Am I the only one who thinks that the 25th Amendment applies here?
Is trump unstable or not.....or do my eyes and ears deceive me?
Is he intellectually adequate to the job...that is, can he read and interpret the Constitution? (A foreign Language he claims)....Does he understand what he swore to under oath? Can he understand it with the help of a Constitutional scholar? Is he or isn't he apt to do something which could plunge us into war overriding consultation with his appointed advisors?Has he claimed superior knowledge to his Generals about warfare? Does he understand what defines treason? Does he protect the sanctity of the vote?
Is he often confused? Does he blame everyone else for his failures. Does he have debilitating learning deficiencies? Is he capable of expressing empathy? Is a friend
capable of being an enemy in any 24 hour period.....Is he subject to rage? Has he demonstrated a slavish devotion to 'getting' everyone who says one word to oppose his? Is his language
pure Mafia?
He is like a person unable to read, living a life in abject terror of being discovered......Normally sad in the extreme....in the
White House...extremely dangerous.
Time to talk to the Doctors
27
You have to hand it to him, right now he looks like a genius, a stable genius or an evil genius, you decide. But in the past week or ten days he has demonstrated that he clearly controls all 3 branches of government;
- The Legislative branch via the McConnel led Senate
- The Judicial branch via an illegally stacked supreme court and a pet Attorney General
- The Executive Branch via terror and belief the King can do anything.
You gotta' be some kind of genius to pull that off!
7
Presdient Access Hollywood will have a reckoning
6
With this guy, the constitution has been reshaped from a flat document into a roll that’s hanging by the gold toilet just off the Oval Office. Trump has the Supreme Court, is remaking the lower federal judiciary, owns the DOJ, and has full control of the senate, so, yeah, he can pretty do anything he wants. And, when you’re a star, they’ll let you do it!
10
In short....he has, he is and he will.
5
Right now as we read, Fox News is praising Trump and thinks nothing is wrong.
7
February 13, 2020
For the love of an imperial presidency and with eunuchs to aid the Trump Americana revised manifest destiny where 'his America,' can do no wrong for the love of his base and his Republicans devotees that will never allow impeachment from his presidency. As we must conclude Trump's magnetic energy of the ever growing base expects his mighty aura lead his golden touch for achieving the pursuit of happiness and all to forget the laws that would counter this time of greatness on Earth and ruler ship enamored galore.
3
Let's have another impeachment!
Sure, he'll be acquitted, but so what!
He'll be the first-ever president to be twice-impeached and that would put him in a category all his own...
7
Trump can't "run the Justice Department like a goon squad at one of his failed casinos." What a fantastic line! Keep it up, Times!
10
He's doing it.
1
Sad! The very thought of a fair,objective, apolitical newspaper seeing the need to raise such a question.
Like Obama did?
This is about power. How much power can the president command, and how much power devolves to his loyalists? Where can the president extend his voice, and what narrative can he tell to make his case plausible? Who will collaborate with him? Lord Acton 's rule comes to mind. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. "
1
The great difficulty here is in holding a flashlight on what our Legal System CAN do about this mentally unstable man. The "gift" of Trump is to do a *thorough job of showing us exactly were the weaknesses lie *in our present code. Right now, it is a blueprint to all of the places that lawmakers from the Founding Fathers forward have failed.
Their understandable bias for creating Laws that "make sense" to persons at functioning levels of sanity, morality, honesty, personal dignity, now appears to be downright "quaint".
Legislators were never expecting to write laws that could stand the challenge in corrupted courts, read upside down and backwards as "law" by whatever kind of humans we now have dominating the once august U.S. Senate, so this present insanity can get MUCH more dangerous before it gets much better. Even if, bless the thought, we have only a rounded out
nine more months to deal with this.
If we DO get a reprieve, we had better do all that is *possible to do to create a completely NEW system of control on the Financial Systems, the MEGA Corps killing mega faster than the corona virus, and the Global "Masters of the Universe" of all stripes, living in, but hardly loyal to, *all the major Countries in the world.
Right now, Trump does "X". We all nervously notice that his acts are *completely illegal, or at least unconstitutional (which used to mean the same thing), but we seem unable to take ANY remedial action ! Handwringing alone won't do it !
5
Trump says whatever he wants. The real question is this:
"Is Bill Barr an enemy of the Constitution in his utter subservience to serving President Trump's and Leonard Leo's Agenda?"
5
I've called and written to both my senators to demand that the lawless "Cover-up General" Barr (William Safire's term for him in the '80s, not mine) be forcibly removed from office immediately.
We'll deal with Trump in November -- if our Republic lasts that long. If the law means anything in America, Barr has to go. Now.
8
I will concede that this incident looks bad PR wise and certainly provides fodder for Trump's enemies. I will also concede that Mr. Trump's seems to have no regard for the optics of his actions. The word "dumb" comes to mind especially in the political arena. However this is another case of the anti-Trump media and the Democrats over-reacting just because they are his political enemies. Despite what this editorial says, review and intervention into the work by federal prosecutors by Main Justice is NOT that uncommon especially in high profile cases. It is also needed because prosecutors can have a political or other biases against the people they are prosecuting. It is actually a safeguard for justice despite what the Times says.
1
Trump is, by any standard, the most corrupt president most of us have every lived under (yes, "under"). He remains in power only because all but one Republican senator are also corrupt. Trump's going to make the most of it until he can no longer get away with it. (When has he ever not lived that way?)
If you want an autocracy, like the ones in Poland, Russia, Turkey, or Saudi Arabia, just keep supporting Trump. But remember, he and his cronies will be ripping all of us off (including you) the whole while--and shutting down any say that we have had in how our government serves us. Is it really worth it?
9
Apparently he can do whatever he wants, when he wants and how he wants as many times as he wants, and what's worse, we lead him to believe he can. Today the Justice Department, who's next? The courts? Perhaps even the Supreme Court? After the disgraceful quick acquittal the Senate Republicans gifted the world's most deserving of a conviction phony, the only thing silly Republicans had to say were words condemning the one Republican semi-decent enough to vote to convict, not the shamefully indecent 52 that didn't. I read an article that Romney's safety is a concern at the CPAC convention. This is the Republican Party folks. A supermajority of folks in this country need to wise up and understand that, not only is the Republican Party not their friend, but are the biggest most pressing threat currently facing this country. A political party as unscrupulous as the Republicans simply should not be allowed to govern . . . period.
4
Paul: and if he is forced to testify and lies, Bone Spur can pardon him again if he's convicted because of his lies.
Have no idea if Trump is so bumbling lucky or so brilliant but comparisons between this travesty of justice defacto life sentence over disputed -lied about-forgotten email by a pathetic old man and Clintons's deleted 30,000 emails and following wipe out of the subpoenaed cloud back up must worth few votes.
Bravo - what a clear and accurate summary of this abhorrent Trump administration.
2
Question for Trumpublicans on Meet the Press: Is there ANYTHING Trump would do that would cause you to condemn him, despite his reprisals?
3
"...not according 5o the Constitution..." - but I highly doubt that trump has either read or had anyone literate read it to him -- which does not exempt him from following it as long as he's president. Since last Wednesday trump has been further emboldened to do his own thing willy-nilly.
Please, all citizens who do not want to see our democracy DESTROYED by handing this grifter the mantle of POTUS again, vote D in November no matter who the Dem candidate is. Any vote for other than the D candidate will be a gift to trump. To reelect trump would be to reinforce his notion that he can continue to shred every norm that keeps us from a dictatorship.
2
CAN someone do what he is already doing?
Yes, he can.
One of the definitions of Catch-22 is “they can do anything you can’t stop them from doing.”
1
Q: Can Trump Tell the Justice Department To Do Whatever He Wants?
A: If Barr keeps acting as his puppet and the Senate keep acting as his enablers - Yes.
Since no one asked: Was the sentence Roger Stone received unfair? You can print whatever editorial you want on Bloomberg stop and frisk policies which incidentally reduced crime in NYC or lighter sentencing for non-violent criminals, and rethinking the criminal justice system but whats happening here? Are you just taking vengeance on Trump and anyone connected with him?
You sense of justice stopped at Biden and his son with the Ukraine. Everyone said he's been cleared of all wrong doing. Are the voters going for it? After all evidence is no longer a requirement of guilt is it?
1
I am sickened by the President's behavior and worried about the climate of fear in our government. Thank you NYT editors for continuing to call him out.
5
Didn't we used to send mob bosses up the river for Conspiracy to Commit Extortion and jury tampering ?
4
When did "67" become perceived as "advanced age?"
In that case, our President is "decrepit" and should be removed from office!
2
Is the headline of this article a rhetorical question? Of course, Trump can tell the Justice Department what to do. The impeachment pseudo-acquittal told him that there is nothing he can't do; he's eviscerated everyone who ever told him otherwise.
1
we’ll take this opportunity to inform him that this clause does not give him the authority to run the Justice Department like a goon squad at one of his failed casinos.
-Awesome!
3
None of this matters, as the foregone conclusion is that Trump will be pardoning Stone. Prosecutors don't matter, Judge doesn't matter, Barr doesn't matter - Stone is going free. Everyone knows that. The only conclusion that hasn't been reached is whether the American public thinks that's totally okay. Which is the ONLY thing Trump worries about, which is why Paul Manafort hasn't gotten his fore-ordained pardon yet.
2
Sherman is right, Trump was elected King. He has the complete right to interfere in the justice system, pardon his friends, take money appropriated by the Congress for the Military and move it to the much more important wall that Mexico is going to pay for pretty soon.
Frankly, now that the Congress has decided they aren't an equal branch of the Government, it's about time the Justice System realizes they aren't either.
3
Add to the list: red flags raised by the psychiatric community that Trump’s narcissism is of a particularly malignant nature. Further signs of degenerative, progressive neuropathology (mangled words, decreasing vocabulary, odd tics) portend that vengefulness, absence of empathy, illusions of absolute power, will only become more virulent and unhinged over time.
Now Trump has inserted himself into a judicial process where he has no legitimate standing whatsoever. He has openly declared himself Judge and Jury, the Ultimate Arbiter. As Trump and his enablers take a sledgehammer to the foundations of democracy, we are all the more urgent about using our right to vote as an ultimate exercise of power.
And yet, the most chilling text I have ever read was found in methods of foreign election interference as detailed in the Mueller report. Are serious, aggressive measures to safeguard the upcoming election being made? Would you believe Trump if he said they were? Are we naive in placing all our faith in an assumption of fair and free elections? This stirring of doubt is precisely why Trump was impeached, and why his removal from office is sought as a Constitutional imperative.
History provides ample profiles of despotic, sociopathic figures whose charisma and manipulative powers draw intensely loyal followers.
We are witnessing fascism. We further endanger our freedoms, our society, our democracy by treating it as if it were anything else.
6
Excuse me but I’m 67 and it’s hardly an advanced age in 2020.
3
Donald Trump has made it abundantly clear that he does not know anything about the Constitution, nor does he understand the concept of the rule of law. The surprising news is that Mr. Barr does understand the Constitution and rule of law, but chooses to ignore the spirit and intentions of both. That is something historians will be writing about for many years.
4
It's time to take to the streets. When a President doesn't support the Rule of Law, he becomes a tyrant. We no longer have a functioning democracy.
8
To answer the question.. it should be self evident to any sentient human that Trump can and does tell the Justice Department what to do AND what not to do.
Of course for this to work.. the recipients of his instructions have to go along with the corruption of the Justice Department.
This administration doesn't care about the constitution. We're past the rubicon. Nobody stood up to the bullies and the hour, friends and neighbors, is getting late.
6
Regrettably, with the current GOP majority senate, yes.
2
It is only beginning. The only out is for the voters to get him out of office, but my faith in their judgment has taken a nose-dive given reaction to his excesses. So many "conservatives" who only seem to want to confound their "enemies". Thing is, you can't go back to a world that only lived in your dreams.
1
Well, now I guess we've all heard the news, of Barr 'walking back' his lapdog behavior toward Trump's outrages. Obviously, there are patriots still trying to work in the Judiciary and FBI.
Oh yeah; but Barr also said he'd not be 'influenced' by Trump OR by by 'editorial opinions'. There's the Kellyanne equivalence, as if the First Amendment is the same as the Power of an Absolute Monarch. Truth is False, War Is Peace, etc.
Why stop at the Justice Department regarding Trump doing whatever he wants? Virtually every government entity appears to have been compromised or rendered ineffective by Trump. The bottom has no limit.
5
"Written like in a foreign language". My God. And Rubio, the most self-centered suck-up the country has ever seen had to chip in his ½ cents worth just to make our sadness at the loss of these basic freedoms obsolete.
3
Id like to join my Florida colleague in decrying our low life Senator Rubio. He us the ultimate boot licker and ring kisser. Little Marco, indeed.
Like most if the GOP, demonstrates he has no integrity every single day. Presidential potential? Not in this lifetime.
3
But hasn't the real question devolved, after the impeachment trial, "Is Trump satisfying the will of the voters with this behavior?"
Maybe we could get a count of the number of Senators who'd vote against impeachment with that tawdry excuse for this high crime.
Taking care that laws are faithfully executed functions as an admonition. Plainly, it does not bar the Chief Executive from engaging with the justice department, even to the extent of directing that sentencing recommendations be softened, assumoning, arguendo, that this scenario was operative with regard to Mr. Stone. Whatever the merits of the case or of the sentencing recommendations advanced by the prosecutors who did the "honorable thing" and tendered their respective resignations, when their superiors had the temerity to jigger down the sentence the Justice Dept. was now requesting, it was a perfectly reasonable and proper exercise of supervisory discretion. Underlings get overruled all the time. Get over it.
On Feb 12, Trump, in a now deleted Tweet, stated his determination that Stone should "never ever serve time" as long as he is in office.
That Tweet is on the record and preserved as evidence for future prosecutions. His public statement in this regard should clear up any doubt that he directly interfered in the Stone sentencing. If Barr denies it, he is lying.
I furnished a copy of Trump's Tweet to the NY Times Editorial Board in an email this morning. Copies of the Tweet are available on Twitter.
5
Nightmare scenario. Trump is reelected easily over a divided Democratic opposition; the magnitude of his Electoral College blowout emboldens him even more. Like scores of autocrats in Africa and Latin America in past decades, he finds he likes the position too much to give it up; and besides, who else does he trust to run things? The current Senate has failed to check him via the War Powers Act, the Emergency Powers Act, or impeachment. I doubt that any future Senate will muster a veto-proof majority to enforce any checks on him. All it takes is a declaration of national emergency to cancel an election. Don't think it could happen? Well, Giuliani tried to, after 9/11.
2
Can Trump Tell the Justice Department To Do Whatever He Wants?
Not according to the Constitution.
What a quaint notion.
News alert: The Senate and Supreme Court made Trump King. He can tell the Justice Department to do whatever he wants.
3
I find it bizarre that prosecutors recommended 7-9 years for the crimes that Stone was convicted of when a murderer can get out in 3-5. It's even more bizarre that the prosecutors went for that length of jail time, but they were a part of Mueller's team and any way of hurting anyone that is associated with Trump is fair game. Right? That's now our rule of law?
1
@Ma
Please provide the specific cases where persons convicted of murder were "let out" in 3-5. For it would appear that your concern is based on a false premise.
In the meantime, it has already been reported that the prosecutors in the Stone matter arrived at the sentence recommendation by consulting Federal sentencing guidelines for Stone's offenses.
Last but not least, what proof do you have, other than Trump's loud complaining, that anyone did anything untoward in any of the investigations of Trump or his associates? If you want to caste doubts about the DOJ, FBI and court system, you need to provide more than rhetoric.
16
The judge is a check on that. Not the president.
3
Well, I'd have preferred it if these prosecutors who quit became whistleblowers instead. Resigning in protest is great, but it'd be more helpful if they collected evidence that Barr is acting in bad faith and filed a formal complaint while staying on their jobs. It's really the only thing that works at all with this crooked lot.
9
Before posting my own comment I read some of the others, many of which have said, in one way or another, that the Constitution doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't matter to this president. There's nothing I can add to that.
7
There is something which I wish to make clear vis a vis this accurate editorial. What that is, although it may not be germane, pertains to the character of the person recently convicted and set for sentencing. He appears to be a devotee of ex-President Nixon (the latter, now deceased). If it is the case that the circumstances under which Mr. Nixon resigned were that of bribery by a wealthy, religiously-oriented family close to the monarch of Great Britain amidst the aura of what Nicholas von Hoffman called, "... a print, media exclusive." then it would seem that something like hero worship, which the recently convicted man evidences would be entirely inappropriate. Looking back more closely at Mr. Nixon, his involvement with Nicolae Ceausescu, the ludicrous demagogue of Romania (dining at one of his private villas, etc.) would seem to indicate a serious, rather authoritarian character flaw. Does this country need this type of authoritarianism? I think not.
6
Disturbing is the fact not a single Republican -- sans Mitt Romney -- rebuked Trump in any way. Susan Collins should be ashamed. Murkowski -- ashamed. Every other nitwit Republican -- ashamed at what they've done. We need to vote as many of them out as possible this time around and keep voting them out as they come up for election. Sadly -- some of the worst Senators are not up for several more years. Like Red Tide Rick (Scott) -- Florida knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about. He -- out of ALL of them - should have a Trump nickname. Literally ruined our state.
11
Is there anyone who will tell him that he can't?
Apparently Trump can do anything that the Senate will let him. Let that sink in. Anything. That is a big word.
Anyone care to speculate on what would inspire the GOP in the Senate to push back? Scary, isn't it?
11
@arusso
Ooo! I know!
The Senate GOP will push back when Trump calls for the repeal of the last tax bill.
2
Last year, my wife and I visited Colonial Williamsburg where we learned that jury decisions were often sent back to England for approval or denial. Trial by jury was all well and good, but you couldn't always trust the common people to come up with the right decision. Looks like we have returned to the good old days.
8
It would help all of us to sort all this out if someone with substantial legal knowledge could on these pages carefully explain why the justice department is in the executive branch based on the logic of the founding fathers and the limits that they wanted thereby to impose on the actions of this department, especially when Presidential power is concerned.
