The Daily Beast reported Wednesday that acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker previously lead a mysterious right-wing organization that existed to issue false statements against Democrats.
According to The Daily Beast Whitaker worked as executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT). Last year FACT had defended then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions for telling falsehoods to the United States Senate when he was testifying about meetings with Russians during confirmation hearings.
Working on behalf of FACT Whitaker issued a statement saying:
“If we are going to have a national discussion about Senators meeting with ambassadors it is appropriate for all Senators to disclose who they met with so the public, and apparently the media, understand that all Senator Sessions did was his job.â€
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Whittaker’s statement defending Sessions for lying to Congress was sent out to reporters by CRC Public Relations, a conservative group based in Alexandria, Virginia. CRC had represented FACT and Whitaker throughout 2017. Recently CRC was criticized during Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation process for repeatedly issuing false statements and generating media interest in discredited conspiracy theories about Kavanaugh’s accusers.
In the past Whitaker was also critical of FBI Director James Comey’s decision to not charge Hillary Clinton for her handling of classified materials during her time as Secretary of State.
“It’s clear that the FBI was looking for reasons not to bring criminal charges against Hillary Clinton,†Whitaker said in a September 2016 press release for FACT.
“The critical point the FBI overlooked is that Clinton clearly intended to send and store top secret, classified information on an unsecured, personal server, which I believe is a case that any reasonable prosecutor would bring against her or anyone else who committed such reckless acts,†Whitaker wrote.
According to The Daily Beast:
“FACT was an organization which served primarily to level ethics complaints against Democrats.â€
The Beast also noted that Whitaker has had a very close relationship with President Trump and has expressed hostility toward special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.
“Whitaker is on record as being more interested in propping up Trump than in upholding the rule of law,†a Department of Justice attorney told The Beast. “It’s hard to have confidence that he’ll do anything other than what the president had said in his tweets.â€
In appointing Whitaker it is clear that Donald Trump has taken a step to put a complete “yes man†in the position of acting Attorney General of the United States.Â
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.
