John Q. Barrett
@JohnQBarrett
Followers
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Benj. Cardozo Prof. @StJohnsLaw . Robert H. Jackson biographer. Const'l Law, Crim Pro, Legal History, Nuremberg, SCOTUS. Iran-Contra & DOJ alum. WI. #JacksonList
New York, USA
Joined August 2009
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Whitaker told me in June 2017 that he was flying out from Iowa to NYC to be on CNN regularly because he was hoping to be noticed as a Trump defender, and through that to get a Trump judicial appointment back in Iowa.
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Condensed version of the daily briefing: The U.S. has no President, just Chance the gardener.
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Bless this medical student and every other person trying to do right.
Having a difficult time putting into words the feeling I had when I left the hospital after doing chest compressions on a coding young person who lost their fight with COVID, to see a normal packed Friday night at bars and restaurants...
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Imagine Judge Barrett, after the Senators’ openings, saying “I have listened, thought, & prayed, & I now ask this Senate not to consider my nomination. If I am nominated again in January when the next Senate convenes, great. If not, I will continue to serve as a Circuit Judge.”
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Where is the outraged memo from the
@WhiteHouse
Counsel & the constitutional claim from
@TheJusticeDept
directing
@SecPompeo
et al. not to cooperate/supply info. from the Executive Branch to Sen.
@LindseyGrahamSC
??
Today, I sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo requesting documents related to contacts between:
➡️ Vice President Biden
➡️ Hunter Biden
➡️ other Obama administration officials and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
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Gets his lawyer on the phone to hear & advise during service of the alleged warrant -- Dollree Mapp is, somewhere, smiling.
‘This is a warrant.’ ’No it’s not.’ — This citizen stopped ICE from arresting 2 undocumented immigrants because he knew his rights
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" 'No mention of Ginni, of course,' Leo instructed Kellyanne Conway."
The Senate promptly should invite, and then subpoena if necessary, Justice Thomas, Ginni Thomas, Leonard Leo, and
@KellyannePolls
to testify about all of their money moves and arrangements.
#SCOTUS
Leo instructed the GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway to bill a nonprofit group and use that money to pay Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, documents show. The same year, the nonprofit group filed a brief to the Supreme Court in a landmark voting rights case.
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John Durham told the Danchenko jury on Monday that Robert Mueller’s report “concludes there’s no evidence of collusion here or conspiracy.” That’s false, & it’s one of the falsehoods that AG Barr spun to the public in 2019. That’s the tell of what Durham was: not honest/a hack.
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Why shouldn't the House promptly seek Mueller's testimony and, from him, his report to Barr?
@Mimirocah1
What statute? And if you're urging Mueller to leak, no. But Congress could call him to testify. That could shed light. Or if the President or AG Barr then claims a privilege to stop Mueller from answering Qs, that would become visible & subject to public assessment & litigation.
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Wisdom from Pres. Nixon (to H.R. Haldeman, 3/21/1973):
“Bob, let’s face it. The secretaries know. The assistants know. There is a lot of the— Many of the damned principals may be hard as a rock, but you never know when they’re going to crack.”
@January6thCmte
@TheJusticeDept
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Ben Ferencz, the last-surviving Nuremberg podium prosecutor of Nazi war criminals, died last evening at age 103. Here's a
#JacksonList
post.
Thank you for your great life, work, teaching, example, and friendship,
@BenFerencz
.
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One of many notable lines in
@PreetBharara
's speech, which mostly was great advice to the graduates, including about doing public service: "I would rather be fired by the President of the United States than pardoned by him."
An inspiring message today from
@PreetBharara
to the
@StJohnsLaw
graduates: “Good lawyers have never been more important than now. The rule of law has never been more important than now. Great leaders have never been more important than now. And that means you.” Thank you.
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Attorney General Barr has, hanging in his conference room *by his selection*, portraits of predecessor AGs Robert H. Jackson & Edward Levi. Barr & all in
@TheJusticeDept
need to pause, stare at those portraits, & think about what they truly mean. Some need to stand up & say no.