2
I am a Canadian and my comments have I hope reflected my Canadian reality rather than a desire to see America become more Canada. Our dependence on the USA has made it difficult to not include my belief in democracy and sovereignty.
November will be the most important election in our history and we will not be voting. Many of us hope our thirty year old constitution will protect us when Russia will be America's number one ally and we will see what the new country across our southern border affects our society.
We are not a country of law we are a country of justice and we are as far from the country you have become as I ever believed possible.
We are not laughing, we are fearful but we know that November Wednesday morning the Sun will rise and life will continue.
Here in Quebec we will still be debating our new laws designed to give us freedom from religion. Most of us were here when our constitution was written and we know the fallible people who wrote the constitution and the Not Withstanding clause protects us from weaponizing our constitution.
At 72 I will have seen our anti human ultra conservative society give way finally to the 18th century humanist revolution called The Enlightenment. The ideal society of my youth will determine whether it is a country of law as hoped for by your Federalist President John Adams or the democracy of Adams arch enemy Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson owned slaves but he was a scientist who believed in evolution not stone tablets.
7
@Montreal Moe
Thank you for your post. My wife is Canadian, and also from Montreal. Few Americans have any idea as to how we are perceived by others. Of those that do, many don't care.
Right now, about 40% actually believe Trump when he says that he has restored America's place in the world. That we are now more respected, and safer, than we were under Obama.
Yes, far too many are deluded.
7
@Montreal Moe
Not withstanding or not with standing is how Canadians say sometimes the law is an ass.
1
I'll repeat again what I've said in other posts. In a future Congress, let's pass legislation to do at the federal level what many states do now: Elect the Attorney General on a separate ballot every presidential election cycle. That way, there would be the possibility the AG could be from a party different from the President - providing the barrier to what we see Trump doing to the Dep't of Justice now. This problem can be solved.
7
FDR said "we have nothing to fear but fear itself" to afford our nation calm during WWII.
Seventy-some years later, we need reassurances from our current president, but good luck on getting that. His being in office is the biggest fear of all. Our democracy demands the rule of law be observed. But Trump's control over AG Barr signals a time for both fear and for action. Will our compulsive lying president turn the DOJ into a department of injustice? he enlisted Barr to invalidate Mueller's investigation. That was unlawful. Now he dictates how a criminal trial against his friend Roger Stone should be end. He wants to tell the judge what to do in administering justice in a criminal trial. How far does his arm extend? This time it is too far.
For solace for those who expect justice, we must remind ourselves that attorney general Mitchell was jail for his complicity with president Nixon's criminal acts. Let's see what happens here.
7
The Republican senators had the opportunity to put a stop to this corruption of our system and, instead, showed us that they are part of corruption. I am all in for anyone who is up to the job of ending Trump’s reign of depravity. Right now, I think Bloomberg could make mincemeat of Trump and excel in putting everything back together again.
12
Remind me again of the GOP senators who walked around (during the Obama presidency - sigh, how I miss those days) with a copy of the Constitution in their pockets. The very copy they gleefully flourished in the faces of anyone who cared to listen to their tales about the egregious abuses by President Obama . . .
13
I knew a Trump presidency would be a disaster for our country, but boy did I badly underestimate the damage he would cause.
21
Apparently, presidents can do what they like. Jackson did. Lincoln gets a pass on some things he did. Teddy Roosevelt wanted a canal and he made it happen by force. Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected 4 times in a row, forced the adoption of an amendment to limit the president's terms to two. Five president's did what they wanted in Vietnam and each one lied about the progress of the war. Bush 2, two wars. Obama was Mr. Executive Order and don't forget the justified killing of Bin Laden. Trump follows suit. Same old, same old.
1
@dudley thompson With Trump it's just about daily. Let's see.....how many transgressions does that add up to,,,,,,so far?
4
It has always seemed to me that there has been an inherent design flaw in the relationship between the executive branch and the justice dept.
The obvious elephant in the room and the one that has puzzled me the most is the fact that the president even gets to appoint the atty. general. That has always seemed to be a huge conflict of interest, given the fact that we expect the justice dept. to be completely independent and politically nonpartisan. Yes, in the real world, we know that this is closer to fantasy, but still.
For a man like Trump who possesses instinctive authoritarian tendencies and absolutely no respect for the rule of law, it's easy to see why he would come to believe that the atty. general is only there to do his personal bidding. Not that he would need a particular reason, per se. A man as unbounded as Trump will literally try anything, push any boundary and/or envelope to satisfy his desires.
It is becoming extremely clear that much of what the general public viewed as bright line law was not that at all, but just things that happened in the margins and between the lines between branches of gov't who we're trying to do their jobs in good faith.
With a president like Trump, a compromised individual such as Bill Barr can and will result in a captured and weaponized branch of government that can be used to do just about anything Trump can dream up.
If nothing about Trump up until now has bothered you, then this might be the time to take notice.
5
There is a remedy for this level of corruption. Unfortunately it lies with congress, one house of which is as corrupt as this president. The republican party is officially a rogue party with no allegiance to our constitution, let's just admit it and understand where we are.
11
Yes...when the DOJ is headed by a Trump-appointed sycophant such as Bill Barr, you can expect it to do whatever Trump desires.
Sad!
7
with billy barr in charge at the doj, trump already is.
5
"Can Trump Tell the Justice Department To Do Whatever He Wants?" The question reminds us of the extent to which aberrant behavior has been normalized. And 40% of the country supports all of it.
8
Obviously, for Billy Barr and for republicans who almost unanimously and vociferously support dictatorial powers for this fraud of a Putin-appointed puppet, the justice department works exclusively at and for the pleasure of the bellowing geriatric toddler from Mar a Lago. As Mulvaney infamously said: "I've got news for you. Get over it."
It's uncharted waters for the USA now (uncharted except for the likes of former Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, which charted this course many years ago).
6
Evidently!
2
Billy Barr is corrupt.
5
Dems and ‘progressives’ herein must have forgotten Barack Obama’s ‘wingman’ Eric Holder and his equally nefarious second term AG Loretta ‘Tarmac Meeting’ Lynch.
3
@EGD
Merely naming them is insufficient for your argument.
Please list the Constitutionally offensive acts committed by Obama, and how his AGs enabled him.
Then, explain how these actions by O exceed those of Trump.
Whataboutism is harder when you need to prove it.
4
Assuming for the sake of argument that your allegations about President Obama are true, it would appear that you subscribe to the notion that two wrongs make a right. I feel much better about all of this now.
Teach your children well, as the song goes.
2
Trump's machinations will be foiled when four prosecutors with a backbone are followed by a similar federal judge who will sentence Stone to the maximum jail time irrespective of the recommendation of Trump's minion.
1
He does whatever he wants. So far, I haven't seen anything to stop him. ..not even your constitution.
4
We have had a coup, or at least an attempted coup.
2
How long before it will be necessary to resort to force to stop Trump?
3
we noiw live a republican Banana Republic.
Republican supporters of this maniac: just imagine for 1 moment if and/or when this all happens to you, and it easily could....and you accept it now, nay justify it??
the rules of society and physics say what goes up must come down...on your heads, severely. And like you now, we won;t hear you screaming...nor do a blessed thing to help you.
that time is fast approaching
your world is about to collapse
3
It does not matter any more what he can or cannot do. He'll do whatever he wants. What is anyone going to do about it? Impeach him again?
Let's face it, the USA is an authoritarian state all but in name. And if the economy is still in decent shape comes November, he'll get a second term.
The average American voter is apathetic and ill informed so they won't even vote.
Scary time we live in!
10
Debased standards? This president has none. He was installed by Russian hackers who perverted our 2016 election and his every second on the throne is informed by the knowledge of his own complicity in this crime. Like Catherine the Great, a German interloper who had her tsar husband murdered and then cynically announced to the world that he had died of the colic...Russians remember their long history bejeweled with human treachery and are happily ruling our country through this dim greedy man. He will succeed in remaining in power as President-for-Life because Russia will intervene to make it so.
5
The Constitution is no longer worth the paper it is printed upon.
4
Supporters of Trump, including his republican senators, congressmen, pastors and pundits, no doubt would say that there is a limit to what they will tolerate from Trump... but like frogs in a pot of slowly warming water, they are already too cooked to react to the life threatening heat signals. Americans thought that they would be immune from a populist dictator like Chaves, Hitler, Putin or Stalin, but alas, enough Americans have become too drunk on trump to see that is what's happening. Instead. they cheer him on in their drunken revelry of "sticking it" to the "enemies of the people".
7
Remember when you learned about the constitution and all it' s magical and majestic "checks and balances"? And when you learned about our history and all the great men and women who forged alliances and overcame hurdles and problems for the common good? Did ONE of your professors ever say this: "A lot of this stuff depends on what could be called a "gentlemen's agreement"? and; "If some royal, my way or the highway jerk ever becomes president he could blow out all this "gentlemen's agreement" stuff easily, and fast." ? Did any of your history professors ever tell you that the president could blatantly break the law and then instruct his Justice Dept. to ignore subpoenas? Do we owe Trump thanks because he has proved how fragile our democracy is? Are we all too busy to do anything about it; including cast a ballot?
9
We need to start calling this what it is: fascism.
12
So what do we do? Trump takes any outrageous action he wishes, and defies Congress and the courts to stop him. Curtailing his actions takes more time by far than it takes him to enact his gut-level decisions. He rails like The Queen of Hearts, "Off with their heads!" And the Republicans are just like the Queen's flimsy playing card courtiers, powerless to resist anything he commands. We have been crying this from the rooftops for three years to no avail, When will these myopic idiots wake up? The barbarians are already at the gates, and we are twiddling our thumbs.
4
When I ask friends why they still support Trump, they all point to the booming economy and the rising stock market. They all say they are getting richer under Trump. Not one of them sees Trump's constant disregard of the Constitution, his constant assaults on our democracy, his constant criticism and name-calling of anyone he believes to be his enemy, as cause for alarm. And that's why Trump continues to get away with it. And that's why Republicans will continue to support him. Even as this country is closer to a dictatorship than I ever thought possible.
5
My confidence in our system of government is badly shaken.
235
@Matt Too large a catagorization. The Dems voted impeachment. The Repubs voted it down thus condoning the outlaw and his conduct. So it is the Repubs, not the system.
Our system of government has been around for 230 years and has overcome corruption before and it shall again--but only if its good citizens stand up. Are you one?
30
@Matt Now??? What took so long....
11
@Matt
And that's exactly what the Republican Party wants. I used to say the Republicans are a party without a plan nor a means to devise one - I was wrong. They have an undeniable plan to set it all on fire and issue tax cuts to the top 1% at the fire sale.
10
The NY Times Editorial Board is so out of touch with reality and what is coming down the road it is breathtaking.
History will show them as fools, who were paid well for their foolishness
N.b., I'm a liberal
“Monuments to human misery and wickedness are found everywhere—prisons, hospitals, gallows, and beggars. Here you see the ruins of a flourishing city; in other places you cannot even find the ruins.”
Bayle
3
@Prometheus
It would help your argument to mention what it is you
think is "coming down the road".
1
Here we go again; abuse of power and obstruction of justice. Start the wheels of impeachment again. Senator Collins, ya think he's learned anything? You and the other spineless GOP Senators are responsible for this, the firing of the Vindmans, and of Sonland. Wear your scarlet letters proudly, you have destroyed democracy.
5
I've had more than enough of this.
Want to to learn what is happening?
Want to comprehend how Roger Stone is found guilty while Trump exclaims that he (Trump) is being persecuted?
Read a very important insight into AG Bill Barr' religious fanaticism, written by David Rohde in the New Yorker titled "WILLIAM BARR, TRUMP’S SWORD AND SHIELD" about the Attorney General’s mission to maximize executive power and protect the Presidency.
It's mandatory reading to help us comprehend what is going on. It's that important. Sec of State Mike Pompeo's Christian fundamentalist devotionals also plays a part.
January 13, 2020
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/20/william-barr-trumps-sword-and-shield?mbid=&source=EDT_NYR_EDIT_NEWSLETTER_0_imagenewsletter_SundayArchive_ZZ&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_SundayArchive_020220&utm_medium=email&bxid=5bd6727d3f92a41245dd6ba5&cndid=29632182&esrc=frm_act_Daily_subs&utm_term=TNY_SundayArchive
3
@Paul
I would add his speech at Notre Dame in October.
Its unclear if he is a member of Opus Dei, but this speech puts him firmly in their camp ideologically.
2
The judge in the Stone case will have the last word..probably to the detriment of the sleaze bag Stone.
4
Can he? You bet he can! Trump is sworn in without a clue. So he starts pushing buttons and throwing levers just to what will happen. Which turns out to be nothing. A snowball rolling downhill. Don’t we have a constitution? Not if it’s provisions aren’t enforced. With a complicit Republican senate, led by his lap turtle, the DOJ in his pocket, and a toppling federal court system, he can do anything he wants. And, it’s only going to get worse! Please, please stop saying, “nobody is above the law”. I’d appreciate the honesty.
4
Our Constitution does not FORBID the president or anyone else for that matter to comment on perceived unfairness of sentencing recommendation.
So, your byline should read: YES. Constitution does not enjoin.
3
Unless Congress or Judiciary holds the Executive to the laws under the constitution, it's just a piece of paper.
2
You've really kicked the hornet's nest; St Petersberg is working overtime, plus a lot of PTTs (Pro-Trump Trolls) All just confirming the constitution only applies at the monarch's will. On the other hand, in the Kremlin Vlad may be picking up tips from Donald now... Good to see American "Values" being exported.
3
"A spokeswoman denied that the Justice Department was taking orders from the president ... " If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.
1
"The Constitution compels the president, among other things, to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Since Mr. Trump has described that document as “like a foreign language,” we’ll take this opportunity to inform him that this clause does not give him the authority to run the Justice Department like a goon squad at one of his failed casinos."
I love that idea. A registered mail letter to the WH with copies to the Chief Justice and CNN and other media with the courage and perspicacity of the NYT's Editorial Board to criticiize Mr Trump's flagrant bragging that he doesn't read expert opinions on complex subjects like US constitutional law and the degree and causes of climate change? Cheers, cheers and cheers.
For Stone's multiple guilty verdicts, it only took the jury 7-hours to come to their conclusion, maximum sentencing exposure: 50-years!
Recommended: 7-to-9 sounds reasonably fair.
NYT: Your sense of outrage is not pointed or strong enough under the circumstances ...
1
Stone threatened a witness and the presiding judge, but somehow in trump world, that's ok. I guess as long as you happen to be friends with trump, you can get a pass for just about anything. Just don't dare call him a dictator.
1
Don't you read your own newspaper? Barr works for Trump America Inc. now. He's the CEO who runs his business with fear and his subordinates in the Senate follow him on their knees. I can see Trump losing the election and calling the election corrupt and illegal and declaring the results void. Who's going to stop him? Certainly not the Justice department, the Supreme Court or the Senate. They're all afraid Trump will talk mean to them. We're one election away from a third world dictatorship.
3
Of course OJ "If the witness refusal fits you must acquit" Trump can micromanage DOJ or any part of the executive branch. OJ Trump is the Unitary CEO of America. Or is it Sovereign CEO?
Unitary Executive, Sovereign Executive, Unitary Citizen, Sovereign Citizen, all those Federalist Society doctrines are so hard to keep straight!
Not that there's much difference between them.
He doesn't need to "tell" anyone anything ... all he does is intimate he wants this or that and his minions immediately take his oblique demands, usually illegal since he doesn't need to be oblique with legal ones, and implements them.
The thing about them doing that, besides the damage it does to our democracy, is that THEY will eventually be left holding the bag as he throws them under the bus ... with the willing assistance from a new batch of Renfields.
The House needs to impeach him all over again. And again and again and again every time he commits an impeachable offense, which feels like once a month these days.
1
The press should cease publishing Trump's Twitter statements. Twitter is public, anyone can read it. If Trump wants to say things to the press, he should hold press conferences. Twitter for Trump is one-way propaganda.
4
It not only "can happen here" it is and we are seeing the start of Trump's attempt to rule America as a Putin/Kim style dictator as style he has praised. Americans do not know what it is like to live under a dictatorship until they critique Trump then they will be attacked with all the immense power of the presidency . This is not the kind of leader America can tolerate as he will destroy democracy slowly using a booming stock market as a cover.
1
Do you mean four deep state civil servant employees. It is interesting how a part time position that was paid less than other cabinet posts is now coequal with the Presidency.
I wish you guys would write these things -- about what Trump is doing wrong -- so that persons at the first grade reading level could understand them. If you would, I can use them to instruct people. As it is, your writing is much to educated for this purpose. Too many Americans have not received any education about our system of government. Civics, we used to call it.
Apparently, he can--given enablers. Barr's competing with McCormick.
Impeach him again. It is not about (impossibly) removing him. It is a duty to live up to one's vows of congressional office.
1
And his approval rating has gone up. We are over as a democracy. The Constitution no longer matters. It started the day he walked down the escalator and has only picked up speed. I cry for what could have been and now will never be.
Please tell me how the US is not presently a crumbling democracy.
6
The president has absolute pardon power and you think that he could not comment on an outrageous sentencing recommendation of a group of politically biased prosecutors held over from Mueller probe?
Get real and get over it.
1
Very doubtful that DJT is even vaguely acquainted with the Constitution. And it is doubtful that MacConnell, Graham, Barr, & Co. are going to educate him on it.
In the eyes of Trump the Constitution is not worth the parchment it's written on.
1
So I have to ask. Isn't Roger Stone threatening a Federal Judge against the Law? Should that not be another charge against Mr. Stone?
By the way isn't it ironic that the it is a WOMAN Judge that is the brave one in this story. Sort of like Fiona Hill and Maria Yovanovitch when they told the truth at the Hearings? Not to mention the four men who also told the truth, And now they are all paying for it.
Also hats off to the Federal Prosecutors who quit the Justice Department. Or should i say the "now Injustice Department?"
1
The humor, sarcasm, and satire that prevails in these Comments confirms the fact -- yes, the FACT, Fake Trump -- that the United States, founded on sophisticated ideals and laudable principles, has been set adrift in a cesspool by a Corrupt president, his Corrupt administration, and their Complicit wealth-driven allies.
