Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:53 am
Senate Democrats sent Attorney General William Barr a letter telling him he has five days to hand over documents related to Trump’s request to get Barr to publicly clear him of any wrongdoing with respect to the Ukraine extortion scheme.
According to The Hill, “Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Trump’s request raises ‘serious concerns about the president’s perception of the Justice Department as a partisan political instrument and his willingness to use the power of federal law enforcement in pursuit of his own objectives.'”
According to the report, the senators wrote, “We submit this FOIA request in order to obtain communications, documents, and other information related to the president’s reported request that you hold a news conference to clear him of wrongdoing during his call with the Ukrainian president.”
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More from The Hill:
The request comes in response to a Washington Post report released this week that said Trump asked Barr to hold a press conference affirming that he had broken no laws during a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he repeatedly pressured his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a chief political rival, on unfounded corruption allegations.
Barr declined, though Justice Department did ultimately release a statement claiming that a readout of the president’s call had been evaluated to not contain any campaign finance violations.
While sources told The Post that Trump has mentioned Barr’s refusal to host a press conference on the issue in recent weeks, White House officials pushed back on the idea that the two were at odds over the issue.
Trump is using every part of the U.S. government as a political weapon
It’s pretty clear Donald Trump has forgotten the mission of the Justice Department, which is: “To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.”
Instead, the corrupt president has used the DOJ as his political weapon, and William Barr has been happy to cooperate from day one when he helped mislead the public on the contents of the Mueller report.
In the same way, Trump has used his entire national security and foreign policy apparatus to orchestrate a bribery-extortion scheme with Ukraine for the purpose of hurting a political opponent, not advancing any American interests.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