Breaking News: Attorney General William Barr is said to have suggested sedition charges over violence at protests, as well as possible charges for the Seattle mayor.
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“I was on the call.”
@SecPompeo
, belated, grudging disclosure is a weasel move that shows consciousness of wrongdoing. So thanks for teaching by negative example— you will inspire good people to reflect, feel pressure, fear turmoil, & nonetheless choose to tell the whole truth.
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The Nuremberg trials of Nazis following World War II focused on real, defined, gravely serious illegalities. The word
#Nuremberg
is not a trope to be tossed around in contexts where it does not at all fit.
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Donald Trump, making his own Bedminster and lying in it.
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Next I saw, that Fall, Whitaker was chief of staff to AG Jeff Sessions. And today President Trump appointed Whitaker to succeed Sessions as AG, on an acting basis.
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@JeffreyToobin
@NewYorker
Barr did *not* write that "Mueller found no evidence of criminal collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia..." Rather, Mueller concluded, per Barr's summary, that his investigation "did not establish" that crime. It's subtle, but that could mean there's *lots* of evidence.
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As someone who, reading Hillbilly Elegy, took its author seriously and even admired him in spots, I apologize. J.D. Vance is a fraud, a knowing bad actor, dishonest (see below), no help to the people of Ohio, &, alas, one of their U.S. senators.
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Judicial misrepresentation: Justice Thomas, in the Kim Davis case yesterday, took a shot at 6th Cir. Judge John K. Bush, by name, for calling Davis's religious beliefs bigoted. Didn't happen. Judge Bush wrote of "[h]er conduct," denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
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Not hypocrisy or ignorance -- Roy Cohn protégé Donald Trump crying "McCarthyism" is just a beautiful piece of, yes, McCarthyism itself (knowingly making a false or reckless claim of nefarious conduct by one's adversaries and/or for political advantage).
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Speech that incites violence is unprotected by the Constitution, criminal, and deplorable. That’s true now, as it was yesterday morning, and on January 6, 2021, and throughout U.S. history.
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@HouseJudiciary
@RepJerryNadler
@RepAdamSchiff
et al. need hearings w/ skilled questioners for longer than 5 min. time blocks. See Sen.
#Watergate
Comm. approach in '73, Sen.
#Byrd
in '73 confirmation hgs., GJs, etc. Alt. will be stalls & perjury clouds like
#Whitaker
yesterday.
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In June 2017, I was on
@CNN
@DonLemon
a couple of times with now-Acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker,
@TheJusticeDept
. The shows were discussions of the appointment & work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
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@maggieNYT
@MarkSZaidEsq
“No appetite” is no explanation. The insurance company should explain how this makes sense as a business decision. If it can’t, it’s up to something besides sound business — which would be a good reason for sound lawyers not to buy coverage from this company. Plus boycott?
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Very fine, sober analysis by
@sbg1
. "Trump’s refusal to accept his forced retirement in 2020 was hardly surprising. The most narcissistic politician of our lifetimes was never going to just walk away gracefully." And he still won't.
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@tribelaw
@washingtonpost
A very good proposal. I hope that this will focus & move many Members of Congress.
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Nauseating words. And they were not uttered in the heat of a challenging, fraught policy debate or in the field during a law enforcement action. This is an after-the-fact, with-time-to-reflect statement to the Inspector General's investigators.
There are many appalling decisions and quotes in the draft DOJ OIG report on family separation (as reported by
@nytimes
) but Rod Rosenstein might have the worst line of them all
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Thread re Trump's document custodian's sworn certification a couple of months ago that s/he made a diligent search for classified documents in the boxes that had been moved from White House to Mar-a-Lago, & re fingerprints --
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The FBI knows from where it seized classified documents on 8/8. E.g., it's now revealed that 3 were in a Trump office desk. At least one was with his passports. 3/
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Photo from 1995: AG Robert H. Jackson (portrait) looking on Deputy AG Jamie Gorelick & Principal Asst. DAG Merrick Garland.
If there is some afterlife place (RHJ was doubtful), he is very pleased today to see AG Garland as his latest successor heading
@TheJusticeDept
.