Civility is fractured in the U.S.
Our leaders' ethics and morals are corrupted.
Our corporations are largely corrupted.
Our economic system is fractured.
Our health-care system is fractured.
Our elementary/secondary education system is fractured.
Our colleges and universities are largely corrupted.
Our climate is barely on life support.
Equality across the classes is nonexistent.
Equality for women and other minorities is nonexistent.
Immigrants are treated like chattel.
Firearms are the adult (and child) toy of choice.
Popping opioids is nearly as popular as popping mints.
The freest, safest nation on earth is an international joke.
…
…
Read it, America.
And weep.
2
It is disconcerting that the NYT feels it necessary to write a long editorial explaining that the President cannot intervene in the sentencing of his pal Stone. That should be obvious.
Now the question arises whether Trump will simply officially pardon Stone, as he did with Arizona Sheriff Arpaio after his conviction? Hey, why not? Objections can go to the Supreme Court for a 5-4 decision that pardoning convicted pals is a prerogative of a President, particularly if the President “thinks” a pardon is good for the Country.
2
Trump should be impeached. Oh...wait...
1
So, what are you going to do? Impeach him!
We have GOT to stop these blatant violations of the Constitution. The comparisons to early Hitler are becoming more and more realistic.
2
Well duh, clearly he can.
"Can Trump Tell the Justice Department To Do Whatever He Wants?" Yes. And the Senate will back him up every step of the way.
This piece is hardly an opinion, it's fact.
2
Donald Trump seems to think that when he was elected, he obtained sole ownership of the US Government.
Memo to Donnie:
Like you, I was born in NY City in the 1940s.
I own ONE share of the 330 million or so shares of the US Government. You only own ONE share. Every other resident also owns only ONE share.
My rights are just as valid as your rights.
You think you can do whatever you want because you appear to believe that Article II of the US Constitution gives you that power. You should read the US Constitution (yeah, I know, ... so many words ... so hard to understand).
Guess what?
Article II does NOT make you the KING or the Emperor.
As a PUBLIC SERVANT, YOU work for US, We The People, and NOT the other way around.
We The People got rid of King George III in 1776.
In World War II, the Germans, the Japanese and the Italians thought they would defeat We The People. They were wrong. We beat them ... you know, Hitler, Mussolini, the Emperor of Japan. My dad fought in the 101st, along with about 14 million of his buddies.
We The People are also going to get rid of you and your misbegotten sham of an administration on November 3, 2020.
I am sure that Susan Collins will offer you a shoulder to cry on. Maybe Lamar Alexander will invite you do visit in Tennessee. Or maybe he will not want to be seen in the same county as you.
Joe From Boston
4
And JFK had his brother as attorney general? And Bill Clinton had Webster Hubble over at Justice to oversee matters? And President Obama had none other than Eric Holder, a party hack if ever there was one, as his top Justice official prior to Loretta "tarmac" Lynch? Give me air!
Sorry. No comparison to corrupt Trump
3
Take your angst to the ballot box! VOTE!!!!!
5
Constitution....What Constitution??????
2
Eliminating political opposition and consolidation of its power - that's how the Nazis came to power in Germany in the 1930's. People wonder how such a 'civilized' nation could succumb to a dictator - this is how. It is truly alarming what is happening in the Oval Office.
7
This is what lies behind Trumpism:
“Every age that has historical status is governed by aristocracies.
Aristocracy with the meaning - the best are ruling.
Peoples do never govern themselves. That lunacy was concocted by liberalism. Behind its "people's sovereignty" the slyest cheaters are hiding, who don't want to be recognized.”
― Joseph Goebbels
DJT is just a tool. Remove the name of the author of that quote, and it is quite relevant. "The ends justifies the means!"
3
My dear American friends.
I'm afraid your country has turned into a 'Constitutional Democray INO'. INO standing for 'in name only'.
Should 45* succeed in gaining another 4 years, well.... the future even looks more grim.
The FBI will be rebranded to FBIB, Federal Bureau of Investigation into Biden.
The CIA will be rebranded to CIAP, Central Intelligence Agency for Putin.
The IRS will be rebranded to IRS45*W , Internal Revenue Service for 45*'s Wallet.
The EPA will be rebranded to EPAMaLo, Environmental Protection Agence for Mar-a-Lago only.
And! You'll have a king (with no clothes on but that's a detail)!!
To finish, as for the 'conservative' enablers, they can call themselves CINO from now on. Christians in name only (Mitt is excused of course).
Please vote wisely come November!
3
Remeber when we all chuckled at the president walking up the stairs to AF1 with toilet paper stuck to his shoe. Well, that wasn't toilet paper, it was the constitution.
8
Impeach William Barr!
5
Impeach Barr.
5
Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln. You are probably spinning in your grave there in Springfield, Illinois. You would not recognize your grand old party today, as it seeks to dismantle everything moral you stood for.
2
Impeach Barr. He's not acting in the interests of the people.
8
Yes, Trump can, but blame goes to the GOP in Congress.
Trump is their useful idiot and so long as GOP donors get their tax cuts and de-regulation the GOP in Congress will remain just as corrupt as he is.
This isn't rocket science.
3
Maybe if someone tweeted him the constitution in itty, bitty pieces, he could understand it. Although he probably still wouldn't care.
2
If the President does it, it’s legal...
1
So the AG is not the president's wingman? Did you all let Eric Holder and Obama know this and I missed it?
1
Where is Barack Obama? If not now, when?
2
Can anyone recommend a good book on 'how to survive in a banana republic' ?
2
Germany 1933.
5
Any intelligent American knows that Donald Trump will stop at nothing to protect himself and forward his own agendas in the name of that protection. And he now has AG Barr to be his Roy Cohn. Barr may be a more despicable human being than Donald Trump in that he has not only betrayed the rule of law and the Constitution but he has shown that he is also weak by obediently doing the bidding of his “mafia Don “president .
God only knows what Trump has done to get his Roy Cohn but in the end all of this will be revealed and all of this will come toppling down in due time. The question is how much damage can our nut case in chief do before this country has been ripped apart irreparably?
3
Excellent. Long live The New York Times.
4
Every day compels organizing to expel the Republicans from the Senate.
5
Geez, will it never end? There is no evidence Trump interfered in this case. He is entitled to his stupid tweets like everyone else. If there is anyone at fault (and I have to say, 9 years for a first offense seems ridiculous - here in CAwe have armed robbers who are on the street in 3-5). NYT, hows about you hold off on your premature outrage , do some reporting and get the facts before publishing the outrage d'jour.
Germany 1938.
3
Just the fact that you ask the title question really makes me wonder about the NYTimes. What Trump does and is doing is what goes on in military junta's. Banana Republic dictators .. And the Senate by not speaking out are such weasels. Why don't the Democrats jump on this? The grotesque figure & his horrible henchman, threaten public servants, witnesses, good hard working smart people. And you ask can he do it? You really have got to be kidding .........
1
The Trump Administration is turning the US into a fascist state. Make no mistake about it.
8
It must be excruciating for most of America to keep enduring this sociopath drunk with his presumed all-consuming power. He is Kim Jong Un in the making.
We can only look on helplessly as the NYT editorial board pumps out opinion after opinion denouncing Trump's actions, all to no avail.
2
Have we forgotten that historically the US Attorney General is the Presidents law enforcer and the DOJ follows suit. We only need to go back to the Obama administration with Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch to see the politicization of the DOJ. A fact ignored by Progressives. Why does the NYT hold Trump to a different standard?
1
The Editorial Board presents a compelling and convincing argument that the unilateral intervention of the Vietnam War draft dodger to influence pending legal proceedings involving his political allies is wholly unconstitutional. Loudly castigating the Justice Department as riddled with alleged 'deep state' actors in one breath and simultaneously out of the other side of his mouth praising the Attorney General to 'right the wrong' visited upon Roger Stone, the selective defense of friends and exhorting selective prosecution of political enemies is dangerously reflective of Hitler's 1930s Germany. Significantly, moreover, is the irrefutable, incontrovertible fact that this pernicious, albeit dastardly official conduct, reveals the obvious common denominator: all the 'victims' are Caucasian males of privilege that the draft dodger feels sorry for, that they were treated horribly, that manifest injustice occurred, and something must be done to protect them from persecution. Whether it is Michael Flynn, Stone, Joe Arpaio, Porter, and other white males of power and influence, you can bet help will be dispatched to help them. The imagery of these choregraphed optics is intentionally targeted to remind the base what is at stake is the protection of a way of life by invasion by dark complexioned individuals seeking to displace them. Adding Nigeria and other African nations to the travel ban list is the most graphic example of justifying racism through anti terrorism. Race matters.
1
Can you say "Uncle Joe?"
1
What is this constitution you speak of?
4
Apparently.
Good reporting . In addition to AG Barr now agreeing to accept information from the president’s actual personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who has been sniffing around Ukraine looking for dirt on Joe Biden and his son, Hunter....
Rudy is a target of a federal investigation by NY Southern District office! But no matter to Barr.
We are in the land of fascism. Let’s have more media coverage of this story!
Vote blue no matter who and take back our rule of law before it’s too late.
1
Congress should impeach him. Oh, wait...
America, please wake up !
4
"Can Trump Tell the Justice Department To Do Whatever He Wants?"
What kind of a bonehead question is that?
Of course he can tell DoJ what to do.
Just like he tells our shiftless military to abandon all pretense of honor or competence. Like he tells the science types to renounce science.
Thanks to Traitor Mitch and the piratical Senate, Trump can tell anybody to do anything and they will jump, or be fired or driven out, and the next man up will jump.
There is no one to stop him.
Democrats are hapless fools, blowing chance after chance.
The media are helpless frauds.
The Senate may as well wear micro skirts and belly shirts.
The electorate is so vastly uneducated (by design), so willfully ignorant they save all their enthusiasm for the people who treat them the worst.
Everybody knows what's happening. Everybody sees the End of America rapidly approaching but, as in the recent slapstick impeachment, nobody really cares.
Sure, Trump has already destroyed much of what used to make America great but, really, is it all that bad? I mean common, at least he's not that witch Hillary, that communist Bernie, or that gay guy.
None of this is insoluble. But none of this is easy.
So yes, why even ask, Trump tells anybody to do anything he feels like having done, and they do it or politically die.
You do us all a disservice, pretending its an open question.
You turn your back on your journalistic mission describing this like its another traffic jam on Fifth Avenue.
It's pretty simple: GOP senators wanted conservative judges installed in lifetime appointments. This is exactly in line with what Barr has advocated his entire political life. Fact is, none of these people give a flying fig about our Constitution. As Big Dan states in O Brother, Where Art Thou, "It's all about the money, boys!" They're willing to subvert the Constitution because it will enrich them even further in the end. Some say it's all about power, but without money power is useless.
2
Obviously he can in this administration
Editors: When will you learn. “Basking in lock her up chants” is nothing like some Trumps actual actions. It harms your credibility to continually dredge up soft issues related to Hillary Clinton in a piece that has nothing to do with those chants.
How to prevent situations like this from recurring after electing a president who actually respects democracy?
It also appears that the Court is more beholden to the Executive and the Legislative than the reverse. That doesn't help with checks and balances.
1
If you don’t abide by or enforce your Constitution, you probably don’t have one anymore.
261
@Paultee Agreed. If a critical mass of our populace no longer agrees to abide by the structure in the document, then its authority vaporizes.
16
@Paultee The Republican Party has shredded the US Constitution as well as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and thrown it in the trash.
21
@Paultee ...Well said, and probably true. This is what happens when you let a rabid fox into the hen house. I’m betting there are many congressional republicans who regret their “yes” votes right about now. Perhaps you folks should start building your own border wall to keep us out.
17
a man with the culture, humanity, wisdom and character of donald trump is the world‘s most powerful leader. anymore questions?
what has happened to you america? how could you let this happen? out of fear? apathy? depression?indifference?
the rest of the world has a hard time understanding.
6
Loving the lost and bringing nationwide revival is the motive and goal. Ending all abortion is the singular litmus test of faith and is a boundless reservoir of catharsis. The government's laws against discrimination are proffered as evidence of End of Times' renouncement of God, His Word. Attend a gay wedding, bake its cake, stamp the license, and take the mark of the Beast.
Pro-Life is the one standard; Republican leaders chip away at Roe v Wade; and Democrats need saved, not power over their families.
@umucatta, Concerns about Donald Trump as a leader and about democratic choices for secular governance --- are not in the "How I Vote" equation --- for the Republican Party's evangelic membership.
"Can Trump Tell the Justice Department To Do Whatever He Wants?"
Yes, of course he can. He's doing it.
What's going to stop him, other than a defeat in November?
5
With respect to Barr, Giuliani and the Ukraine, Barr will be happy to be "very careful." He will be happy to officially do nothing, or little. He will be happy to simply play along in this charade where Trump's propaganda ministry (of Giuliani, John Solomon, Joe DeGenova, Victoria Toensing, Sean Hannity, Fox News, etc.) continue to fabricate a story, promising evidence that never materializes, in service of perpetuating a narrative that the media--of all persuasions--is forced to publish because it is "news." The NYT, WaPo and everyone else is being hung with their own rope. Where have I heard this before?
4
The villains of our age are the cowards and naked cynics in the Republican party that would rather watch the pillars of our society burn than be out in the cold. They are the cancer, and Trump is the opportunistic infection.
The only mission is to remove them from power. The antidote for such cowardice and cynicism is irrelevance. There should be only one imperative for American people: remove them from power. Don't tweet your feelings. Don't ask for revolution. Don't ask for justice. Not now.
When the body suffers from cancer, we don't pray for perfect health. We hope to remove the cancer and simply survive. Then we search for what we can do so that it never happens again.
6
What I find curious is this thought: Do the likes of Barr ever think about their legacy? You know, years after Trump is gone, after the dust has settled. Include here the likes of Rubio, Cruz, etc. who were so belittled by Trump but rolled over and said "Scratch my tummy Donny".
3
This is a setup. The prosecuting attorneys meet with the Justice department and state that they will push for a term of X years. Then the same attorneys go to courts and ask for 9 years, much more than they had briefed the Justice department. Trump goes nuts and Justice states that the 9 years wasn't part of the agreement.
The 4 Democratic attorneys resign en masse to protest and now we have another fake news story about Trump committing obstruction of justice.
Sorry, didn't work last time and it ain't going to work this time.
9
@JGaltTX
Give it a week. It will all blow over.
Isn't it time to start a large educational program in your country? About constitution, checks and balances, trias politica, how a legal system works in a democracy - how democracy works.
I'm from Europe and can't help seeing parallels with the darkest era that started here about 90 years ago. And in that context I refer not only to failing democracy, but especially to people who blindly follow and glorify an amoral and very dangerous leader and his vicious agenda.
7
In November we must decide if we are the United States, or if we are Unitedstan. Vote.
7
@spiritplumber: I vote in a cheated state.
Whole nation is waiting for Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.
5
Trump does so much of this crazy illegal stuff because it keeps him hogging the national news. In reality his base is mostly people who are bussed to his campaign ralies, "warmed" up by people who get up there and act like idiots and then Trump gets up there and pretends he is a comedian and those people laugh at him rather than with him. He is a spectacle and its the only way he can live with himself in his unattractiveness.
1
of course. there is no longer a firewall between a putinesque tyrant and the government. the gop , afraid of its stupid, corrupt, or theocratic base, will do nothing. we are left with the vile corruption of sen graham or the pitiful sycophancy of sen collins. the nation is dead
4
Welp. He's doing it.
If you have't seen the following video, Midnight In Washington - Impeachment Zero Hour, I encourage you to do so.
Adam Schiff should be drafted to be the Democratic nominee for President.
SEE: youtube.com/watch?v=I5D3iT4BhbQ
1
Once again, a good summary of where we are. Like an out of control elevator, there seems to be no bottom. Yet.
But this oldster sees a redeeming feature in this latest ....intervention. The beginnings of a wrinkle exception to sentencing guidelines. Rob a bank if you’re over....60.... well, go easy. Defraud investors if you’re over...70- maybe probation? Threaten a judge, a cop, a ...neighbor-well, frustration- you know those, boomers.
Me and Mitch, Barr, best buds. And old. Hang in there Rodg- errhhh, keep the faith, bro.
Yes he can. The founding fathers had not thought of a scenario where the entire Republican party but 1 would sign onto fascism.
4
Yes he can because the Senate Banana Republicans allowed this. They gave the green light.
They chose a petty tyrant. A Venezuelan style dictator.
5
Trump is doing what he has always promised to his hate filled rah rah supporters, drain the swamp and that includes dismantling the Constitution of the United States. Rule of law are for the other “chumps”. He is the law. So much for the Senator whats their names for even thinking he has learned a lesson from the impeachment trial. The lesson these Senators need to learn is that Trump will go after them If they disobey. He will do to the Senators what he has done to Colonel Vindman, do the perp walk as he was being removed off the White House grounds and his guilt was that he was doing his job, telling the truth. How scary is that Senators? You are witnessing the dismantling of the Democratic way of life and it’s all because of you. So much for a lesson learned.
4
Goodbye Democracy - Hello Fascism!
Impeachment, Round 2 - coming up.
I'll take Bernie's Socialism any day.
6
Impeachment #2
Clearly a breach of presidential power and improper influencing of judicial authority.
IT"S INSANE!
No one in the history of this country has done this. Do Republicans care what precedent they are setting? ... that's rhetorical because Republicans don't CARE!!!!
This really is getting too scary, especially . when Lindsey Graham is backing up everything DJT Says.
Isn't there some stop gap? Some emergency override to prevent maniac psychos from doing irreparable damage to the country?
Apparently we were ready for the Russian but not for a coup d'etat.
Trump people.... do you not see the ridiculous folly of your king?
2
Clearly, with the (cough) "leadership" vacuum that Lapdog Barr provides, he can. Hand picked. A friend of mine, a partner at a top law firm, once looked up Barr's record and sniffed -- he was a failure! Yep. That's who heads the Trump Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Department, formerly known as the Justice Department.
2
Thank you U. S. Senate. Or maybe it should be “U. S. Sit on it.”
You have empowered a tin horn dictator. He needs to be gone.
