Last updated on September 26th, 2018 at 05:48 am
We know that Donald Trump thinks that all federal employees work for him personally. He thinks the Attorney General is his personal lawyer, and the same goes for the White House Counsel. Both of the individuals in these positions — Jeff Sessions and Don McGahn — have been strongly attacked by the president for not helping him more with his legal troubles. And both of them appear to be on their way out the door for not doing the president’s bidding.
We shouldn’t be surprised, but still, the latest move by the president seems way outside the bounds of propriety and reasonable behavior, even for this president.
On Wednesday President Trump said that the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court should intervene in a situation that greatly concerns him: the status of the infamous Steele Dossier.
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In a series of tweets Trump said he believes that the Chief Justice should tell the head of the U.S. national security court to question officials from the FBI and the Justice Department about their use of the Steele Dossier as part of the investigations they are conducting into collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
In his tweets Trump singled out Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, and apparently quoted a Fox News analyst. Ohr has been linked to the Steele Dossier which details allegations of many ongoing contacts and relationships between Trump’s campaign and Russia which have been interpreted as providing evidence of collusion and possible illegal conspiracy against the United States.
The dossier was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele in part was financed by the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Trump partisans have been highly critical of the dossier, not because of its content which implicates the president and his campaign, but because of its DNC ties. In addition, Trump and his supporters have attacked the dossier because they say it was compiled through the use of improper U.S. surveillance of Trump campaign officials and associates.
“Ohr told the FBI it (the Fake Dossier) wasn’t true, it was a lie and the FBI was determined to use it anyway to damage Trump and to perpetrate a fraud on the court to spy on the Trump campaign. This is a fraud on the court. The Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is in charge of the FISA court. He should direct the Presiding Judge, Rosemary Collier, to hold a hearing, haul all of these people from the DOJ & FBI in there, & if she finds there were crimes committed, and there were, there should be a criminal referral by her.â€
“Ohr told the FBI it (the Fake Dossier) wasn’t true, it was a lie and the FBI was determined to use it anyway to damage Trump and to perpetrate a fraud on the court to spy on the Trump campaign. This is a fraud on the court. The Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is in……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2018
…charge of the FISA court. He should direct the Presiding Judge, Rosemary Collier, to hold a hearing, haul all of these people from the DOJ & FBI in there, & if she finds there were crimes committed, and there were, there should be a criminal referral by her….†@GreggJarrett
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2018
Rosemary Collyer is the presiding judge for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court, which oversees electronic surveillance requests and search warrants sought by federal authorities.
Trump and other Republicans believe the Steele Dossier was used improperly by Department of Justice and FBI officials to convince the FISA court to extend an eavesdropping warrant against a Trump campaign adviser.
So now, the solution for the president, who thinks he is the boss of everything, is to tell the Chief Justice of the United States to get involved to help him investigate these Department of Justice and FBI officials who Trump thinks have wronged him.
The mere posting of this tweet by Trump is an incredible abuse of power. He hasn’t learned that the resources of the entire U.S. government are not for him to use in his own personal vendettas. If he had his way he’d use the FBI to investigate his enemies and arrest them on made-up crimes. He’d get Justice Department lawyers to prosecute his enemies for these bogus crimes, as a way to intimidate those who speak up against him.
Department of Justice and FBI officials have been doing their jobs. They work for the American people, as do the Attorney General, White House Counsel and Chief Justice.
It is time that Donald Trump be removed from office before he is allowed to do further damage to this country.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