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If classified docs. weren't in the boxes or had been removed from them before the custodian searched them, the certification could be true. But then who had, and where, the highly classified documents that we now know were in MAL? 2/
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Daniel Ellsberg was a brilliant, brave patriot.
My dear father,
#DanielEllsberg
, died this morning June 16 at 1:24 a.m., four months after his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer. His family surrounded him as he took his last breath. He had no pain and died peacefully at home.
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But it might be a risk to decide to take. The government must be making right now this high-stakes investigative decision. End/
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25/ James McCord committed serious crimes. Then he came forward & told truthfully to prosecutors, juries, & Congress, what he had done & what he knew. This earned him credit. Chief Judge Sirica sentenced McCord in Nov. 1973 to 1-5 years in prison. He ended up serving 4 months.
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In the 2016 Iowa caucuses, Whitaker supported Senator
@marcorubio
for president against
@realDonaldTrump
and the other GOP candidates (including the winner,
@SenTedCruz
).
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Documents hold fingerprints. It's risky for the FBI to check for prints because in a future criminal case it will have to disclose that effort & the results. Such a check might produce a false negative, because a document handler didn't leave clean prints, was gloved, etc. 4/
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In 2004, when he was age 34, despite not having worked as an AUSA, he was appointed, because he had the right political connections, U.S. Attorney in his Iowa District. He served until 2009.
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@eliehonig
This is awful and intentional—sabotage. It’s an official kind of reverse of what happened on 1/6, this time Congress (the GOP half of the Senate) trying to impair the work of the executive branch.
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6/ For the Court, an unnecessary self-inflicted wound. For religion, no proper, needed protection. For public health, no benefit, and maybe great harm. End/
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A smart person can’t really believe any part of this silly, insulting, cynical sermon. And I assume that
@mrddmia
is a smart person. So other smart people should see through to what nonsense like this is really about: grabbing power & wealth undemocratically, & prejudices.
Trump’s judicial appointees may disagree more with other judges, because they actually follow the law. Their judicial philosophies are textualism (what does the law actually say?) and originalism (what did those words mean to the public when enacted?). They don’t just make it up.
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There’s a lot to say about this. My top comment is that sending ill wishes on Presidents’ Day to the President the U.S. is not amusing; it’s a sad sign of anti-patriotism and political illness.
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If Mueller in fact drafted & gave to AG Barr a report with unclassified, non-grand jury, no harm to ongoing law enforcement, unprivileged section summaries, why not release them, at least, right now?
@TheJusticeDept
@HouseJudiciary
#FOIA
@neal_katyal
@washingtonpost
@nytimes
Matched & advanced -- this story adds important information, that Mueller drafted ready-to-release section summaries. Did he explain that to Barr? And why does Barr sit on them still, whatever the complexity of redacting the rest of the report?
@CarolLeonnig
@PhilipRucker
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In our “green room” talk, Whitaker was cordial & told me some his life story. He graduated from
@IowaLawSchool
in 1995 & then became a civil litigator & was active in
@GOP
politics.
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@AmbJohnBolton
@AmbJohnBolton
, on what basis are you picking & choosing topics on which to speak publicly, versus topics on which you stay silent?
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@matthewamiller
@JoyceWhiteVance
Yes. I bet the
#Stone
indictment mention of
#WhatsApp
is not in there accidentally!
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From 2013-20, now-Judge Aileen Cannon served in
@TheJusticeDept
as an Asst. U.S. Attorney, So. Dist. of FL. She served for 2 years in that U.S. Atty. Office's Major Crimes Division, then in its Appellate Division. Then Sen. Rubio asked her to apply for a federal judgeship. 1/2
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After the impeachment trial concludes, any White House lawyer who knew about this Bolton information & made a contrary "no evidence/no information" representation to the Senate is going to be facing professional discipline, perhaps disbarment.
SCOOP: Bolton book draft, circulated to associates and sent to WH for review process, describes a convo w POTUS where he says he doesn't want to release withheld aid till Ukraine turned over material related to investigations
@nytmike
and me
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Plus read here how Durham’s bogus prosecutions have harmed U.S. national security:
Breaking News: Igor Danchenko, the analyst behind the so-called Steele dossier, was acquitted. It’s another blow to the Trump-era special counsel John Durham.
