A friend who is also on Twitter asked me if I was ok today. In short, yes I am. But this week has knocked me down a bit when it comes to DOJ. Many of you follow me because I know a thing or 2 about FinCEN, having worked there at the end of my 19 years with the fed government. /1
But I identify myself more as a DOJ alum, given my 18 yrs as a lawyer there. As many of you know, I have written & tweeted about my TREMENDOUS faith in the career employees at DOJ (including the FBI). I also have consistently tweeted about my similar faith in Rod, Wray, Comey /2
Mueller, Mueller’s team members (many of whom I’ve known from prior time at DOJ), Scott Schools in the DAG’s office, Ray Hulser who oversees the Public Integrity Section & OEO in CRM, all of whom will have an impact on the Russia investigation. But what I didn’t account for /3
Is the sheer evil of mankind, particularly mankind in power in these United States. I suppose I didn’t account for it b/c I’ve never witnessed it up close like this. I’d only read about it in books, seen exhibits about it in museums, or watched it on tv or film. All of which /4
Frankly were situations which allowed me/us to breathe a sigh of relief that an era was over; close the book; walk out of the theatre; dash through the exhibit, or otherwise protect ourselves from thinking too long about truly bad actors. But what this long news week has shown /5
Me/us, is that the badness of actors isn’t avoidable and we can’t just change the channel now for what is happening here in our country - and how it impacts how we are viewed around the globe. This week at DOJ, the home where I grew up into the woman I now am, the rule of law /6
Was trashed when the pardon process was robustly ignored, when the children were torn from their families, and when the ACA brief was filed last night. (These are only the headlines we know about, the fights we’ve lost that are public.) What we don’t yet see could be worse. So /7
While I have tremendous faith in the people who have grown up - like me - at DOJ, such as Rod, Wray, Mueller, Comey, Schools, Hulser, etc., I didn’t ever account for evilness in the handful of men (yes men), like Sessions, Trump, etc. I just didn’t. Because whoever I may have /8
Come across in my life on a personal level, if they seemed like an awful human being, I would have just gotten away from them somehow, switched jobs, etc. I would have changed the channel. But now that I can’t change the channel, and I am seeing up close (enough) what powerful /9
Men do — when they are not driven by (what I believe to be) good intentions but rather greed, racism, or just plain meanness, it has been unsettling to watch. I still have great faith in the lifetime public servants (including Rod, etc.) at DOJ whom I often tweet/write about. /10
But what strikes me this week, with no sign of abatement, is that I no longer seem to have that complete faith in mankind. For now, I can’t change the channel. /END p.s. time for some rosé since I’m depressing us all and it’s finally the weekend. 🍷 🍹 🍸 🍺 🥃
