POLITICUSUSA
Donald Trump is now out of the White House. That means that he is no longer protected from lawsuits and potential criminal charges. One of those lawsuits was a defamation suit filed by E. Jean Carroll.
Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to announce that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will launch an investigation into the policing practices of law enforcement in Minneapolis.
“The investigation will examine practices used by police, including the use of force, and whether the department engages in discriminatory practices, according to the person. It will also look into the department’s handling of misconduct allegations among other things, the person said. It’s unclear whether the years under investigation will begin when Floyd died or before,” The Associated Press reported.
For 4 years, Donald Trump refused to respond to provocative actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In fact, Trump seemed to do nothing but praise the Russian leader.
Joe Biden, however, will be taking a much different tack with Putin. Biden has famously called the Russian President a killer and told him that, “he has no soul.”
The filibuster is another way Republicans turn reality and democracy and their heads to install a tyranny of the minority.
Sen. Cruz (R-TX) humiliated himself during Merrick Garland's confirmation with a conspiracy theory rant designed to make people forget his Cancun vacation.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has refused a call to hold a quick confirmation hearing for Merrick Garland, who President Joe Biden has nominated to serve as the nation’s attorney general. Garland’s hearing is scheduled for February 8.
Graham says the hearing is designed to “score political points” ahead of the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, which is scheduled for February 9. Graham still counts himself among Trump’s most loyal supporters despite the former president’s role in inciting a violent insurrection against Congress last month.
“Your request is highly unusual,” Graham wrote in a letter to incoming Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Monday. “The Senate is about to conduct its first ever impeachment trial of a former president, and only its fourth trial of a president,
incumbent
The must read full remarks by President-Elect Joe Biden on yesterday's unprecedented violent and deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol and our democracy.
President-elect Joe Biden has selected federal appeals judge Merrick Garland to be the next United States attorney general, a transition official has confirmed. Garland has served on the federal appeals bench since 1997 and previously worked as a federal prosecutor, most prominently securing the conviction of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh during his time with the Justice Department.
Garland is perhaps most well known for the debacle that ensued after he was nominated by former President Barack Obama to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Garland’s nomination came after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, perhaps the court’s most prominent conservative voice. At the time, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate majority leader, refused to hold confirmation hearings for Garland, arguing that the pick should not be considered during an election year.
However, McConnell reversed course once President Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, ultimately seating Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, securing a conservative majority on the court. McConnell rushed to confirm Barrett in particular following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, ignoring his previous statement about confirming a Supreme Court Justice during an election year.
“Judge Garland will be viewed in a whole new light now,” a Biden aide told CNN.
Biden last month told reporters that he would not wait until the results of the Georgia runoffs to make his decision for attorney general.
On Monday, Attorney General William Barr announced that he will be stepping down from his position shortly before Christmas. His replacement will be Jeff Rosen, who is currently serving as Barr’s number 2.
Rosen, of course, won’t be holding his position for very long. Joe Biden will be taking over as President on January 20th and will be selecting his own Attorney General.
There are a few different names on Biden’s short list, including Merrick Garland and former Alabama senator Doug Jones. Another potential candidate, Sally Yates, is drawing the ire of GOP lawmakers.
While Yates is incredibly qualified and experienced, Republicans are still angry about her role investigating the ties between Donald Trump and Russia.
When asked if he would consider approving Yates as Attorney General, Texas’ John Cornyn simply said, “no.”
Chuck Grassley gave a longer answer. He told reporters, “
I think there’s plenty of people that he wouldn’t have to take a chance on her.” The Iowa senator also referred to Yates previous investigation into Trump as “very worrisome.”
President Obama remembered RBG with a touching statement, but he also threw McConnell's blocking of Merrick Garland's nomination back at him.
Mitch McConnell admitted that his reason for blocking Merrick Garland was a lie and that he would fill a Supreme Court vacancy for Trump in 2020.
After losing his case to keep his financial records secret, Trump appealed the decision to the circuit court headed by Merrick Garland.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) responded to Republican claims that they won the election and can do whatever they want by saying the name Merrick Garland.
Justice has not only been denied to a worthy Supreme Court nominee and the work of the high court. It continues to be denied to the American people.
Judge Merrick Garland was described in a report by the American Bar Association thusly, “Garland has no weaknesses.“ Indeed, “He may be the perfect human being.”
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) admitted that Senate Republicans plan to confirm President Obama's Supreme Court nominee if it looks like they are going to lose the presidential election.
Watch live as President Obama puts the full court press on Republicans in an attempt to break the obstruction of his Supreme Court nominee.
President Obama is ending his two-year Fox News ban, by doing an interview that will air on Fox News Sunday. What is interesting is that the President will be using the interview to hammer Republicans for obstructing his Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.
Democrats are mocking Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley's "very bad recess" because it was a recess full of angry constituents demanding that he do his job.
The Senate Republican blockade of President Obama's Supreme Court nominee is collapsing as two more Republican senators have agreed to meet with Merrick Garland.