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This was a board meeting
@washingtonpost
, decades back. How did they, and how did any of us, not think that this inequity was absurd?
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This question is bigger than ever --
What should
@TheJusticeDept
do if/when proof beyond a reasonable doubt indicates that the President of the U.S. lied in sworn interrogatory answers regarding material issues? This is a question that no prosecutor has ever confronted.
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Today is Barnette Day. On this date in 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court decided West Virginia State Bd. of Education v. Barnette. It held that the Constitution bars government from compelling schoolchildren to salute and pledge allegiance to the American flag.
@SCHSociety
#scotus
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If Justice Alito had made a one-time error in 2008, he could have just apologized & described his improved systems that prevent appearances of impropriety.
But he didn't. He instead responded aggressively & very poorly. I fear that means that more misconduct revelations ahead.
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@mecapek
@chrislhayes
@StJohnsLaw
Live TV can be excellent without batting 1.000 -- thanks for the mention,
@chrislhayes
.
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24/ McCord’s letter indeed began the unraveling of Watergate. It led to further investigations, confessions, guilty pleas, indictments, & convictions, & to a President’s resignation.
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6/ Cohen concluded “that his life has been utterly destroyed by his relationship with Mr. Trump and his own actions, and [that] to begin anew he needed to speed up the legal process by quickly confessing his crimes and serving any sentence he receives…”
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@Mimirocah1
What statute? And if you're urging Mueller to leak, no. But Congress could call him to testify. That could shed light. Or if the President or AG Barr then claims a privilege to stop Mueller from answering Qs, that would become visible & subject to public assessment & litigation.
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Happy 99th birthday to William E. Leuchtenburg, great historian, teacher, writer, role model, and friend.
#History
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@evanperez
They should not be stunned--this was coming from the plea date, and it became clearer with the sentencing memos. But it's easy to lose perspective on criminal conduct when one is so close to and likes the perpetrator...
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@JoyceWhiteVance
Indeed. But at least someone there has this much awareness. Or did the Bush family have to say, explicitly, please do not attend?
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Just got this from a law student, which sends me into the weekend with a smile:
"How have we had Supreme Court Justices named Frankfurter and Burger and I am just learning about this now? Why is this not the first thing taught in Intro to Law?"
@StJohnsLaw
#SCOTUS
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Who was the U.S. Attorney General who in 1987 appointed Lawrence Walsh to serve as Iran-Contra special counsel inside
@TheJusticeDept
? Yes, the same Ed Meese who’s arguing today as Trump amici that AG Garland had no legal power to appoint special counsel Jack Smith. Self-refuted.
@SethBTillman
@gtconway3d
@tribelaw
@lawfare
In 1987, the DC Circuit upheld the constitutionality of the AG’s appointment of IC Lawrence Walsh (Iran Contra).
/17
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Whitaker should have advised Trump of his rights, resigned on the spot, and then called Mueller to give a statement about the President's just-completed endeavor to obstruct justice. Instead, Whitaker now is at least a witness, maybe a subject -- another reason he must recuse.
Words fail me. The President is having conversations w/the Acting AG he installed (w/out Senate confirmation) about a criminal case in which he is directly implicated. Compare U.S. Constit., Art. II "he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"
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12/ The
#Watergate
comparison: Cohen’s role in the investigations of possible crimes involving President Trump & others close to him in business, in his presidential campaign, & in his administration, resembles the role that James W.
#McCord
, Jr., played in Watergate.
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3/ In pleading guilty to the campaign finance crimes, Cohen implicated President Trump in hush money payments to two women in 2016. Cohen & Trump worked together during his presidential campaign, Cohen told the Court, to conceal affairs that the women had with Trump.
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Um, note to Justice Kavanaugh: Women now can be law professors. And many are leading scholars on these topics….
After Rahimi, Munoz, Elster, etc., there's a central debate as to what history and tradition means and should mean— but am I right that, within academia, it's of interest mostly to the tiny slice of con law profs who are center to right-of-center? (see BK's fn in Rahimi...)