4
Can Trump tell the Justice Department what to do? Of course he can. This is exactly what he is doing now. And getting away with it.
The last remaining entity that might check Trump is the Supreme Court. But if their prior rulings are any measure, they too will continue to kowtow to him. Consider the Muslim Ban and Wall cases. This court deferred to Trump merely on "his word" that he needed to take the action he did. No proof was offered to support his position. Indeed, no proof exists to support his claims. But none of this mattered to this Supreme Court.
This is what dictatorships looks like. Dictators flout the law. They know the law does not apply to them. Congresses, parliaments, or other governing bodies become nothing but an instrument of the dictator. They all pledge their undying fealty to him personally, and not to the rule of law. High courts contort their legal analyses to "decide" that if their dear leader takes an action, then it must be legal.
Perhaps many Americans don't yet believe we are in a dictatorship, having seen news reels of the Hitler and Stalinist regimes of the last century. But each dictatorship looks different - and in our case, our dictatorship is quintessentially American. Money buys influence. Money absolves anyone of moral and ethical responsibility. Those with extreme wealth are worshipped in this country, regardless of their personal failings.
Oh, and you know that democracy we used to have? You'd better check your rear view mirror.
2
Just another day in the dictatorship.
6
@CED
When prosecutors arbitrarily add 9 years after advising the Justice Department of a lesser sentence, you could start to think of it as a prosecutorial dictatorship.
Where's Jiminy Cricket when you need him?
Nary a Republican anywhere willing to point out the psychopathic personalities at work in the White House and the DOJ--smart, personable men and women operating without a conscience.
2
Didn’t know the President of the United States’ job description included being a lobbyist for white-white collar criminals.
3
He’s in the White House running “The US Apprentice Show” now.
Mitch McConnell, producer. TV crew - Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell. Set - Melania, Jared, Ivanka Trump. Foreign Donors - Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un. Cast - Republicans, except Mitt Romney.
Everyone still watching will get a free MAGA hat.
4
Trump’s only knowledge of the Constitution is that “Article II allows him to do anything” he wants and it allows the President to pardon anyone, and so Trump thinks that allows him to mettle in judicial cases at anytime during their course. Of course the attorney general Barr is there to counsel the President on matters of jurisprudence, and could educate the President —— Oh wait, we have a problem!!!! :(
1
As Chief enforcer of our laws, President Trump can support our AC Barr as he does his job in an organized and integrity-filled way. Thank goodness Barr is not an Eric Holder!
Does the USA have such an uneducated President that doesn’t speak at least two languages? Even Dubya speaks Spanish.
1
Below even his debased standards? I've seen this editorial board or others make similar statements or observations, probably at least once a week for the last three years. Please stop. You're only giving us and yourselves a headache. There no longer is ANY standard. The next editorial by The Donald should just say "Trump. Again." All caps. Your readers will know what you mean.
2
As usual, NYT obfuscates and the echo chamber cheers on.
Yes, a president can tell DOJ or you whatever he wants, it is perfectly constitutional. He, however, cannot order DOJ to do anything, which the President didn't. In an open twit, he just expressed his opinion. DOJ has an "absolute right" to do as it sees fit, which it did: the 7-9 year sentence was indeed ridiculous. The average time served for rape is 5.4 years, and some 'progressives' consider it "harsh."
You, liberals, have a memory shorter than his twits. Already have forgotten Obama's meddling in an ongoing trial, "If I had a son, he would have looked like..." I myself forget the name of that teen who assaulted the neighborhood watch.
Wrong. The teen did not “assault” the neighborhood watch, and Obama did not
try to influence the DOJ.
And Obama never did a twit. But Trump is a twit.
1
What constitution?
Can a President be impeached Twice?
Can we make him the first one?
2
The complacency of the american public is appalling and saddening. Just posting comments on nyt and watching netflix all day just isnt enough.
When is the Times going to call a spade a spade?
The GOP is building tyranny in this country, brick by brick. The only words strong enough to honestly describe what the GOP is doing are doing are words like putsch, coup, revolution.
There is nothing in our history that remotely compares to this deliberate assault upon the rule of law.
This is far worse even than the prelude to the Civil War. Instead of seceding from The United States, today's traitors are corrupting and destroying Constitutional government from within, falling in lock step behind a dictator, a king.
That is the reality that you are unwilling to honestly report.
Is that you don't know how to see it, or that you don't know how to say it?
3
Who is watching the custodians of the Constitution? It is certainly not the Senate. What if someone took an oath and there was nobody there to hold him to it? Is the Supreme Court supposed to watch the guardians, or a presiding Chief Justice? Where is the Attorney General? What happened to the Cabinet?
What happened to our standards?
What's happened to our country?
2
He's done much over three years that he's wanted and much of it has been denied as President Autocrat and The Republican Autocrat POarty grow smaller but more potent because of the lower courts, bullying, voter suppression, gerrymandering and redistricting PLUS the corrupt ability to win the WH millions of votes behind the Dem candidate.
How long will the country survive?
Also, the court will be out of step with a majority of citizens as it has been recently.. and the lower courts have very many new judges without minimal appropriate experience as Trump has changed the country in the run-up to the next Civil War.
1
No attorney can honor their ethical obligations and work for an Attorney General who ignores the Constitution, ignores the law, and furthers the personal interests of the President.
Thus, any attorney who continues working for a corrupt DOJ is complicit in his crimes, and is in breach of their ethical obligations and will face disbarment. DisBarrment, they will call it.
Because we should now rightfully presume the DOJ is acting in bad faith, Americans should refuse to honor USAG subpoenas and requests for information. We should refuse to cooperate as witnesses, and support those entrapped in Barr's criminal snare.
The DOJ is dead--it is now the department of injustice. Beware, Americans, beware, and fight back.
2
The problem with resignations of prosecutors and others in this administration is that, if good people continue to resign, you'll be left with just the bad and complicit.
3
Exactly and that’s what is so terrifying.
Can Trump tell the Justice Department to do whatever he wants? Let me answer that for you: Yes. Why? Because republicans in the senate, save for Mitt Romney, said he can do whatever he wants.
5
The Constitution compels the president, among other things, to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” So, perhaps Trump has the authority under the Constitution to "meddle" (as some put) if he feels the laws are not faithfully executed, or actually is "compelled" to do so...like it or not. Then again, I could be totally wrong. Would not be the first time (or probably the last time) this morning. Is it too early for a Scotch, or too late? By the way India is producing some superior single malts.
2
Equal justice under the law...or 'fairness' 43% of the US and 93% of Republicans are directly accountable for its rapid demise, in fact cheer-leading its exit. What to do? I swear I don't know, but voting Trump out is treating the symptoms, not fixing the problem. And how did we get here anyway? We the Boomer Generation were supposed to be the generation that ushered in the era of fairness e.g, with the Voting Rights Act, ending laws that criminalized interracial marriage in VA and the practice of eugenics in NC (both early 70's), integration of schools, Title 9 for girls athletics.
Our parents, however bound to their assimilation culture, rejected Goldwater and would have never nominated Trump. How, oh how did we get here? And how do we put this genie back in the bottle or do we? Is this a 'Back-to-Future' where unfairness prevails? Slavery, No, but Jim Crow, why not, or a Turkey-like authoritarian regime? What's the difference here, just now, today?
Excellent editorial.
This is a very dangerous tipping point for the Great American Experiment.
ALL FOUR prosecutors resigned!
Has such a thing ever happened in American legal history? Anybody on the U.S. Supreme Court interested in this mind-boggling warning? Sorry, go back to sleep Justice Roberts.
After a lifetime in law enforcement, Barr is now working night and day to destroy all aspiration for equal justice under law -- pretty much the mainstay of our society.
And it is both astonishing and appalling that the Republican Party is so ready, willing and able to eradicate the most successful and inspiring system of government the world has ever seen.
4
Edward Gibbon, the greatest of British historians, commented on the inability of an emperor to abolish his own precedent. I’m wondering if any Republicans are troubled by reflecting on the precedents which this president is setting.
Title of the article shows the problem. Clearly the answer to the question, as prashed, is yes. Trump "Can" do absolutely anything he wants. How is this still even an open question?
If you think its scary that Trump's tweets can cause the Justice Dept to reduce a sentencing recommendation, think about when an enemy of Trump's gets a recommendation he feels is too lenient. "Off with their heads!"
1
It’s time for all the responders to articles involving Trump’s violations of the law, etc. to accept the fact that comments and even votes won’t help the dismantling of our democracy.
If you people don’t get off of the couch and take to the streets and organize, nothing will save you.
Trump, now totally unrestrained, is not done once he finishes interfering in the Roger Stone case. He is determined to punish all his perceived enemies from the Justice Dept. He has Barr, who should be disbarred, investigating former JD leaders like Comey, McCabe, Ohr, Strzok, Page, and maybe even Mueller.
Barr is also investigating former Intelligence community leaders, like John Brennan, and now accepting manufactured Ukrainian dirt from Giuliani.
Trump's Senate lackeys are now going after the Bidens, and probably won't stop even if Joe drops out of the primary.
And Trump has repeatedly stated, with zero evidence, that Hillary's campaign actually colluded with Russia, and that she should be prosecuted over her email server.
It is open to debate whether Trump really believes his cronies were persecuted or that he himself was wrongfully investigated while others got a pass. But Trump does have a massive ego, he does care obsessively about his image as a winner, and he has to portray his own victimhood as justification for revenge.
Trump's former executive VP, Barbara Res, said on air during the House impeachment inquiry that if Trump got off, nothing would stop him from pursuing revenge. Trump is manifestly unfit for office and many of his supporters quietly acknowledge it. The only remaining question is what are the limits of their support. So far it appears there are none.
3
A very powerful editorial and 100% correct. We are seeing the rise of American dictatorship. Wait until he starts using the "wheels of justice" to destroy the free press. Only a matter of minutes.
2
Trump can do whatever he wants. The Constitution means nothing to him.
3
The argument that Trump can't tell the DOJ what to do because of the "laws be faithfully executed" language is like arguing a law passed by Congress with which you disagree is unconstitutional because it doesn't "promote the general welfare." If the president feels that a 9-year prison sentence (longer than many rapists and other violent criminal receive) is not appropriate for a 67-year-old man with no criminal history, convicted of nonviolent process crimes during a political witch hunt, is not "faithfully executing" the law but rather perverting it, the president has broad discretion to reach and enforce that conclusion.
Obviously, Mr Trump told Barr to do this before his Tweet. The fact that Mr. Barr, or for that matter anyone in the Trump administration, refutes that is meaningless. At this point one has to assume that anything that comes out of a presidential representative's mouth is a lie. It may not be, but statistically, it's the only rational assumption.
2
Whatever the Constitution says means absolutely nothing to Donald Trump. Every single person who supports this man, supports the demise of our democracy, and supports the rise of a totalitarian state. This is how is starts.
3
Trump is betraying America, and the Republicans are providing him cover. AG Barr is acting as the Defense Attorney of this Plot Against America, with co-conspirators Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, and Michael Flynn already convicted.
The strongest reason to impeach Trump, and defeat him in November, is that he endangers our National Security by repeatedly and consistently aiding a foreign power, Russia. This is Treason, and all Americans must understand this.
Trump’s tax returns would also show that he is in hock to Putin-connected Russian oligarchs, which is why Trump is so desperate to hide his financial records. Mueller was prevented from investigating Trump’s finances by Rosenstein, and Barr terminated the investigation prematurely.
Remarkably, virtually the entire Republican delegation in Congress (with the lone exception of Romney) is in complete denial of all of this.
The GOP has become the Gang of Putin!
4
This Trump is not an 'authoritarian', as politely stated by this editorial, he's the Joker who took over Gotham City. A thug
It's at this precise moment we need to hear from James Comey. First, an apology for the disastrous intervention he made in 2016. Second, a clear warning, that the foundations of law, as first laid out in Magna Carta, are being destroyed by Trumplicans.
1
I used to trust Chief Justice Roberts, I no longer trust him. Our Constitutional republic is on life support. Vote!
2
What Constitution??? trump and his enablers in congress have proven that it really is just a piece of paper.
1
Mind-bending, brain twisting - things at which Trump excels, when he pretends that wrong is right it challenges us to argue it all away with logic, and when that fails it causes us to hang our heads and to cradle our aching brains in our hands. Trump knows we are out of constitutional tools, except for the election, and that we cannot stop him from doing whatever he wants. Any shock we register from now on will simply feed his ego. (Look what I can do.) Just remember it is the Republican Party that unleashed this President. They had their chance and they blew it.
1
Thank God we still have the free press working in our behalf.
3
Yes he can. Because we no longer live in a democracy.
3
The constitution says no but Trump says yes. The constitution does not matter in banana republic America.
3
What will Trump tell the Justice Department to do about sentences for James Comey and Andrew McCabe when he goes after them for revenge?
3
One can only imagine what the Republican controlled House and Senate would have done to Barrack Obama while in office had he done even 10 % of the criminal & disrespectful deeds that Trump and his cronies have done to our country. I shutter to imagine.
2
What a strategy. Throw dirt at an associate of President Trump. Give him a sentence out of proportion to his supposed crime to teach a lesson to people about associating with the President. Then tell the President that he can't do anything about it. Saying the Justice Department and everything that goes on in it is not under the control of the President would prevent him from exercising his duty to ensure -- not just hope for the best-- that the laws be faithfully executed. You Trump haters may not like that. There is an election in November. Removing President Trump from control of the Justice Department is tantamount to telling Jeff Bezos that he may control everything at Amazon except marketing, which has to be run by a vice president who can do whatever he wants.
43
@SHerman
You seem to have forgotten that what has made our democracy endure is the separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, to prevent any one branch of government amassing too much power and reducing the opportunity for a tyrannical government. That is the whole point of a system of checks and balances that the three branches of government provide each other. Sadly, the framers of the Constitution never envisioned the current scenario where the three parts of our government collude with one another, thereby enabling the tyranny they are suppose to prevent.
419
@SHerman Does it not strike you as odd -- or completely inappropriate and lacking in integrity - that he get involved in a case that involves him and his campaign, and that the convicted perpetrator is a longtime personal friend and consultant ? This is exactly why officials recuse themselves from investigations -- to avoid the appearance of undue influence, or worse, actual influence. Does that not apply to the president?
411
@SHerman No one's throwing dirt at Roger Stone. He was found GUILTY of breaking the law by a jury of his peers. He committed a crime. (Actually, more than one.) The prosecutors recommended a sentence that is similar to what they'd recommend for anyone who did what he did. Faithfully executing the law means treating Mr. Stone the same as anyone that did what he did. It does not mean giving him preferential treatment because he happens to be a friend of the President. This has nothing to do with the President or Justice Department being able to exercise their duty. In fact, it's an example of them failing to execute their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution.
536
Perhaps Trump will become the first president in our country's history to be impeached twice.
5
Thank God we still have a Free Press in America!!
2
Trump doesn't care about the Constitution so neither should we. The Constitution gave us an Electoral College that now gives us minority rule by a Republican cult idolizing a deranged despot who abuses his power and corrupts everything he touches. So let's get rid of the Electoral College and restore majority rule.
4
Perhaps we should change the name to "Department of Revenge".
5
It is time for the American Bar Association to organize a March on Washington with thousands of its members protesting the corruption of Atty Gen. William Barr.
5
I think the House should consider impeaching Barr and the bar association that has accredited him consider revoking his law license.
5
If Trump has his way, the judiciary would be reduced to a Volksgerichtshof, the court system set up in Germany in 1934, in which the law was whatever the Fuhrer said it was. The free press will be next if Trump gets a second term. The similarities between the U.S. in 2019 and Germany in the 1933-1935 period are terrifying.
This year's election could possibly be the most important one in U.S. history.
3
Did Trump actually order the Justice Department to do something? I suspect this will blow over in a week when the facts all come out. By then, we'll be on to the next big outrage.
1
As long as the cowardly, traitorous, Republicans allow it, Trump will do whatever he wants with impunity. We effectively have lost our democracy.
3
It's efficient!!! It's three branches for the price of one!!! USATyrant 1.0 -- it's the new operating system for our former republic.
2
Can Trump Tell the Justice Department To Do Whatever He Wants? That's a silly question. He already has. Barr, along with other Republicans, has sold his soul to this soulless man. It's over and done!
3
Game plan: “just keep being ignorant and pugilistic. Everyone else has to follow norms. They can’t touch me.”
1
But who will stop him?
2
Whenever I learn of something tRump does, one response comes to mind: Shame. Shame on this president. His immorality and corruption know no bounds. From the seemingly least harmful insults, bullying and name calling (do you know ANY other adult who does that??) to the most damaging assaults to institutions, our society and our future - shame on you. I only hope that he someday (metaphorically) shoots himself in the foot while walking down the middle of 5th Avenue. This has got to stop and no one is stopping it.
4
The NYTimes Editorial Board needs to stop approaching Donald Trumps actions as if they have anything to do with the constitution. That's "so pre-2016. For the Trumpists, the "present" constitution is just a piece of paper and a general guide. This is how a totalitarian oligarchy functions. Donald Trump is in the process of bending all departments of the federal government to serve him, his family and the .1 percent. These are the facts.
3
They make a mockery of “equal justice under law,”...
Yep. And, here we are with our deMOCKracy now. We can thank the Trump train full of spineless Republican Senators and a shameless propaganda machine called Fox for getting us here. The next stop is going to be even uglier. Oh, America, you are breaking my heart. #VoteBlueNoMatterWho2020
3
Obama had a wingman for Attorney General and he did whatever Obama requested including prosecuting whistle blowers, using the FBI and CIA to spy on journalists.
Does the NYT think other Presidents do not have some influence with their attorney generals.
Mr. An - nice talking points taken right from Trump’s mouth. Holder never functioned as a wingman nor did Obama ask him to. If you have examples - you know, “facts” - please enlighten us. An opinion without facts as a predicate is merely sound and fury signifying nothing.
1
Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest? Trump plays an old refrain. No need to get your hands dirty when so many view his wish as their command.
2
"Can he do that?" Of course he can't do that! Why do you even ask? The media and Dems sometimes remind me of me and my siblings when we were growing up. "Moooom, Gunni ate my birthday candy! He can't do that, can he?" Well, yes he can, and he just did. And he'll do it again, because he got away with it last time, and the time before, ad infinitum.
