Thread by @protctdemocracy

Something remarkable is about to happen at the House Judiciary Committee hearing: 2 DOJ whistleblowers will give sworn testimony that @realDonaldTrump & AG Barr are interfering in the fair administration of justice.

TUNE IN & follow this thread for more.

judiciary.house.gov/calendar/event…

Since day 1, @realDonaldTrump claimed an “absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department” and abused his power to coerce law enforcement to serve his own personal political interests, protecting his friends and targeting his enemies. This is what dictators do.

White House interference in law enforcement matters involving specific parties isn’t just wrong, it’s unconstitutional. Want a deep analysis? We’ve got you covered: protectdemocracy.org/resource-libra…

Not since Nixon resigned post-Watergate has DOJ been so corrupted. But it could be even worse now. Barr has repeatedly violated his oath by doing POTUS’s personal bidding instead of serving the public, leading to 2,000+ #DOJalumni calling for him to resign nytimes.com/2020/02/16/us/…

Earlier this month Barr ordered federal officers to violently disperse peaceful protestors, violating their 1st Amendment rights and injuring many all for @realDonaldTrump's photo-op, prompting #DOJalumni to demand an investigation. #1A washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

Just last week Barr lied to Americans to try to force a U.S. Attorney out of office. What investigations into @realDonaldTrump’s wrongdoing is he trying to cover up now? Former GWB official @RosenzweigP has more on how authoritarians subvert justice:
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

The same day a career attorney is testifying that @realDonaldTrump’s appointees intervened to protect his friend Roger Stone, the D.C. Circuit ruled that a judge can't review whether DOJ acted to help Flynn. This decision is wrong -- en banc review is needed.

Read why the judge has the authority and duty to question DOJ’s unprecedented decision to reverse course re: Flynn to ensure that it is in the public interest and not tainted by political interference: lawfareblog.com/judge-sullivan…

We’ll have more from the hearing shortly. Follow along for analysis. judiciary.house.gov/calendar/event… #NobodyIsAboveTheLaw

Chairman Nadler starts the hearing rightly pointing out that AG Barr’s politicization of DOJ goes back to the very beginning of the Trump administration. It’s not a series of one-offs. It’s a pattern. Period. Read here for more: rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

(To be clear, it's a continuation of a pattern. While AG Barr wasn't there in January 2017, he's built out a pattern that started growing roots at the very start.)

“I am here because I believe that William Barr poses the greatest threat in my lifetime to our rule of law and public trust in it. That is because he does not believe in its core principle: that no person is above the law.” - Donald Ayer. Testimony here: lawfareblog.com/statement-form…

Protecting the rule of law should not be a partisan issue! Don Ayer, former deputy AG under H.W. Bush, put on a clinic explaining the myriad ways Barr is using DOJ to create an authoritarian President. #Nobodyisabovethelaw
@chkbal
@ForTheRuleOfLaw

John Elias is a nonpartisan career attorney who has served under 6 AGs and 3 presidents, always seeking to “operate even-handedly and in good faith.” He asked the DOJ inspector general to investigate Barr’s “abuse of authority, a gross waste of funds, and gross mismanagement.”

“In the United States of America, we don’t prosecute people based on politics. And we don’t cut them breaks based on politics either. But that is not what happened here.” -Aaron Zelinsky

Zelinsky could not be more clear. DOJ leadership -- including AG Barr -- intervened in the Stone case purely to protect a friend of @realDonaldTrump. That’s a corruption of the Department of Justice, the Constitution, and the principle that all Americans are equal under the law.

More Zelinsky: “To be clear, my concern is not with this sentencing outcome ... it is about process and the fact that DOJ treated Roger Stone differently and more leniently in ways that are virtually, if not entirely, unprecedented.”

It’s important to note that former AG Mukasey said himself he had no firsthand involvement in the issues being discussed today. Mr. Elias and Mr. Zelinsky did. And the evidence is clear. #NobodyIsAboveTheLaw

Paraphrasing Elias: When 4 U.S. automakers agreed with California to lower emissions, @realDonaldTrump tweeted in anger. The next day the political leaders at DOJ violated standard process to start a bogus investigation into the companies over the objections of career staff

Like many current DOJ atty's and 1000's of #DOJalumni before them, Zelinsky spent his career pursuing equal justice free from political concern. That he risked losing his job for following the law is dangerous -- but it’s also sad an honest public servant had to go through this.

Zelinsky reminded us that a jury convicted Roger Stone because he helped Trump communicate with Wikileaks, and then lied to Congress and intimidated a witness to cover it up. But a Trump appointee asked for Stone to get a reduced sentence because he was “afraid of the President.”

Any1 who cares about fair markets should be outraged that @realDonaldTrump used @TheJusticeDept to punish companies he doesn’t like. We filed a brief for #DOJalumni re: the AT&T/Time Warner merger explaining why using DOJ to punish CNN is unconstitutional: nbcnews.com/politics/justi…

We knew it was happening -- @realDonaldTrump abuses his power in plain sight -- but it is still sobering to hear the whistleblowers’ firsthand, sworn testimony detailing the unprecedented corruption of DOJ by POTUS and Barr. And the corruption is getting worse.

We’ve already seen @realDonaldTrump ‘s willingness to abuse his power for political gain -- we must remain on high alert for evidence that he’s using law enforcement to undermine free and fair elections this November.

Mr. Zelinsky and Mr. Elias, thank you for upholding your oath to support and defend the Constitution. These patriots must be protected from retaliation, and civil servants should follow their example to refuse and report unlawful orders -- the rule of law depends on it.

Mr. Ayer, Elias, and Zelinsky all agreed that prosecutorial decisions should be made based on the facts and the law, not politics. It’s that simple. Yet AG Barr and @realDonaldTrump are perverting justice to advance their own personal partisan interests.

@realDonaldTrump Oversight must continue, and Barr must testify. Congress must pass legislation to strengthen the guardrails that preserve our democratic institutions. And We the People must reject @realDonaldTrump‘s authoritarian tactics. #nobodyisabovethelaw