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A
#History
note as summer fishing season begins:
Robert H. Jackson was a U.S. Supreme Court justice (1941-1954) who loved to fish; who often went fishing, both near home & on trips, with real friends who weren’t involved in Court litigation; and who paid his own way.
@SCHSociety
Across his whole life, including U.S. Supreme Court summer recesses, Robert H. Jackson went fishing, including sometimes with friends & acquaintances. The linked
#JacksonList
post has details. And this note shows Justice Jackson's habit of paying his way.
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21/ After taking appropriate precautions, Judge Sirica, before witnesses, opened McCord’s letter. As he read it, he began to think, according to his memoir, “This is it, this is it, this is the break I’ve been hoping for.”
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9/ Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced on this Friday, Dec. 7, in the SDNY by U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley, III. Cohen’s attorneys have detailed to the Court his cooperation & asked that he be sentenced to probation.
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Here's a great Jamelle Bouie "You're Wrong About" podcast episode/primer on Reconstruction -- it's a "listen" for more than once & something important to share with students & other friends.
(Thanks very much,
@jbouie
,
@yourewrongabout
, &
@Remember_Sarah
)
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4/ Cohen also pleaded guilty last week to an additional federal crime: making false statements to the U.S. Senate about Trump’s secret efforts during his presidential campaign to make a real estate deal with the Russian government.
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7/ Cohen thus decided to plead guilty without having a deal with prosecutors requiring him to cooperate in continuing investigations & possible future trials & then to seek credit in sentencing for that cooperation.
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Blaming the wrong president — the culprit who caused this is incompetent & heartless
@realDonaldTrump
.
Every single Big 10 university president who voted to cancel the college football season should be fired immediately.
They WILLINGLY chose to decimate the communities that pay their salaries.
People this weak and cowardly have no business being leaders. Fire them all.
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2/
#MichaelCohen
, President Trump’s former lawyer, pleaded guilty in August to eight federal crimes, two related to Trump’s campaign finances & six related to Cohen’s personal finances.
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8/ Cohen has, however, cooperated actively with federal law enforcement & with state law enforcement, & he has pledged to continue to do so.
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22/ Judge Sirica kept the letter secret from the public until McCord’s sentencing at the end of the week. But, on that Tuesday evening, he shared & discussed it with his other law clerk. “I’ve always told you I felt someone would talk. This is going to break this case wide open.”
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On Thursday, July 22, Melissa Murray (
@ProfMMurray
) will give, online and free,
@chq
Chautauqua Institution's 17th annual Robert H. Jackson Lecture on the Supreme Court of the United States. Click below for details and to register.
#SCOTUS
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@OrinKerr
Behave as if everything you do will be reported on the front page of the newspapers in your community (in a time when they exist, & that still can shame most people), or being scrutinized here. And then don't be scared off by the prospect of taking heat. But do behave well.
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3/ Gorsuch: awful — not honest, pompous; jerk opinion toward CJ. Why behave this way?
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23/ On March 23, Judge Sirica read McCord’s letter in open court. He then sentenced the convicted defendants. He gave lengthy sentences to six & put off sentencing McCord.
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5/ Cohen’s Aug. 2018 guilty plea was negotiated with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. His Nov. 2018 guilty plea was negotiated with the Office of Special Counsel Robert
#Mueller
.
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11/ Mueller’s office agreed with Cohen to inform the Court of his cooperation. It is expected to do so soon.
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20/ On Tuesday, March 20, 1973, three days before the scheduled sentencing, Judge Sirica was shocked to find McCord in the reception area of the judge’s chambers, talking to one of his law clerks. McCord was there to deliver one of the most consequential letters in U.S. history.
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Here's her 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee judicial nominee questionnaire. 2/2
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For ongoing coverage of all Trump criminal cases, the
@lawfarepodcast
is expert, thorough, entertaining, and overall just super.
So listen!
And thank you, Ben Wittes,
@rparloff
,
@AnnaBower
,
@TylerMcBrien
,
@qjurecic
, & all.
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