Instead of allowing the Career Criminal-in-Chief to tramp all over our democracy and institutions like a rabid elephant in a china store, Congress should respond to the Trump situation like the emergency it is and order the House Sergeant at arms to pick up Trump and his criminal coterie and drag them off to gaol. The Republicans would have an apoplexy. "You, you cannot do that!!" And just like my mom instilling order in the house, Speaker Pelosi would say in the House "watch me." Two can play at this game. Come on, Dems, grow a spine.
1
More reasons to throw Trump out of office, the laundry list continues to grow with each week. CNN had a great column about Trump's retaliation against witness Vindman and why it is criminal behavior. The Times seems to sort of pursue the fluff angle of Bad Boy Trump except maybe for the occasional critical editorial. Cut back on the Democratic horse race already. Columnists in general are badly asleep at the wheel on Don the Con and his ongoing crimes. Where is the outrage? No passion found here.
Not only can the Reality Show Con Artist get away with it, he HAS gotten away with it.
The Founding Fathers knew we were susceptible to fraud's like the Grifter in Chief so they put in mechanisms to take care of the problem like Congressional Oversight and Impeachment.
What they never anticipated was an entire party of cowards like the Vichy GOP who don't care about quaint concepts like "Democracy". They only care about POWER and MONEY.
There is only one mechanism to take care of that problem and that is to vote for every Democrat in every election every year, local, state and federal, even for dog catcher.
Our system of Government gives broad powers to the President and the Majority party and when they are both out to obstruct the laws of this country, it is up to us to take the power away from them.
If you are not prepared to vote for the Democrats, then you are letting the Reality Show Con Artist and the Vichy GOP get away with it too.
If this all-corrupt Fake President is finally defeated in November, is there any doubt whatsoever that before he leaves office he will be issuing an historic number of pardons, for criminal conduct known and unknown, including to himself, family members, government/business associates, friends, and anyone currently incarcerated who has ever been allied with him. It will take years to cleanse America from the lingering stench of Trumpism.
3
Must have missed your article calling out President Obama on his remarks on the Clinton email investigation. Or was that somehow different?
Impeach Barr. We cannot not impeach Barr. He doesn’t even pretend to care about The Constitution now.
There were 195 house republicans and 53ish senate republicans who proudly voted against democracy. The 230 house democrats (yes independent, I called you a democrat) and 47 senate democrats (and yes independent senators, I called you democrats) who voted in favor of democracy all failed. Failed by not being able to convince 4 republicans to have an actual trial. Flabbergasted democrats republican lemmings = T being T. Everyone who voted against this human knew this was an inevitable disaster. Freaking out over, “what happens next,” is as productive as putting your seatbelt on after the car crash. We’ve crashed! Repeatedly! All hail the collective shrug to money and power while pretending this will not get any worse.
The GOP is going to pay for this someday. I just hope we get to that day during my lifetime. This travesty of a president is still being propped up by these slavering goons. It is awful to watch the willful destruction of our country underway by such self-serving, selfish toadies.
Yesterday Trump started saying what's happening to the other people that testified against him. Everyone that stood and did their jobs according to their oaths and the Constitution was under attack by this man.
GOP: do you have ANY shred of decency left? Any care for this country over this criminal in the WH? You are part of a coup against this nation. Snap Out Of It! Save the country from this insanity. 25th Amendment comes to mind, here.
We will have no more kings.
Unrelated, but what's up with this guy and fat trench coats?
The only reason Trump dares direct the Barr to protect Stone is because Barr is a corrupt, low life who has no respect for the constitution, the law or anything else other than what Trump or his billionaire friends will sink in his bank account.
1
Just another typical day in American justice: white,rich,well connected go free. The financial collapse had ,maybe, three people go jail. The only time rich whites go to jail is when they steal from other rich whites.(Bernie Madoff.) A fine example.
Haven't you been paying attention. The Constitution is dead and there is no law but the orders of the Great Leader. We have allowed this to happen. Everyday we write on this idiotic machine we continue to allow him to get stronger. Please lets stop talking about a dead Constitution.
This President is turning the government onto a personal extension of his narcissism. Why is this a surprise to anyone on the Editorial Board? He is the avatar of the Republican Party and the Evangelicals and the silent majority racists. Now that the Republicans have acquitted him he is going after anyone and everyone who might have not said ,”Bless you” when he sneezed! He feels that he owns the government, and since no one had the courage to say “no” to him, he does, in effect, own the government.
What the Times needs to do is to expose on a special page the various states in which the Republican Party is hard at work suppressing the votes of hundreds of thousands: Florida, Arizona, the Carolinas. Short of that or an act of God there seems little to point out how the Republicans are working like Trump’s termites to undermine the next election.
Can Barr be disbarred? He should be. He is just as crooked at Trump.
1
We need to storm Washington and like the British burn the White House to the ground preferably with Trump inside. Just kidding.
Dear Editorial Board:
Trump is a provocateur casting a reflection from the source of his power, the media. Your continued complicity duly noted, your argument is based on an interpretation of the Constitution. I think you may have looked the word up in a dictionary to comply with direction from your boss to conduct research. We know, it was a joke.
I understand. Opinion pieces can be the compulsory cost of doing business at newspapers these days.
Understandably so. Writing opinions to satisfy the political machinations of your readership is derived from your business and social choices. Yet, this practice has value.
While deliberately weak arguments appear to lack journalistic integrity, they serve the indispensable value of providing softball opportunities for new readers as they develop and refine critical thinking skills. That’s good, but still ...
For your readers who consume misguided political swill to drunken disregard, you might add a stronger disclaimer:
“Warning! This article lacks academic rigor. It may damage your ability to form and maintain coherent thinking processes regarding reality, which may result in impairment to your civic duties. Your contributions to the community may be severely damaged, which can negatively impact your personal health and well-being. Read critically.”
A name comes to mind, Eric Holder, self-named “Obama's Wingman” and the only Attorney General charged with obstruction of Congress.
I’ve had a spot of bother putting up with the latest set of rationalizations, alibis, pseudo-legal gibberish from Dershowitz, assorted lyings from Trump’s gang of clowns, and all the rest of the guff.
One of these apologists-a George Terwillinger—is on NPR right now: Trump’s been “hounded,” Mueller’s investigation went nowhere and said nothing about Russian collusion, it’s a pity Trump says a few iffy things but big deal, perfectly normal to have the President interfere in a trial and attack the jidge and jury, and so on. You know the routine. It hasn’t really changed much since Trump was a sleazy developer back in NYC.
I generally wondered just who these people think they’re kidding, but now I think I’ve figured it out.
The real point is to threaten all the sane adults. And to convince THEMSELVES, not us. The model’s all Bernie Madoff’s diehard victims, who just kept repeating the same things as he was hauled off to jail.
It’s a kind of endless self-hypnosis, really. Look at the dead, repetitive, mechanical quality of the comments. Always the same suspects, the same accusations, the same weird twistings of facts and laws and the Constitution, the same bizarroland inventions. It’s more than just the common need of suckers everywhere to keep believing. It’s oddly like watching somebody use a rosary.
Apparently, if you stop chanting the mantras and invocations, you might stop believing.
Haven’t you heard? The Constitution is null and void.
The Trumpstitution is all that exists.
The Republicans in the Senate should just eat banana peels instead of taking an oath of office - that would be more honest.
The Author needs to read the the Administrative Procedures Act that defines the Department of Justice as an Administrative Agency subject to the President's authority. The DOJ is NOT the judicial branch. Pieces like this just prove leftist ignorance.
It’s a rhetorical question, right?
Barr is buying time.
He could care less re the constitution
It’s not a question of whether he can or even whether it’s legal. It’s a question of how many times will we allow him to lie cheat and scam our entire system just because the republicans are cowards and traitors!! I wonder how long it’s going to take until someone actually calls them out and doesn’t use flowery language but point blank blunt street language? It seems that is all that the clown understands. A lie isn’t a falsehood it’s a lie and cheating is not bending the rules it’s cheating. Treason is treason and should not be up for interpretation by a laws than honorable lawyer who is a traitor as well.
Just a few years ago, Trump and Republicans endlessly hounded Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign because her husband got on Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s plane to say hello. They claimed they were worried about the appearance of improper influence.
This is orders of magnitudes worse and there is nothing hypothetical about it. Trump and Republicans are such hypocrites!
Constitution? Oh, that old thing!
If the New York Times and readers will indulge me, I'd like to post an excerpt from The American Interest's, "Impeachment's Aftermath Sifting Through The Wreckage" by Adam Garfinkle.
So it is really over? Is America over as the world’s beacon of liberty, protector of virtue, guardian of the weak? Is there no way back? No one knows, yet. But perhaps heed this description:
. . . . Then come impeachments and judgments and trials of one another. The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness. This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears above ground he is a protector. . . .having a mob entirely at his disposal . . . .
Recognize that language? No? You did not realize that Socrates, in Book VIII of The Republic, explicitly refers to impeachments and trials, and to what they portend for a decaying democracy?
Here’s hoping Trump will shine the spotlights everywhere, under every rock and rotten stump. Glad he started with the Biden’s.
We have a person leading this country who claims the Constitution is like " a foreign language"....???? Why are we the people not rioting in the streets to remove him from office. His manic behavior causes me panic!
Yes, NYTimes, but it is not enough. You need to take a much stronger stance against Trump's endless abuse and corruption. You have a loud voice. Use it.
1
There are grounds here for impeaching Trump again.
Obama instructed his Justice Department not to investigate or prosecute Hillary and Lois, despite their corruption. He commuted the sentence of the convicted traitor.
Hmm, nothing that Trump has done even compares.
Then…
Where’s the headline in bold type, ‘Trump Has Violated The Constitution’?
Obama did it all the time .
Since when has Donald J. Trump and his lackeys cared about the American Constitution?
He sure can! With the DOJ in his pocket, and his “all in” Republican senate, he apparently can do as he pleases. Look, up in the sky, it’s the balloon!
I have news for you. This "president" is not going by any constitution. Does anyone seriously think he has the foggiest idea of what that concept is? Oh, yes,he will tweet around to a degree that it suits him, muttering something, always something to get attention.
And then come the GOP enablers, simultaneously licking trumpboot while checking to see if trump goons are approving.
It is awesome, to see the USA slipping away, by the hour.
1
"It is good to be the King and Article 2 of the Constitution says so."
—Donald J. Trump; CEO, The Trump Organization
You people are hopeless. You realize this is all from a tweet? You know that, right? I bet 99% here don’t.
"If you can keep it"...….apparently, it does not appear that we will be able to do so.
November 2020....vote wisely....our country and our freedoms depend of it.
As far as I’m concerned, stone, Flynn, Trump, Trump jr, Giuliani, and others involved with the russia scheme and subsequent obstruction of the mueller investigation are traitors who deserve to rot the rest of their lives in prison.
There is no higher crime than inviting an adversary or welcoming an adversary to subvert the free and fair elections of the United States. And these folks have repeatedly betrayed the United States. Lock them all up. Hang them publicly. These are the appropriate punishments for treason.
“The US Constitution sounds like a foreign language to me.”
— Donald J. Trump in Davos
Barr says in regards the timing of his announcement of change in recommendation of sentence: It's all just “an inconvenient coincidence” caused by a “breakdown in communication," and the biggest lie of all, "Trump’s opinion played no role!" Does anyone believe any of that? Barr will come before the House in a couple months and have his snarky lies all lined up.
But Trump in his infinite wisdom has tweeted in praise of his lawyer Barr’s interference: “Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not even have been brought.” Yeah, that's another inconvenient coincidence I suppose?
And I suppose the prosecutors who quit the case, another inconvenient...coincidence for Mister Barr?
Trump's authoritarian behavior underscores one disturbing truth: America no longer has a democratic culture. A nation with a vibrant democratic culture would never have failed to remove Trump from office once he was indicted.
A truly democratic country would have not allowed Trump to gleefully meddle in a judicial matter.
The president does understand that a jury found his friend guilty and is therefore a criminal, doesn’t he?
215
@Stephen The president has a "different" view on juries if trying him, or any supporters/enforcers/acolytes...
15
@Stephen
For Trump, the only interpretation of reality is what Trump thinks reality is.
18
@Stephen - simply, the answer to that is "no".
3
Justice in the US was always a debatable thing. Blacks were always treated abominably. But with Barr there is no justice department anymore. It's a banana style department. Republicans don't care about justice anymore. Indict the poor. The rich Republicans are now above the law. The kings of the game.
Check, no balance.
74
The actual sentence is determined by the presiding judge. It doesn't really matter what Trump, Barr, or anyone else wishes. Of courss, Trump would likely go after the judge if she sentenced Stone within the guidelines.
Can Trump Tell the Justice Department To Do Whatever He Wants?
Short answer....
Yes.
The counter balance is that the Federal Court System can tell the Justice Department that it CANNOT do whatever the PResident orders it to do.
...
And in every instance that the Federal Courts have ordered President Trump to back down.....the President has obeyed the Court Order.......every time.
This is what most readers, loyal and obedient to the NYTs Editors, fail to observe.
1
Take to the streets if you love your Nation.
You want to stay home and think your neighbour is going to do what you should do? Call your neighbour and do it together.
Move it. Get going. Organize and act.
2
People have spent careers in honorable, sometimes selfless service to us in many parts of government for less pay than in private work.Disgusting that a megalomaniac can destroy them on a whim and brag about it. He is not fit to wipe their shoes!
2
The Times is not doing enough. It has a powerful voice that is whispering, not shouting. It's not enough. Trump is systematically destroying the country. We need fists, not patty cakes. Shame.
2
What stuns me is why people think this is so surprising. How many cards do you need to be able to read the guy?
The Editorial Board seems to be under the impression that the country still exists.
2
Why isn't Cardinal Barr investigating Giuliani for his undercover rogue activities with foriegn nations as trump's representative? I know the answer. The president takes care that his friends are protected from the law and sycophants like Barr and Graham bend over to comply.
The trump tweets attacking judges, officers of the court and intinmidating witnesses are more obstruction of justice. Time to fire up the Judicial Committees andastart new impeachment proceedings. Barr and the Senate enablers should be included in the charges.
2
Looks like a dictatorship to me. Make everyone afraid to cross 45. Take care of your friends no matter what they do. Refuse to allow a proper investigation. The emperor has no clothes. Good luck!
2
Now we look to one judge to put the line in the sand. This country has been reduced to scrounging for one, two, three, or four people to do the right thing. How absolutely pathetic is that?
3
"The consistution compels the president"... "this clause does not give him the authority"... blah blah blah. It doesn't matter what your constitution says if the president can simply override it with no repercussions. Just waving a piece of paper in the face of Trump while moaning "but it says here you can't do that!", as he literally does it, achieves nothing.
Your democracy was tested, and it was proven to not work. The US isn't a democracy with separation of powers. It merely had the illusion of one, and previous presidents dared not to cross certain lines by convention.
There is literally no point in you having a written constitution if there are no consequences to breaking it. Once Trump is out of office, which to those of outside the US looking in is looking increasingly unlikely to be in the next decade, perhaps you'll need a new constitution, this time with actual repercussions if your future presidents don't abide by it.
Until then, pretending the US is a democratic country is just ridiculous.
1
Without realizing it, by giving complete and total control to one man, our first dictator, the GOP has put this country on the road to an inevitable and extremely violent revolution.
Trump, McConnell, and the rest, thought that be seizing complete control of the levers of power, they have won the big prize. When, in fact, all they have done is slit their own throats.
Just as this country did not stand for being ruled by an elitist monarchy in the past, it will not tolerate it again in the future.
With their acquittal of Donald Trump, the GOP has issued an edict to all of us. And their tacit remonstration, "Let them eat cake!", will inexorably lead to them to the same future that awaited Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI.
In these United States of America - TYRANNY WILL NOT STAND!
1
Chicago Guy say “the GOP has put this country on the road to an inevitable and extremely violent revolution.”
When do we start? Now seems like a good time.
2
@Rick W
The day after Trump steals the next election.
This response from Trump was quite predictable, albeit sad and unfortunate that the highest ranking elected figure has always behaved with a modicum of respect for the law and Constitution.
Trump, on the other hand, is a bully. This is bully tactics. Even a far less visible person would be likely to exert (illegal) pressure carefully and without such obvious presence.
A bull in a china shop is his way of doing things. His bizarre behavior until now has been alarming but now since the trial (enabled by his Republican Senators) his visions of grandure and entitlement run rampant.
We can only hope that somewhere, somehow, a movement in Washington to reign him in or ask him to leave will come forward.
We are a mentally lazy people. About half of American voters don't care about anything outside of their personal interests. That's why they don't even bother to cast a ballot.
The time has come to declare us a banana republic with money, as a friend of mine recently said.
4
Bars fathers was the first employer of Epstein. He hired him without exams. I think Teump has enough dirt on Barr. And Barr was always ready behave this way. He was always terrible and he doesn't care. He said it.
1
The Unhinged have become a club
in lockstep with Trump. For that
matter, the whole of the Republican
Party can be considered members of
this debasing fraternity supportive of destroying a democracy’s foundations.
2
Maybe he'll get impeached on more charges. I can only hope.
3
Trump doesn't recognize the Constitution. It has too many rules, and only applies to the nation's serf class. Trump makes his own rules but they're only for other people. He has rules for his butler and personal maid mostly having to do with how his boxer shorts are folded. Otherwise, rules are for suckers, and that means everyone who is not a current pal of his. Laws should be flexible or non-existent for himself, his family and friends - after all what point is being rich and a king if he can't have exactly what he wants all the time?
2
Republicans have been deplorable. They are so full of fear, and under the way tutelage of McConnell, Barr, et al, have enabled a sick, sociopathic, lying president to remain in power. The Republican party’s complicity is nauseating and a dereliction of duty.
In contrast, kudos to the Americans who have stood up against this destruction of Democracy. The impeachment witnesses, the attorneys who resigned today, give me hope.
God bless you.
1
Oh there's a constitution in the US ?
5
Constitution?
Kings do not need to respect any law.
