Trump Assails Supreme Court Justices

President Trump’s interference in cases affecting his interest and those he favors has reached a new low and constitutes the gravest threat to the rule of law in American history.
He has sank from tweeting directives to an obeisant Attorney-General, to expressing his views on outcomes and sentences, attacking trial judges, prosecutors, witnesses and jurors. Now he has turned his venom on individual members of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Trump’s assault on the bedrock principles of democracy has evoked pushback from former federal prosecutors and some judges. However, a much stronger and broader response is required if we are to salvage public trust in the fairness and impartiality of our judicial system.
National, state and municipal bar associations must condemn these invidious attacks on all elements of the judicial system. Even more compelling and urgent, Chief Justice Roberts must speak out in defense of the maligned justices and the integrity of the judicial process.

Barr's Irritation Mounts

So Attorney-General William Barr professes irritation at President Trump's tweets and his public attacks on prosecutors, judges and jurors. (Front page, 2/19) Many regard his protestations as a transparent effort to screen the fact that Mr. Barr has been waging a campaign to undercut those very prosecutors, judges and jurors by questioning their motives, altering their work product or initiating investigations calculated to cower or punish them. If Mr. Barr does resign, it will not be because he is displeased with Mr. Trump. Rather, he may leave because of the growing condemnation by thousands of former prosecutors and expected pushback by federal judges of his unprecedented intrusion into and distortion of the justice system and because of a loss of his control over a Justice Department confounded by his relinquishment of its traditional independence.

Monument To Trump

Given that President Trump has proclaimed, on multiple occasions, his place as, perhaps, the greatest president in American history, it is time we scouted space on Mount Rushmore. Mr. Trump has acknowledged that Abraham Lincoln is worthy, and almost comparable in standing to his own, hallowed place, so Lincoln's monument should not be disturbed. The solution may lie in altering the countenance of TR; remove the 'stache, get rid of the specs and lighten the hair and voila, the face of our Very Stable Genius can forever glower over the wilds of South Dakota.

Trump's Rule of Lawlessness

Our sacred adherence to the rule of law cannot be sustained simply by reliance on the courage and dedication of career civil servants, as today's NYTimes editorial suggests. This administration's assault on the fairness and nonpolitical nature of our justice system is too virulent and deep to be deterred by tired bromides. At this moment of extreme threat to our democracy, every national, state and municipal bar association must condemn in the strongest terms the corrupt actions of the president and his attorney-general, to bend the system to serve their own ends. Lawyers and, yes, judges must rally outside courthouses across the nation to signal their concern and sound the alarm. The fate of our democracy depends on it.

Trump Hits Back

Yes, Col. Vindman, Right matters in America. Unfortunately, that truth has been obscured temporarily by the onslaught of lies, corruption and cowardice unleashed by this administration and its collaborators in the Senate. But be assured, your bravery on the battlefield and in the political arena will be remembered long after the defacers of our democracy have been relegated to the dust bin of history.

Getting At the Truth, Protecting the Future Post Impeachment

Republicans  have made clear that  Mr. Trump's conduct, though it may be wrong, was in their view neither criminal nor impeachable. House Democrats now should announce that they will consider legislation which will explicitly make such conduct, seeking the assistance of a foreign government to besmirch a political rival, and to use the powers of office to coerce such assistance, a federal crime and an impeachable offense. The House should also explore legislation requiring the production of documents and witnesses in aid of any investigation conducted by Congress for oversight, legislative or impeachment purposes notwithstanding a claim of executive privilege.

In furtherance of that legislative consideration, the House should subpoena Messrs. Bolton, Mulvaney, Pompeo, Barr, Cipollone and others whose testimony would be appropriate in informing the need for and parameters of such legislation. By doing so, the public will get to hear the facts concealed by Republican stonewalling and put in place safeguards to deter and punish future misconduct.