by Melvin A. Goodman, 
As we get closer to the November election, Trump’s war on governance has increased. His attacks have battered the body politic of the United States.
- Over the past several weeks, we have seen the firings and forced resignations of five Inspector Generals who were responsible for accountability in such key agencies and departments of government as the Department of State and the Department of Defense. The role of the Inspector General is central to the oversight of all institutions within the executive branch. There have also been efforts to suppress whistleblowers and to compromise the role of the media.
- Trump handpicked a new chief of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Michael Pack, an ally of Steve Bannon, who immediately removed the chief of Radio Free Europe.
- Trump loyalists have replaced veterans in the intelligence community, including the chief of the Office of National Intelligence, who have challenged the validity of the Russian investigation. Trump’s attacks on the FBI’s handling of the Russian investigation has harmed the credibility of both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the presidency itself.
- In a major victory for Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr, a federal appeals court ordered a lower court judge to dismiss the felony false-statement charge against Michael Flynn who had pleaded guilty in Robert Mueller’s investigation of ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. A Trump appointee wrote the majority opinion.
Contempt for Federal Bureaucracy
In 2018, my book, American Carnage: The Wars of Donald Trump, and Michael Lewis’s, The Fifth Risk, documented Trump’s attacks on the federal bureaucracy and its workforce. Even before he was elected, Trump complained about the use of funds to prepare him for a potential transition to the White House. “You’re stealing my money,” he screamed at former New Jersey governor, Chris Christie. And when Trump calmed down, he told Christie that “you and I are so smart that we can leave the victory party two hours early and do the transition ourselves.” Trump never took seriously the staffing of the federal workforce, and today we find that much of the federal bureaucracy has been hollowed out. The Senate has confirmed only one-third of the top positions at the Department of Homeland Security.
Lower the Barr
Two officials from the Department of Justice provided testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on June 24, 2020. They exposed Attorney General William Barr’s pursuit of unjustified investigations and interference in the criminal trial of Roger Stone, a close associate of President Donald Trump. House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler called two officials whistleblowers to help guard against reprisals for sharing information with the Congress.
- John Elias, an official in the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, testified that Barr ordered investigation of marijuana company mergers because of his dislike of the “nature of their underlying business.”
- Elias testified that Barr also ordered the Antitrust Division to “review without going through normal procedures” an agreement between the state of California and four major automakers to reduce emissions on new cars, despite the Trump administration’s rollback of federal standards. The rollback, according to Elias, was politically motivated rather than grounded in the facts and the law.
- Aaron Zelinsky, an assistant U.S. attorney in Maryland, testified that there was “heavy pressure from the highest levels of the Department of Justice to cut Stone a break” by reducing the length of his sentence. Stone served as the Trump campaign’s principal intermediary to WikiLeaks at the time it was publishing information stolen by the Russians and damaging to Hillary Clinton.
Protect your Buddies
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have scheduled a close-door hearing about the controversial firing of Geoffrey S. Berman, the top prosecutor in Manhattan, who was pursuing sensitive cases that irked Donald Trump, including a case involving Rudy Giuliani. Barr wanted to replace Berman with a Trump loyalist who had no prosecutorial experience. Even the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lindsay Graham, a Trump loyalist, is unhappy with Barr’s removal of Berman.
“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”, Mark Twain (Tweeted by Donald J. Trump, January 29, 2014.)
The opinions expressed by Mel are wholly his own and do not imply in any way Florida Veterans For Common Sense, Inc. endorsement or agreement.