2
This is only a precursor for the bevy of criminals, conspirators, and paying customers who will be looking for a pardon - come November. All the more reason to rid the country of these banana republic antics.
1
Holder and Obama were the best of friends. They were on the same page 24/7.Trump and Barr aren’t even close to that.
Very Simple: Impeach him again. Tampering. Although, that word suggests a discreteness that Mr. Trump seems absolutely incapable of.
On July 28, 2016 at the Democratic National Convention, Khizr Khan spoke the following:
"Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with our future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words 'liberty' and 'equal protection of law.'"
Sadly, shredding the Constitution does not require reading it first.
1
Don Trump's necklace of piked heads keeps getting bigger.
Now the Don sports a charm bracelet with symbols of assorted departments and agencies: State, Justice, the Senate, the FBI, the military …
In the meantime Republican Senators who have been elected to serve their constituents – their country – offer amiable explanations and then run for the exits.
And all the while Trump's fellow mob boss, Don Putin, smiles approvingly.
1
I always thought Trump a real life personification of Lex Luther, a Superman comics villain. Maybe dung beetle would be more accurate?
1
Trump understands nothing except fealty and fear. If he can't have the first he'll go for the second. He has no more interest in fairness and justice than does a rabid raccoon. He should be dealt with in similar fashion. Too harsh, you say? Well, it's likely to be you he bites next.
1
Trump is the mogul we all love or love to hate. But; he is the person almost everyone wishes he or she could be, powerful and laughing in the face of criticism. But; isn't that all supposed to be in the movies and entertainment shows? How did America ever get this perverse?
Who will stop him? Not Mitch. Not Bret. Not Bill Barr. Not a majority of American voters. Not the Senate to uphold their over site obligations. Everyone with integrity has left the administration or been fired. Who is left is Miller and Conway. The nation is under attack by oligarchs, nihilists, and run-of-the-mill fascists.
I was a sworn law enforcement officer for 32 years. The criminals are running the show. Who will stop them?
2
Seems to me like you could make a very effective political ad out of the president calling the Constitution a "foreign language."
If Trump is able to cheat his way to a second term the time will have come for the Blue States to secede.
Let the Red States have Trump.
I want to live in a Democracy. I don't want to live where being a Democrat makes me an enemy of the Justice Department.
2
You do not protest loud enough! The Times has a responsibility to the people and its own mission to oppose Trump and his staggering corruption. He is well on the way to destroying the great American experiment Lincoln talked about and a mild chastising is not enough. You have a voice! Use it!
2
There's a new sheriff in town, laying down his own law, and if you don't flatter, bootlick, and attest to his genius, you'll be lashed out at, insulted, humiliated, sued, defamed, twitter barraged, thrown under and over the bus, and finally fired.
1
William Barr is a disgrace and should be impeached and removed from office. Barr is unfit to be Attorney General.
Donald Trump is also a disgrace who should be impeached and removed from office - but we know how that turned out.
It's shocking that the Republican Party and it's elected officials don't care that Trump and Barr are destroying the integrity of the Department of Justice.
Once these men are removed from office, can this ever be repaired?
Will the American people ever be able to trust the Department of Justice again after this desecration of the rule of law by the President, the Attorney General and the people in DOJ who are enabling this tragedy?
1
Whenever a tyrant threatens democracy, they are ALWAYS circled by enablers who personally benefit by surrendering their integrity. Mitch McConnell, Jim Jordan, Elise Stefanik, Mick Mulvaney, Lindsey Graham--the list of Republicans who hold their nose so they can keep power just grows and grows. But the person who appears most willing to sell out his country for Trump is Barr. Barr is a disgrace who will sell out his country if Trump throws some silver at his feet.
2
Dear NYT,
Please, please our House is on fire and no one will call the fire dept! In the Congress the idea of , “ serving the Country” does not supercede the idea of “ serving oneself”.
Do you think you could sponsor a news conference with all the current presidential candidates for the Democratic Party and have them make a unified appeal to “ the Citizens” of our Country. Tell everyone how , thanks to this regime, our future will have less clean water, possibly, species of fish will no longer be available, your National parks will have been sold off in pieces, caring for “ the least among us” will be a concept of the past. We will not feed or house them.You will no longer have to care for “ others” only yourself. So if you turn out to need help, look no further than the mirror. That will be all that is available.
Have we so lost our way that the lamp of liberty is only sputtering in New York Harbor, the golden door is rusting and unhinged. Where are those with spines that would mount the barricades and take to the streets to stand for everything that has made us once the envy of the world.
Nero fiddles and Rome burns. Please call the fire dept.😢
1
As the 'tweeter-chief-chief' pulls us even closer to lawlessness I become more afraid. Is there nothing the Republican Party won't do to keep their jobs? Maybe they need an obligatory history lesson?
Jeepers!
I sure am glad that the Times is devoting an equal, if not larger, share of its opinion column space today to reminding us that a president who might implement universal health care would be REALLY SCARY to the MODERATES.
Because actual fascism, pfft, not all that bad really compared to rich people paying a fraction more in taxes.
1
Yes, and in the all too commonly known terms used when speaking to or with a willfully ignorant person or an arrogant person, all Trump hears is "blah, blah, blah." He cares not for any words; he'll continue his autocratic takeover until he's stopped. So, how will he be stopped, and who will stop him? The Senate?... under co-conspirator McConnell, no chance. The House?... Trump is shameless and laughed off impeachment. The courts?... Increasingly unlikely. The November 2020 general election?... Maybe, but several notable people have already postulated that Trump will not willingly accept any adverse election results and peacefully leave office. Indeed, as is his wont, he's already telegraphed that real possibility. So, what now is realistically and legitimately possible? I want to believe he can be Constitutionally constrained but all the evidence thus far negates that belief. So, NYT, care to offer any suggestions?
“Can Trump Tell the Justice Department To Do Whatever He Wants?”
Yes! Aren’t you reading your own articles on the news?
1
I had to pause after your first sentence. The editorial board ignored or acquiesced to several examples of the Obama White House using its powers to harass political opponents (IRS) and as we are learning likely engaged in a full throttled abuse of the FBI and other agencies (FISA) to spy on a political adversary. Paul Manafort and Tony Podesta do the same thing yet the Trump associate is in solitary confinement. The list foes on of lack of equal justice. Your bark has no bite. Sorry
Trump thrives on Implausible Deniability
The government is being sabotaged in preparation for mission creep coup control. Reverse engineer that.
Be prepared, stock up on dry goods, canned goods, alternative electrical supplies, medical supplies, sterilizing pressure cookers, shelter devices, fuels, seeds, and consider other means or tools of survival.
Roger Stone's "Joseph P. Kennedy sunglasses" are no accident. It's a taunt. Make it clear violence brewing is directly instigated by Republicans after they were found out.
I recommend sending your women and children to other safe smaller peaceful nations in the southern hemisphere where you can send them cash and they can set up a humble home where you can join them later in safety.
The nation is lost. We are not.
It is becoming clear that you have a rogue, out of control, and immature bully in the White House. Power corrupts but in this case power has more greatly corrupted the already corrupt Trump who is nothing more than a wannabe mob boss with a grade 2 mentality. If you folks re-elect Trump you will be the ultimate laughing stock of the World as opposed the ordinary laughing stock you already are. A Trump re-election would be an insanity and leave America with no credibility. PS My maternal grandfather from Harrisburg PA is screaming from his grave at how your (his) democracy is looking like a 3rd world failed state.
2
The re-jiggered Justice Department, most Senate Republicans, Fox News, and many of Trump's supporters have all the earmarks of a cult, in which the leader is corrupt, venal, a predator, and an absolute dictator who rules by fear and divisiveness. His subjects willingly surrender their personal integrity and responsibility, conspiring with him to subvert truth, morality, and common sense. This is insanity.
1
Well, according to Alan Dershowitz, as long as what the president does is in the best interest of the nation, he can pretty much do whatever he likes - and will not be impeached.
1
Excellent appraisal of an unhinged criminal in-chief, who thinks people are dumb enough to believe that whatever Trump does is just 'what the doctor ordered'. This, after a complicit republican Senate 'absolved' him in spite of all the evidence. Ever since, this vulgar bully, totally unhinged, has begun a systematic purge of any and all that, under oath, told the truth about his abuse of power. For that, he has enlisted a pliable swine named William Barr, the AG that thinks his role is to defend the boss, no matter how heinous his behavior. This is mafia vengeance squared.
If #44 did that the GOP would be after his head. Because it's #45, who also took the same oath to uphold the constitution, it doesn't count. Let's see what sentence the judge gives. He can still pardon Roger Stone and I'm sure he will.
Is it known that DOJ officials had not decided to seek a sentence lower than 7-9 years prior to the president’s tweet?
Just curious, why does the NYTimes always show photographs of the president that make him look so powerful and ominous? I appreciate the technique, and the visuals are so compelling, but can you be a little more circumspect and even-handed? Perhaps just try?
And who is going to tell Trump and his personal lawyer Bill Barr
that he is breaking the law? Definitely not his spineless GOP senators.. ...
More fake news.
Barr read the same things we all did, and Main Justice took over this travesty of justice from Mueller partisans.
1
For goodness sakes, can someone please drag this crooked monster before the Supreme Court. He is being allowed to destroy the separation of powers of the most important democracy on the planet. He actually thinks he is the equivalent of King George 111 and he can do what he likes. In this he resembles the other dangerous beast who runs his government like a dictator - Putin in Russia. They are mirror images of each other.
1
The constitution! How quaint! I think that got thrown out the window a long time ago!!!
The Constitution compels the president, among other things, to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
Nice try NY Times- this must REALLY bug the Ed Board (as it does me). But there is nothing left of the checks and balances written into the Constitution to stop him. He has the Judiciary, the SCOTUS, and enough of congress in his pocket so that nothing can or will stop him. He really can do exactly whatever he wants with no chance of retribution...I think we have only just begun to see what he will do with the giant carte blanch the Republican Senate and Barr’s judiciary has handed to him. Who is to stop him? And even worse, there is a large swath of voters that are lovin’ him even more for being strong against the deep state.
But hey! Keep reminding your readers how bad this all is! We’ll be just starting his second term about a year from now...you think it is bad now? Whew! Just wait ‘till he gets his re-election mandate!!
Scary times folks. This is a war on the Dream that was the United States... (of America ((south, central and north)) )
Constitution? We don’t need no stinking Constitution.
1
President Trump's supporters are glad that Trump is killing the Constitution. The U.S. Constitution has been working against the Conservative Right for decades, with all of those pesky rules in the Constitution guaranteeing rights for all. Trump supporters hate all of that stuff, because they only want rights for folks that look, think and pray like themselves.
1
Vote this November as if your life depended on it. Because it does.
2
We see Caucasian, European, culture at its best in Trump and the Republican Party.
Cowardly men rolled over on their backs, whining like smaller dogs, as the big dog walks through the room.
I have spent my entire career in Caucasian male dominated, East Coast, failing (I might add) corporations.....and have observed this cultural (or animal?) behavior for my whole career.
1
The Republican Party will ensure that the Constitution will become a dead letter. ALL OF IT, except perhaps for the 2nd Amendment.
1
As the only way he can be stopped is a coup d' etat, you need to come up with an editorial to justify that. Clear and present danger?
“Can Trump Tell the Justice Department What To Do?”
Yup, if the Attorney General is a toady who does what a Trump says.
1
Can the Senate GOP vote to BLOCK witnesses and documents?
Impeach him again. Do it or our Constitution has no meaning.
1
Consider the success of gangster movies in the US, of the Sopranos, or the glamorixation and glorification of Bonnie and Clyde in their day. Trump is both functionally and symbolically their golden-haired non-italian Don Corlione.The more corrupt, vindictive and authoritarian he becomes, the more they live him. Maybe this is what he really meant by ''winning''.
If we can't take the WH, maybe we can take the Senate, and begin impeacment II, with a full line-up of accomplices to follow.
I immigrated (yes, legally) from a banana republic where El Presidente appointed his relatives to office, told the attorney general who to arrest, and where the Parliament gave Presidente standing ovations for just opening his mouth.
Now I live in a banana republic, right here in the USA
412
@Donna Chang
Sadly, about 40% of Americans are just fine with it.
Their knowledge of history, and of other nations, is next to nothing.
47
@Jerseytime
It is somehow poetic that most of that same 40% will be the ones to suffer the worst.
And they will continue to blame Democrats.
18
I support the four prosecutors who resigned, but I would like to hear a statement from them. Their resignations lack significance without a public statement spelling out exactly what is wrong here and why they resigned. We need transparency. The outrageous behavior and unlawful decisions being made within the federal government must be made crystal-clear to the American people.
You say that the constitution prevents Trump from engaging in this type of behavior. However, Trump ignores the constitution and who is there to stop him?
I think we’ve reached the smonstitution, stage.
43
The elephant in the room which everyone seems to overlook is this: trump is involved in this because Stone (and many others) were doing what he wanted/told them to do. Isn't that what the term close confidant implies? So, if they're guilty then so is he. It's that simple. Beyond that this takes us further down the road of autocracy and dictatorship. I say to Judge Berman, sentence Stone according to the judicial guidelines. Then trump can pardon Stone if he so chooses. This pardon will then be another brick in trump's wall of lies which can be used in the campaign.
Remember Stone "was convicted in November of obstructing an inquiry by the House Intelligence Committee into Russian interference in the 2016 election, lying to investigators under oath and trying to block the testimony of a witness who would have exposed his lies." NY Times 2/11/2020.
You can reread more of the testimony from the trial if you so choose.
2
I suppose the President can do whatever he wants as long as the Republicans have a majority in one house of Congress. The President has just gotten started and the rest of us will have to enjoy the ride as much as possible for as long as it lasts.
1
The judge needs to issue an injunction against comments that represent judge, juror, and witness intimidation, and then cite Trump for civil contempt and fine him the next time he tweets about the case. That keeps the case out of DOJ and with the civil courts.
2
I would suggest that Trump's departure from the principle of "equal justice under the law" is less an aberration and more a confirmation of business as usual in this country. At what point in time have we ever, truly, been a nation of equal justice under the law?
This is not an apology for Trump nor an attempt to excuse him; he is a horrific vision of what a determined, corrupt political machine can get away with. It is, instead, a reminder that the great notions of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, with liberty and justice for all, and equal justice under the law are aspirational, not definitive qualities. And because of this, they require constant attention and effort to keep their attainment in focus.
Anything less leads to what we're seeing now: Equal justice under the law as discretionary, depending on who is being judged. Business as usual.
1
Joseph Goebbels in his grave is envious.
2
Barr is anticipating Ginsberg's death, before the election, and being nominated by Trump for a seat on the SCOTUS while there is still a GOP majority in the senate.
As such he will indulge ANY whim Trump seeks.
Justice and democracy be damned....
2
I am remembering the old story about the little Dutch boy that stuck his thumb in the dyke. The thing was crumbling--icy water spouting out of one small hole--but the hole was getting bigger and bigger.
I guess someone rescued that doughty kid and the dyke was saved.
Where is the little Dutch boy in this tragic tale of democracy crumbling in America? Where are the guardians of the law--of the government--of democratic institutions that'll come hurrying forward--
--"Thanks, kid--you've performed a great service today. You've saved your people, your family, your country--
"--Now let US take over. we know what to do."
My anger at the US Senate grows white hot with every passing day.
Trump I could see. He's never learned anything different--and Lord knows! he's never run his life any different.
He stiffs people. He worships himself. He cares (basically) for nobody and nothing.
But those GOP senators! Were they not raised better than this? Is there some GRAM--is there some MILLIGRAM --of concern for a free America?
Cannot one or two come hurrying up to the crumbling dyke--"Mr. President, you're out of line here. WAY out of line. . ."
No. Apparently not.
Shame on them.
Shame on ALL of them.
Every one of them.
Shame.
4
I know that Trump is a cult leader to nearly all his base. Why he is so valued by them is a mystery to me. Trump has not kept his promises to his base with tax cuts that helped them rather than the ultra rich and corporations which did not need government help to make more profits while hiring fewer American workers and paying them less. Trump has made health care and Medicaid harder for his base to obtain and harder for the older part of his base to obtain Medicare and Medicaid when needed.
What is so disgusting to many Democrats is Trump whining about the sentencing of the criminals like Stone who worked for Trump and broke laws while doing Trump's business. "So Unfair" whines Trump. Trump needs to just pardon them all and take the blame for their crimes, but he is too much of a coward to do that. Instead Trump works through the DOJ to get more people to do his dirty work for him. Disgusting. So low class. So unAmerican.
4
Like Trump or any member of his cabinet gives one iota about the US Constitution. You guys are being absurdly naive. The intent is to completely eliminate any check on the president's power. This is blatantly obvious.
2
Trump’s brazen disregard for the law is going to not only get him booted out of office but his precious blind leading the blind GOP will follow him out of office too. We owe the man a debt of gratitude for destroying what has been masquerading as the party of Lincoln. There are enough Americans who have had enough of these sleazy shenanigans.
2
The Constitution? Are you living in 2016? Dick Cheney's oft-derided prophecy has become true - the administration creates the reality that most of the country lives in, and the media, and the sane, play catch up by trying to fact check. When you free yourselves from the confines of logic and ethics, as the GOP has, anything becomes possible.
Trump could care less about the constitution.
1
The Constitution's existing checks and balances lack the capability to protect our democracy from hoodlum presidents. It needs serious amendments.
Separation of Powers? Checks and Balances? Those are like basics from junior year American History 101, Mr. President. The Chinese Government declares their "right" to censor Dr. Li. And, look what happened there. Chinese Envy this week? Then it will be back to Putin envy.
1
Another witch hunt, doomed to fail.
I do not care if Trump voices his opinion about a potential sentence against Stone (or anyone else). This shows how desperate and panicked the left is about Trump. Trump should keep criticizing, keep tweeting, keep voicing his raw opinions about whatever he wants to opine about.
Trump will say that he didn't talk to the DOJ about the Stone case, another great lie told by the biggest liar in the world.
Trump will use all the departments of this government like there his own personal employees.
More then ever we need people that will stand up to him.
1
As long as there is no one to enforce the Constitution, as long as Trump controls the DOJ and Barr continues to be his lapdog, nothing will happen.
