, and the Mueller investigation.
And it was enough to make
clear, yet again, that Rod Rosenstein is a man out of his depth and
to make one sympathize for him at the same time.
...The
release of private correspondence between two Justice Department
employees whose correspondence is the subject of an active inspector
general investigation is not just wrong. It is cruel.
It is not the
practice of the Justice Department to turn over to Congress—let
alone to give to reporters—active investigative material related to
the private communications of its own employees.
Justice Department
and FBI employees have the right to their political opinions.
To the
extent their private political expressions for some reason make it
impossible for them to work on a certain matter, they certainly have
the right to have that determined without having their careers ruined
and their names dragged publicly through the mud by politicians who
know nothing about the circumstances in question.
I don’t know whether
agent Peter Strzok and attorney Lisa Page did anything improper, or
merely engaged in ill-advised and foolish communications that did not
impact their work. I have no quarrel Mueller for removing Strzok from
the investigation, whether if for substantive or appearance reasons.
But I do know this: these questions deserve to be adjudicated within
the confines of a serious internal investigation, not a partisan
circus.
Rosenstein here has, at a
minimum, contributed to that circus...he once again sent a message to his workforce that he is not
the sort of man with whom you want to share your foxhole.
The DOJ and
FBI workforces will not forget that.
Nor should they.
...he is squeezed between the jaggiest of rocks and the hardest
of hard places here. He is evidently trying to protect the Mueller
investigation, and to his credit, he yesterday stood up strongly for
the investigation’s integrity and for Mueller’s personal
integrity.
In doing so, he is exposing himself to the risk of being
fired at any moment—and he is acting with an awareness that he may
need to resign at any moment when ordered to do something
inconsistent with his commitments.
He is working for a man who is
behaving completely unreasonably, even in public; one can only
imagine how much worse is Trump’s behavior in private.
What’s
more, the congressional Republicans who should be protecting the
integrity of the work of Rosenstein and his department...are...failing to do so...about someone,
Mueller, with whom they have long experience and about whom they know
their essential claims to be false...
Mueller
himself is as apolitical a public servant as this country has known
in a long time—
and to the extent he has a partisan political
identification, it is as a Republican.
Rosenstein and FBI Director
Christopher Wray are both appointees of Trump himself.
...Most importantly, there is
no serious suggestion that any step taken by Mueller’s shop is
unjustified...
At yesterday’s hearing,
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan announced about the Mueller probe that
“The public trust in this whole thing is gone.” This is actually
wrong.
In our latest poll on
the subject,
fully 61 percent of respondents expressed at least some
confidence in the Mueller investigation.
A similar
number expressed at least some confidence in the FBI in
connection with the Russia probe.
And an even higher percentage,
74 percent, expressed confidence in the FBI generally.
The trouble is that if
enough members of Congress tenaciously attack the institution over a
long period of time, Jordan’s words could acquire the quality of
self-fulfilling prophecy. It is an enormously damaging undertaking
for members of Congress...erode public confidence
in federal law enforcement.
Even if that doesn’t
happen, public confidence in Mueller may not be enough when the
President’s political base—in conservative media, in Congress,
and the broader political ecosystem—is rallying behind the
proposition that the Justice Department, the special counsel, and the
FBI are all out of control.
The concern, and yesterday’s hearing
dramatically highlights that concern, is that if Trump believes he
has Republican cover to get rid of Mueller, he may feel emboldened to
act against him even in the presence of broader public support."
You can read more here
Courtesy of Lawfare
Focused Thought in 30 seconds
Focused Action in 30 seconds
You can share Senator Markey's Tweet here
Focused Point of Interest
*** Sen. Markey at yesterday's Wake
Up Call rally ***
Senator Markey Leads
Resolution to Restore FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules
CRA resolution would
reinstate robust net neutrality protections and the Open Internet
Order
Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.)...and 15 other Senators
today announced their plan to introduce a Congressional Review Act
(CRA) resolution that would undo today’s action by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) and restore the 2015 net neutrality
rules.