There must, must be consequences for them when Trump is no longer in office and Barr is no longer AG.
1
Since Trump and the GOP cannot set a good example, then let them become a horrible warning to all voters this November.
2
Face it. Trump and his trained baboons have taken over the Justice Department, just as they have taken over the State Department and other major government institutions that rely on informed professional judgment from America's best professional civil servants. Trump also made a serious attempt to take over America's intelligence agencies (Ratcliffe nomination for Director of National Intelligence) but was rebuffed by the nominee's own stupidity and lack of qualifications that forced him to withdraw. Give Trump more time (a whole four years with the trained baboons GOP at his feet) and he'll have lackeys in all key locations (including the FBI and the intelligence agencies). Then Trump will be the eyes, ears, voice and Royal Executioner of the American government.
The American people can't let that happen. The 2020 elections have to be viewed in the same light as the Battle of Gettysburg and the Normandy landings. Our democracy and liberty are at stake.
3
Trump could also give Stone clemency
and limit his punishment zero days in prison
The US is very sick and needs to understand where all this dislocation comes from. It did not happen overnight. It may have started with slavery and the civil war. It has something to do with hatred of non whites. It has something to do with power for its own sake, guns and supremacy. It has something to do with patriarchy, power and fanaticism. It is all tied together and Trump has lied, projected and fanned the flames to incite his base. Trump uses all these old wounds and combines them with modern day globalism wounds to consolidate his power. Trump uses fear, threats to keep his party in line. The whole thing is anti everything the US has tried to stand for and we are headed very fast down the rabbit hole to unknown systemic degradation and ruin. I hope we can pull ourselves out of the mire before we go down for the last time. Those who support Trump are just as responsible for the collapse of democracy as he is. They all engage in treason. They do not love this country or what it stands for. They trash the flag. The prefer to live under the heel of a damaged human being.
Come up into the light. Join the fight for facts, truth, and democracy. Get rid of the con man. Live again.
1
What a silly question It reeks of bias.The sentencing of an elderly man who lied about Russian collusion that did not exist should not get 9 years in jail.The President have every reason to be upset about it and so should every fair citizen.
1
"The Constitution? I'm pretty sure the PATRIOT Act killed that to ensure our freedoms." - Bart Simpson, 2008
As I understand it, El Presidente Genghis Caligula has broad pardon powers anyway. Why doesn't he just tweet a list of all the people he likes and who have done favors for him (probably the same list) and declare a blanket pardon for anything they have done, are doing, and may do in the future?
"It's good to be the Genghis!"
2
I hope the judge gives him 10 years.
2
It. Is. Over. We now live in a dictatorship. Thank you Mitch. Thank you GOP. Thank you MAGA hat wearers.
If we took to marching the streets, all the streets and not just in the big cities: Trump and Barr would order us shot.
Brings new meaning to the blood red MAGA hats.
Good Bye Democracy. It was a great 240 years.
1
Thank you, Editorial Board. Please continue writing about this illegal destruction of the rule of law. Those who have been fired, pushed out, resigned in protest and attacked deserve your undivided attention.
2
Laws have not stopped Trump before.
Trump abuses his power so often - it is absolutely sickening and frightening.
He has his tiny destructive mitts on everything. From the DOJ to the design of buildings to the National Weather Service.
Trump is destroying everything, from the sacred lands of our parks, to water and air quality, School lunch programs, SNAP and the list goes on to Social Security and more... His mitts are on judgeships, SCOTUS and more.
He is about to appoint a complete lunatic to the Fed. She will destroy the economy. I do not know if we will survive this terribly destructive wanna-be despot.
1
Stone is a convicted felon and as corrupt as they get, but by the time FOX and the Trump machine clean him up he will appear to Trump supporters like a choir boy. This is of course the worst of Trump's lies, the unseen ones fed by twitter and Facebook, the gullibility of his supporters and his enablers at the SC, the 'Justice' department, the GOP run Senate and of course Trump himself.
1
Hey, Susan Collins, care to tell us what Trump learned from his impeachment trial and non removal?
3
Maybe it's because my mind has decided to ignore all the evidence it has been absorbing about the rapidly declining state of our Republic, but I suddenly have this fantasy that the Republicans in the Senate have actually been engaging in a long con in which, by enabling Trump to take ever more Constitution-defying actions, they are just feeding him rope on which to hang himself. The acquittal of impeachment charges is but a near penultimate part of the con, done knowing that he'll now be more emboldened than ever. And after a few more acts like the ones that have debased the Medal of Freedom and the Justice Department, they will slip the noose over his bulbous neck and end our national nightmare.
If only.
1
The Constitution is inoperative.
At this point, the only real checks on Trump are certain news media - most prominently the New York Times and the Washington Post - and the US House of Representatives.
The judge in Stone's case has already had it in for him due to his total disregard for the proceedings against him. I hope she throws the book at him. Ten to twenty would be a good start. tRump will pardon him anyway. I just want to see someone in this god forsaken government show some spine against this wanna be dictator and his odious minions.
4
Trump has found his Roy Cohn. Every person who works for Trump has to face her/his own conscience at some point. A few have quit, a few have been fired, and the others have sold their souls for power. Their only regret is that they have no more soul to sell. It's already gone.
1
So much talk...it almost makes you forget that we don’t have a government anymore. The right wing deplorables have won. This is their country now. And they will elect him again.
Do you mean that piece of paper that Trump stood before the nation and swore to protect against all enemies, both foreign and domestic? He had his fingers crossed at that point of the oath!!!
2
When Trump (whom I now refer to as "Genghis Caligula") pledged to "drain the swamp," I didn't quite understand he meant purging the criminal justice system of his cronies.
"Well, you gotta start somewhere," he probably tells himself, with a chuckle.
We've been had, folks.
1
He can and does.
1
Gosh! I guess so. Does Trump also play the fiddle?
1
Since when did something so trivial as the United States Constitution ever stop this megalomaniac?
1
I'm surprised the Eddie Gallagher interference wasn't listed among Trump's attacks on the military and law enforcement. I worry we haven't seen the worst of Trump and Barr. Are we really going to let these goons get away with it all?
1
As I understand it, El Presidente Genghis Caligula has broad pardon powers anyway. Why doesn't he just tweet a list of all the people he likes and who have done favors for him (probably the same list) and declare a blanket for anything they have done, are doing, and may do in the future?
"It's good to be the Genghis!"
Amusing to see an editorial board that regularly disparages our protected right to bear arms cite the constitution.
Did the House team of prosecutors err by NOT asking the sworn-senator-jurors how far they would go before removing D. Trump. Relevant questions in their conclusions might have been: 1. if he makes Muslims or non-citizen immigrants wear identifying arm bands in public (clearly unconstitutional), will that remove him from office?? 2. if he offers to launder money for Russians so that they have working capital in dollars and in USA, will that remove him? 3. if he sollicits a loan from Putin while president, is that OK?, and 4. If he believes Putin rather than his expert intelligence investigators who have the IP address of st. Petersburg computer and the names of their users who lied to millions to help Trump get elected, is that "perfect behavior"? Is the measure of "perfect behavior" anything that buoys up DJT's weak ego? do you think??
1
" The Constitution compels the president, among other things, to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
But in the Trump Era - the Constitution is so yesterday.....
Is there no bottom to this cesspool? After living in Washington through 10 presidents, I can say with confidence, this is the worst Administration, even outpacing Nixon and his plumbers, in corruption, illegal and amoral behavior. Today, anyone in government (or the military, remember Lt Col Vindman) is fair game for being driven out by tweet or sheer Executive malice. I pray the 60 million people who voted for the President are beginning to recognize how aberrant this behavior is. If they don't, God help us!
1
I think the president must have mis-spoke. He certainly was thinking “divine right” instead of “absolute right.”
1
It’s a long established fact that this president cares nothing for the Constitution. It’s now completely up to average Americans to end this lawless administration, which is rapidly sliding into authoritarianism.
1
The problem with investigating Hunter Biden is that it is solely to corrupt the upcoming election. Otherwise, yes, it is a symptom of the corrupt power of money in our government. (Did retiring Lamar Alexander not vote to impeach Trump because he wants a lucrative job afterwards......like Mattis, Kelly, Nikki Haley presently on Boeing’s board....?)
Tell me how is Biden’s board job......remember, Even this job implies some work is necessary........from Ivanka’s Chinese trademarks possibly worth millions in her future given simply for being Trump’s favorite child?
Look into Biden’s son when he is no longer a competitor of Trump......look into Ivanka now for what seems a present crime.
1
Attorney General Barr quote:
“As I did say to Senator Graham, we have to be very careful with respect to any information coming from the Ukraine,” Mr. Barr said on Monday. “There are a lot of agendas in the Ukraine......"
Right. So don't believe anything that comes from "THE Ukraine". Hear that Rudy?
Anyways, "THE Ukraine"?
Somebody needs to bring AG Barr up to speed on history and geography. Ukraine is not some physical region of Russia, nor a republic of the USSR anymore. The USSR is gone. Remember that minor event Bill? It's not the same as THE Siberian Plateau, or, closer to home, THE Midwest. (Hmmm, let me double-check that last one).
Perhaps we should get an expert within the Trump admin (if there are such creatures) to show Bill where Ukraine -- an independent, sovereign nation --is on a map. Hopefully they can find a post-1991 map and understand what all the colors and little pictures mean.
Wait. I know just the guy: Secretary of State/Minister of Cartography Mike Pompeo! I've heard he loves to play the "point to THE Ukraine" game.
.....especially in private, with journalists.
1
William Barr, Trump, Twitter, and McConnell are pawns in a modern-day hybrid Opusday - Oligarch cabal and not the so-called "Justice Department" or anything close to an instrument of the Constitution.
This system for oligarchs is intent on carrying out an agenda very much in alignment with the goals and agenda of Putin and his oligarchs, which is the destruction of anything resembling the state of the United States and or any impediment to unbridled kleptocracy for the very very few.
If you think the 5 male members of the Federalist Society on the Supreme Court are actually in pursuit of justice for "We the People" and especially for We the Women, We the minorities, We the working and middle-class Americans, then you don't understand the tight relation between the likes of Koch, Leonard Leo, the militant branch of the Catholic Church, i.e. The Knights of Malta, the oligarchs who back the Federalist Society and their sickening "Atlas Shrugged" and their "women are subservient" and "slavery was a good thing" orientation to so-called "power" and their backward, dark evil views of "civilization."
"Chief" "Justice" Roberts spent most of his adult career trying to destroy the Voting Rights Act, championed the legalized bribery for giant corporations and oligarch precedent we call "Citizens" "United" and he is the most moderate of the Federalist Society hyper-partisan men on the so-called "Supreme" "Court", who's current majority are brainwashed to the will of "The Firm."
2
When did the Constitution matter to Trump?
1
In 2008, the Republicans and Republican policies (some Democrats too, but mostly Republicans) drove our economy into a ditch, and almost forced the collapse of the world’s banking operations with a general non enforcement of banking regulations, collateralized debt obligations. Many to this day, have not recovered financially from this debacle. In 2020, they have moved over to politics to see if they can break our democratic republic, and nullify the tenets of our Constitution. It is time finally for the Republican Party to go the way of the Whigs. It is time finally for the American people to see that Republican Party is now the party of nihilism, a Hobbesian nightmare, A party consumed with the bile of trolls and petty vengeance handed out by a corrupt coterie of senile delinquents.
Hopefully, a new party will emerge one day, and that it will be represented by principled and ethical men and women. One thing though: it will need a new name, as these current Republican senators and Representatives have forever tarnished the legacy of what was once a proud and patriotic party. No More. Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote until you are blue in the face!
1
Credit where credit is due: the loser actually READ something! "Though stiff, he eventually made it through without any errors," says the linked Vanity Fair article.
But maaaaaybe this time we should vote in overwhelming numbers for a President, and one actually fluent in our "foreign language" who won't merely bash and banish those whose Spanish is better than his American English.
1
In 2007 Goldman Sachs colluded with John Paulson to knowingly issue CDOs filled with particularly toxic assets the financier would personally select. The plan was for Goldman to sell millions of dollars of this garbage to unwitting investors, while at the same time Paulson and GS would buy credit default swaps with AIG, essentially betting against their own product. If a butcher did something similar selling poison meat, he’d undoubtedly end up in the penitentiary for a very long time. But somehow USAG Eric Holder didn’t see how his Justice Department could justify bringing an indictment, let alone get a conviction. Now I didn’t vote for Donald Trump, but for all the trash the Times is talking about his Justice Dept. I notice they seemed to have no trouble at all bringing indictments against (& a guilty plea from) former head of Goldman Southeast Asia Tim Leissner and several other key figures. Oh, and those worthless AIG swaps Goldman was left holding when the insurer went down? Not to worry, Mr. Obama’s Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner paid GS 100 cents on the dollar.
1
So when do we take to the streets?
1
Of course I am a worried American. I am sure Trump did not invent corruption. He is just taken it to new levels. In the open, in plain sight, publicly. One tweet at a time. He gets away with it. Each time. I feel bullied.
This bully in chief has a whole party and cabinet defending his criminal behavior. Trump could shoot dead a nun and, immediately, Bar would say it was in self-defense and the nun was a terrorist.
This is a totalitarian state already. After 4 more years of Trump, the new normal will be a whole generation of Americans with amoral trumpist anti-values. The constitution will be a truly foreign dead language. Like Latin.
1
Does Susan Collins still think the occupant has "learned his lesson"? What fools these mortals be...
Let's hope to voters of Maine demand a better senator in their next election.
2
The United States of America. The democracy that was. The Banana republic that is. Donald J Trump claims the US is now so respected abroad. Yeah right.
This is how democracy dies....
“Can Trump Tell the Justice Department What to Do?
Not according to the Constitution.”
Why bother to pose this question? We already know the answer- he doesn’t care. He treats the Constitution as if it were just another Sears-Roebuck catalogue in some long-ago outhouse.
I'm looking at a photo of Barr in an accompanying article. Didn't I just see him at the Westminster Dog Show?
You know, down there on the floor lapping behind a Handler.
1
Yet another banshee wail over the downfall of the republic and the death of democracy. Yawn. Let me know if Trump is still president after 2024, then I'll sit up and take notice. In the meantime, if you are from a country who has had the same head of government for ~15 years, please pipe down.
A huge gathering in front of the White House with cars being parked illegally up and down Pennsylvania Ave,. A mass day off for everyone at DOJ to sit in front of their various buildings and order pizza. (Bill Barr is impotent and can't accomplish anything without his staff). Defense Department should carry on as usual. I'm sure that other departments would be able to pitch in.
Fair enough as far as Trump's out-of-control behavior. But, seven to nine years? For lying and being a jerk to a witness? Federal criminal jurisdiction is out of control and the only reason we're wringing our hands over this is because Trump is, once again, moving us toward dictatorship. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, except when he's a prosecutor with too much power to sentence someone to excessive prison time.
The US is not so slowly evolving into a 3rd world country with nukes.
1
Remember when GOP heads exploded because former President Bill Clinton got on an airplane with the Attorney General?
Time to initiate the second round.
Impeach , convict and imprison.
1
Trump's going to have a fit when he finds out he isn't the final decision maker on the actual sentencing.
1
@AJ
I expect the Judge will sentence Stone to 7-9 years.
Then, I expect Trump to tweet, with caps, about how
he/she's an "Obama Judge". Even if that's incorrect.
He may even openly muse on TV or Twitter, about why should be allowed to fire judges.
One thing people forget; Trump is a NYC real estate developer. The nature of the industry is to look at an opportunity, keep going until someone says no, find a work around, change the law, or pay someone to look the other way. This is how he will "rule." The Constitution is another document that gets in his way. The concern I have is that the Congress has failed on either side of the aisle to leave party politics behind them and find solutions to our common problems. Why would we expect an out of control Executive Branch to be treated any differently. Anyone who questions that should look up the number of lawsuits where either him or his organization is involved with. USA today has it pegged at 3500 +/-. That is the equivalent of 47 lawsuits for each of DJT's 73 years of age, nearly one a week for each year of your life. That's not normal. Hence my analysis,"... keep doing what you're doing until you're stopped. Then sue them."
3
W are rapidly learning our constitution depended on open minded, non partisan people to control each other. their was no Trump in mind. WE did not prepare for a trump and his perfect storm of Senate enablers. We now see the weaknesses of our democracy, it can be destroyed by a combination of these things.
Executive orders, executive privileges, no oversight, a justice department to protect wrongdoings and a FOX news to misinform.
4
Replacing Trump in the 2020 elections is an insufficient remedy for Trumpism. The next President needs to form a bipartisan commission of Democrats, Republicans and Independents to report to the nation ways and means to assure the nation that the tyrancy of another Trump never happens. One part of the solution is to create a fast track judicial process that allows Congress to secure decisions on the legality of subpoenas involved in oversight impeachment proceedings. Another is to require full disclosure of a Presidential candidate and then President’s taxes and also the Justice Department rules need to be changed to allow the indictment and trial of a President. This is only one a start of what is needed.
The institutions of our democracy need to be strengthened with laws and rules that cannot be violated with impunity by future Presidents and Congress.
5
@Pat Choate
This is perhaps the best suggestion I've seen so far.
It amazes me that I've not seen such before.
Here is what may happen. Nothing requires the judge to accept the recommendation of the government on sentencing; there was no plea bargain here. So the judge may impose a sentence within the federal guidelines--say seven to nine years. Then Trump will pardon Stone.
Then, of course, Congress can subpoena Stone because his Fifth-Amendment privilege vanishes when he accepts the pardon because he is no longer exposed to prosecution. When Congress subpoenas Stone, one of two things may happen. First, Stone may simply refuse to respond. Then he is liable to conviction for contempt of Congress. Trump, of course, will think that's unfair and pardon him.
Second, Stone may respond to the subpoena, but he will lie to Congress lest Trump throw Stone under the bus. (Not that our fearful leader would ever do such a thing.) Then Stone will face indictment for lying to Congress. Even if a conviction follows, there will be another pardon.
Get the picture?