Today, the FCC approved an item that guts the 2015 Open
Internet Order, which the D.C. Circuit Court upheld in 2016. The Open
Internet Order prohibited internet service providers from setting up
internet fast and slow lanes and ensured they could not block or slow
down internet traffic.
“Donald Trump’s FCC
made an historic mistake today by overturning its net neutrality
rules, and we cannot let it stand,” said Senator
Markey. “Without strong net neutrality rules, entrepreneurs,
inventors, small businesses, activists and all those who rely on a
free and open internet will be at the mercy of big broadband
companies that can block websites, slow down traffic and charge
websites fees in order to increase their profits.
“We will fight the FCC’s
decisions in the courts, and we will fight it in the halls of
Congress,” continued Senator Markey. “With this CRA,
Congress can correct the Commission’s misguided and partisan
decision and keep the internet in the hands of the people, not big
corporations.
Our Republicans colleagues have a choice - be on the
right side of history and stand with the American people who support
net neutrality, or hold hands with the big cable and broadband
companies who only want to supercharge their profits at the expense
of consumers and our economy.”
A copy of the CRA can be
found HERE.
Senator Markey’s
resolution of disapproval would rescind FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s
item and fully restore the Open Internet Order.
CRA resolutions allow
Congress to overturn regulatory actions at federal agencies with a
simple majority vote in both chambers.
In accordance with the
Congressional Review Act, the Senators will formally introduce the
resolution once the rule is submitted to both houses of Congress and
published in the federal register.
Congressman Mike Doyle (D-Penn.)
plans to introduce a CRA resolution in the House of
Representatives.
Other Senators
co-sponsoring the CRA resolution include Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.),
Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii.), Richard
Blumenthal (D–Conn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeff Merkley
(D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Martin
Heinrich (D-N.M.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.),
Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Patrick Leahy
(D-Vt.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Jack Reed
(D-R.I.)
(Press Release...Thursday, December 14, 2017)
( You can follow Senator Markey on Twitter here )
.
.
.
→ Direct sources for Democrats:
* ( Personal favored and most informative follows are shared here with the understanding that readers will always apply their own critical thinking to any information provided anywhere by anyone. #StrongerTogether does not share sources of information lightly but -- no one is perfect! -- so always #DistrustAndVerify I am using a star rating that is strictly based on my situational experience with the work of the media personality specifically in relation to issues of interest to me. )
The Democratic Party Website
Also
C-SPAN (a good place for speeches & hearings direct source (s))
in alphabetical order...
FactCheck.org
follows on Twitter include:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ US Intelligence | Author | Navy Senior Chief | NBC/MSNBC
⭐⭐⭐ Federal Government Operations | Vanity Fair | Newsweek | MSNBC Contributor | Author
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Voting Rights/Voter Suppression | Author | Mother Jones
→ Some of the most credible media -- at the moment:
📰📰📰 Mother Jones
→ Some of the most credible Talking Heads -- at the moment -- and their Twitter handles:
( ⬆⬆⬆ Wallace is new to the job but for right now
her work on Trump GOP has been credible, IMO)
...for Networking for Democrats today!
.
.
.
(Linked) "...is our 2016 platform...a declaration of how we plan to move America forward. Democrats believe that cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, empowerment is better than resentment, and bridges are better than walls.
It’s a simple but powerful idea: We are stronger together."
(Remember 2018...)
*
Curated by Gail Mountain, with occasional personal commentary, Network For #StrongerTogether ! is not affiliated with The Democratic Party in any capacity. This is an independent blog and the hope is you will, at a glance, learn more about the Party and you will, with a click or two, also take action on its behalf as it is provided!
( You can also find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GKMTNtwits )
*
Thank you for focusing!
g., aka Focused Democrat
✊ Resisting "Fake News"
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