2
In this excellent editorial the NYT makes a statement which is the most oft quoted as a foundational tenet of our Democracy. Actually that principle that our democracy is based “upon the rule of law” is not accurate . In reality the viability of our Democracy relies on the rule of men who agree to govern with fidelity to the law. That is the very reason why our Constitution requires the President take the oath to faithfully execute the laws as recited in the article.
Of course, oaths means less to Trump than the Constitution, the law, the truth or even our Democracy. It is the essence of why he is unfit to hold that office. Sadly his supporters believe our foundational principle is that “it’s the economy stupid.” The fate of Democracy is in the hands of such ignorance. The economy can thrive without the likes of Trump; our Democracy can’t survive with a President who violates his oath of office.
5
Stone was his own worst enemy here, threatening in an idiotic way a cooperating witness, which led to the enhanced sentencing recommendation in the first place. Without this, for a non-violent offender, probably three to four years was appropriate. The reaction unfortunately has been more about politics than justice. Stone plays a pretty good villain all on his own, of course, but if Trump can't be impeached or imprisoned Stone is a good enough proxy to be hit with a lengthy prison term to satisfy Trump's opponents for all the justice otherwise denied.
2
You are referring to the president now in office I assume? I have not noticed than anyone really stands in the way of his unlawful and irresponsible conduct. Certainly we have no viable Senate at this time to stop him. Soon he can issue a sort of "Pardons For Any Crime" credit card so that slime like Stone can carry on their criminal activities without concern about law enforcement or fussy folks talking about the Constitution. At the instant that this AG steps off government property at the end of this nightmare administration, there needs to be someone there to arrest him. He should be tired and sent to prison for impersonating an attorney general.
4
I woke up this morning with the realization that Trump has taken over our government as well as our military, with the exception of the House of Representatives; unfortunately he has rendered the House impotent as Trump has disabled their function of oversight. Our only defense rested in the Senate, and they, under the corrupt Mitch McConnell didn't just not hold him accountable for Abuse of Power, justified it, excused it, and endorsed it, awakening a not so gentle giant to unleash the horrors of his retaliation for all who dared to speak out against him.
We don't have to ask where do we go from here, we have given license to a corrupt tyrannical president who has now pulled out all the stops to become the U.S. version of world dictators as he is aided and abetted by Attorney General Barr and surrounded with sycophants: including white supremacists and religious zealots. With Fox news and Twitter, the onslaught of propaganda runs nonstop.
We are left with only one possible remedy, an election and the votes of the American people. If only I could believe we could remove Trump in this manner. Unfortunately if you look at the ways in which Trump has manipulated the military, immigration, the legal system, the media, etc., etc., it seem most probable he will manipulate the voting system to insure his reelection, now and in the future.
4
The accusation that Trump gets "to do whatever he wants" sounds like something a teenager would claim about a sibling. It's an extremely childish interpretation of Executive Branch privileges.
2
The raw, indisputable fact is that Donald Trump can do anything he pleases...until someone stops him. Constitutions are just old papers, incapable of protecting anyone from wrongdoing without fortification of societal resolve. Today’s version of America seems to have little resolve to genuinely stop Trump from, say, “shooting someone of 5th Avenue”. So the DOJ has become his personal law firm.
2
There is no Constitution anymore.
We live in a Dictatorship.
5
Trump doesn't need to tell William Barr's Justice Dept. what to do. Barr understands his role as Donald's best-of-show lapdog.
6
If the president chooses a corrupt Attorney General and Congress refuses to hold him accountable, then I guess he can.
3
What constitution?
It was torn up with the acquittal, before Pelosi tore up Trump's lies.
2
Can Trump Tell the Justice Department What to Do?
Not according to the Constitution.
There it is in black and white.
4
Neither trump nor anybody in his administration nor republicans in congress possess the ethical and moral strength to uphold their oaths of office or the constitution. Maybe some of the democrats, too.
Had trump studied history, he would probably declare “l’etat c’est moi.” But trump doesn’t study anything. He knows it all through osmosis or something else weird.
Disgraceful behavior
Vote them out! Every one.
3
So America is just one tweet away from one of Trump's political opponents getting life in prison on some bogus charge.
3
@Clark
In time it will likely come out that some out-of-control bureaucrats took things into their own hands and were caught red-handed.
And I don't mean POTUS.
Just as the behavior of the Mueller team (Brennan, Strzok, et al) and those requesting FISA warrants were eventually exposed.
What are our options? Can Barr be impeached? We can not be helpless to remedy this appalling situation!
2
@ard1066 Do you believe the Senate would find Barr guilty??????????
I thought Stone refused to answer questions about Trump. It looks bad enough that Trump is pressuring the courts to reduce his sentence. It will look even worse if he pardons him. Talk about quid pro quo! Today I watched Trump nearly explode whining about Stone's, and his own treatment. One eyeball was actually bulging. This can not be good for his health. He was unhinged!
2
I’m losing faith in 11/3/20 as the cure for our nation’s descent into a fascist kleptocracy.
With unprecedented money, power to extort foreign help including disinformation and manipulation of computer-stored voter rolls, voter suppression and dirty tricks in their campaign tool chest, the GOP can engineer a fraudulent election outcome or create chaos to prevent any reliable outcome.
What then? Even if Trump wins with no provable abuses, what then?
I’m coming to think reliance on the election is naive, and 11/3/20 is too late. Can we get millions into the streets before then? He is an immediate danger to the rule of law.
4
Susan Collins made a mistake when she said she thought Trump learned from impeachment. All that did was to make him more determined to make everybody involved pay a price. I'm sure he would like to line people up and shoot them, but he is not there yet. Yet is the operable word. He likes to say Mueller lied. Mueller would never lie and did not lie.
There were republicans including !Susan, who could have voted to stop this president from doing more harm, but they refused and now Trump feels that nothing can stop him and he is like a wrecking ball in action. Susan betrayed all the Maine people I know.
Trump loves to hunt down dedicated and apolitical public servants and exact his form of revenge on them.
Trump is a mass of dark primitive feelings, revenge, hatred, lies, projections, vengeance and so on. He scares people and that is because he really is unhinged.
HE WILL GET WORSE, AND WORSE. AND MORE SCARY. HE WILL BEGIN TO DO THINGS THAT REALLY TERRIFY PEOPLE. He has no built in stop. He does not care what you think. He loves the power of revenge... He does not know or care about what the founding fathers wanted to preserve in this country-democracy. Trump is a very sad and damaged person, but he is also very dangerous.He knows he is different and he causes fear and loathing, His position gives him the power for revenge which he uses as pay back.
7
Anyone who thought that Trump would not use the government as his personal goon squad has a limited mental capacity to predict future behavior based on a person’s past behavior. His conduct in office will get worse and his supporters will find excuses for his maleficence as the rule of law erodes like the expectation that the United States president should strive to speak the truth.
4
The next round of Trump’s Worst has an early leading contender. Barr, quite simply, is the worst of the worst.
1
I would point you to the phrase “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” It’s difficult to see that being done by a president calling on the DOJ to punish his enemies and protect his friends.
Here’s a little test to see if you should be upset at something Trump does: ask yourself “How would I have reacted if President Obama had done this?”
Trump is out of control and far more dangerous than what is being portrayed in the media. It’s time to consider strategies to remove a mentally unstable president, and somehow get the Republicans on board. This man has the nuclear codes, and is an immediate, grave threat to the security of entire world.
2
The Constitution is no longer worth the paper it’s written on. Especially when party matters more than country.
To answer the question posed by your headline: YES HE CAN, AND WAY MORE BESIDES. There is no one to stop him. The answer is: Constitutional Convention in 2020. Popular vote and Term limits for all branches -- Supreme Court, House and Senate. Max of 2 years in each position.
1
Dear NYT,
Maybe the NYT could republish one constitutional amendment at a time so we can debate each. What better way to expose misconceptions and educate the public? It also starts dialog about how the constitution can being abused or used as a weapon. Then we could move on to constitutional powers...
1
Is anyone truly surprised? This is all a game to him and he has always thought of himself as above the law.
You’re talking about a man who has been involved in over 4,000 lawsuits and uses our legal system as his personal leverage of power t destroy anyone in his way. In his own mind, Roger Stone was a loyal lieutenant doing his bidding and the fact that he was found guilty on all seven counts means nothing to a man who values loyalty more than laws. He readily admits that only stupid people pay taxes. He’s out showing us anything new, he’s been like this his entire life.
The next 10 months will truly put our democracy to the test because as we have all just witnessed, the Senate is down with him flagrantly breaking the law as long as they stay in power. Their motto “just win baby,” means in all reality, at whatever cost.
Can Trump tell the Justice Dept what to do is not the right question. The right question is why is the Justice Dept. NOT telling Trump what he can or cannot do? The Attorney General is the highest law enforcement official in the land, but Barr is an empty suit carrying Trump's bag of vindictive ideas, and narcissistic, self-serving, divisive agenda, meant only to rile up his base and remove the stench of illegitimacy from his Presidency.
equal justice under the law? what country do you find that in. everyone in Congress is treated like a king.
Trump's behavior, in interceding in the nation's judicial system on behalf of a jail-bound buddy is further evidence that he is a wannabe authoritarian (dictator?) and does not care on iota for the Constitution of the United States of America. Vote Democratic in November
Can Trump Tell the Justice Department What to Do?
YES.
Are you NOT paying attention??
We need to go much harder at this dictator. We need to get him OUT.
3
The answer to the question posed by the headline is simple. It depends on what happens if the instruction is denied. T:"Minimize Stone's punishment."
JD: "No."
T: ???
What will Trump do/tweet when Judge Amy picks the punishment? I beg your pardon, kind sir. (See what I just did?)
Why is anyone surprised? When will CNN stop being "stunned?"
Republicans only pretend to care about the constitution. It is a rally cry of the greatest pretense, as if the constitution was only written to protect a white male's right to own a cache weapons regardless of his mental state. All of the other amendments are just ignored.
1
He really doesn't care. One wonders if he has ever read it. He will do what he wants.
Stone threatened a witness; Barr and Trump are trying to intimidate the judge.
Vote GOP if you find this acceptable.
So considering advanced age and ill health, does that get Bernie Madoff sprung?
1
It's sickening to think that the best way to rid our country of a sick, raging president is to pull the rug out from under those who are profiting off him, gaining power by supporting him, and satisfying weird ambitions tied to religion or dominance.
Barr seems to fall into the latter category, which makes him more dangerous than the local types — all the Giulianis, Kushners, Mnuchins and whatever — that are lurking around hoping for scraps. He's smart, ambitious, and without a conscience. Barr is completely lacking in charisma, but has found his proxy.
It's not just Putin and the Saudis who are pulling the strings on Trump. Unless they are also pulling Barr's.
1
Obviously not a single member of this board is an attorney, let alone former prosecutor. Politely speaking the MY Times is just wrong! Reread the US Constitution and then underline where the DOJ is independent. You can’t! It can’t be done because the President alone is vested with all Article 2 power! The President can fire or refuse to have DOJ prosecute any federal crimes. Obama’s DACA assertion is essentially acknowledging Trump’s position. So either expel every dreamer or “get over it”!
Wow. The USA is truly divided. I find it amazing how half the country feels Justice was unfairly served with Hillary Clinton. Uranium One, Bleach bit, classified information on an unauthorized server. The left has gone too far and has no memory of how their crimes have been covered up. How the Justice department clearly acted in loyalty to the president. I hope America comes back to center where the left and right agree and understand what is good for our country. Where people feel together what fairness means.
Remember when Bill Clinton visited the airplane parked next door to where his airplane was parked and visited the Attorney General Loretta Lynch while his wife was under investigation and how that was absolutely scandalous? Yeah, seems quaint now, doesn’t it.
Dear NYT Editorial Board:
Your Feb. 12 piece excoriating Donald Trump’s interference with the operation of the Justice Department is more than warranted. The U.S. Constitution is written in a foreign language as far as the President is concerned, that language is Russian. It is time for Americans of good conscience to face the facts surrounding Trump’s election. The Mueller Report found 10 counts of obstruction of justice. Eight of which contained enough evidence for indictment of any person not having the protections of a sitting president. There is no reason on earth for this massive obstruction unless one is determined to hide an underlying conspiracy. In this case the conspiracy’s purpose was to collude with Russian actors to subvert a presidential election. This my friends is the Trumpian original sin, every self serving, illegal act by this administration stems from the fact that the Special Counsel legislation proved too weak to close the door on a dangerous chapter of American history. Impeachment over the handling of military aid to Ukraine was an outgrowth of the Trump-Russia pact to facilitate partial reconstitution of the former Soviet empire. As a country we cannot move forward until the boil of a subverted election is lanced. We no longer deny the evil of slavery, many Americans face the fact that the land we prosper upon once belonged to Native Americans, it’s time to admit a foreign power intervened in the 2016 election. Trump is fruit of this poisoned tree.
1
Bernie Madoff was 71 when he was sentenced.
1
Look, Trump can tell anyone what to do, in his dictatorship.
We are becoming the United States of Trump. End of story.
Now, it is up the Democrats to wake up the nation, and win.
Perhaps, a new democracy wave will grow out of dictatorship.
I wish the Times would focus on a democratic wave to come.
"Democracy is coming to the USA" (Leonard Cohen song)
Dear NYT:
Bill Barr did the right thing in intervening to modify the sentencing recommendation, which apparently was filed without routine clearance by senior DOJ supervisors, contained false statements of fact and and grossly exceeded sentencing guidelines.
From a civil liberties view, Barr's action was not meant to favor the president, but to protect the civil rights of a defendant who was being persecuted precisely because of his association with Trump.
This was a clear abuse of prosecutorial discretion: Nine years for lying to Congress and joking about disappearing a guy's dog? Even Randy Credico said this was not a real threat of violence!
And remember, this prosecution of Stone was the pursuit of a process crime by prosecutors who knew that neither Trump nor Stone had conspired with Russians or Wikileaks.
So how could Stone's alleged deception, and witness tampering, have obstructed justice? There was no crime to hide!
Finally, The Times states: "The departure of four respected prosecutors under these circumstances should worry all Americans."
But isn't it true that only one actually left the DOJ? The others merely resigned from the case? Why the hyperbole?
February 12, 2020, Trump just became dangerous.
Have the american people become numb to what this President does? Where is the outrage?
Is this Democracy not worth fighting for? Have all those brave soldiers who gave their life
defending this country died in vain?
Is there no leader in this country who can mobilize the american people against this President?
Why aren’t millions of citizens marching on Washington every day demanding that this President resign?
America, wake up before is too late!
Because of his 'advanced age' (73) should the next administration lower the 10-20 yr. sentence given to Trump for his 'crimes' ?
Dear NYT:
Bill Barr did the right thing in intervening to modify the sentencing recommendation, which apparently was filed without routine clearance by senior DOJ supervisors, contained false statements of fact and and grossly exceeded sentencing guidelines.
From a civil liberties view, Barr's action was not meant to favor the president, but to protect the civil rights of a defendant who was being persecuted precisely because of his association with Trump.
This was a clear abuse of prosecutorial discretion: Nine years for lying to Congress and joking about disappearing a guy's dog? Even Randy Credico said this was not a real threat of violence!
And remember, this prosecution of Stone was the pursuit of a process crime by prosecutors who knew that neither Trump nor Stone had conspired with Russians or Wikileaks.
So how could Stone's alleged deception, and witness tampering, have obstructed justice? There was no crime to hide!
Finally, The Times states: "The departure of four respected prosecutors under these circumstances should worry all Americans."
But isn't it true that only one actually left the DOJ? The others merely resigned from the case? Why the hyperbole?
1
Trump, Barr, Mitch ….Republicans...-all guilty. But is all of us who will pay the price.
And mind my words: the richest will be just fine.
Republicans read the Constitution the way they want. take the example of the 2nd amendment.
Republicans are in the business of interpretation and manipulation, like the mullahs in Iran.
That Photo is Pulitzer worthy. It encapsulates the Man, His Regime and the ominous dark future He and his Collaborators have wrought.
Congratulations.
Why should the president, a man who runs the country as if it were his own business, give a hoot about the Constitution?
He can and he does.
Please do not invoke the Constitution and Donald Trump in the same article. It is disrespectful to the former and elevates the latter no matter what the context or content.
My head is exploding and we have 10 months until the next inauguration!
The Constitution? Is that still a thing? Senators?
Franz Gurtner or Hans Frank? I have no conscience; Donald Trump is my conscience.
The Constitution only matters if Trump wants it to matter. The Constitution only means what he wants it to mean.
He owns the GOP, the Judicial branch and half the Legislative branch. The only thing holding him back from a full-scale assault on the tattered remains of our democracy is that 1) he doesn't see a personal financial benefit; and 2) he's a coward.
That's it. That's all there is.
Since when does the Constitution matter to republicans? Nothing short of a Second Amendment response and ensuing, catastrophic civil war seems capable of shaking the duped citizenry of the USA out of its reality TV-worshiping slumber and its acceptance of a fascist dictatorship-- as long as the 401k looks promising, who cares about democracy, decency and rule of law? Right?
Tweet Against Humanity...thus are the statements and actions of our Impeached Tyrant President. Every day & night he debases the office of the President and our nation. Americans and the world must endure his lies and corruption (moral, ethical, spiritual & political) for one more year and hopefully no more; I am very frightened as to the damage he can inflict in that time.
AG Barr, like other John Birch true believers , spearhead the Trump campaign of politicizing EVERYTHING. They justify and spin the lies and 1/2 truths into policies that help ONLY the wealthy. In this case the abuse of power is so palpable and abhorrent I hope Republican stomachs are churning and their souls hiding as they find words of support for their monarch.
Trump is the answer to Putin’s prayers, probably to a greater extent than he ever imagined.
Let’s see how our our Supreme Court rules on the upcoming cases involving HR indictments for witnesses and documents and the release of his taxes. If the Roberts court rulings on these maters are anything but unanimous, our constitution is in great peril.
God Bless America- because we really need it right now!
1
This assumes Trump knows anything, or cares at all . about our sacred Constitution.
If we don't understand now that the only way to get Trump extracted from the White House is to pour money into the swing states that dictate the Electoral College.
Stop wringing your hands how bad Trump is and get to work on those rouge states.