Donald Trump has managed to set off a feeling of chaos in the entire nation, including many members of Congress. He asked former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to leave before the midterm votes were even counted. Then, POTUS installed his Department of Justice (DOJ) mole, aka chief of staff, replacement to AG Jeff Sessions, Matthew Whittaker, over the entire DOJ. That is a huge problem — especially for Senator Susan Collin (R-ME).
The Robert Mueller investigation is in serious jeopardy now. First of all, when Sessions recused himself from the Mueller investigation, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein headed up the special counsel’s probe. When Trump fired Sessions, that job should have gone to Rosenstein, but it went to the Acting AG Matthews. Basically, Trump tried to pull off a fast one, and he may have succeeded.
Senator Collins said in a statement that Mueller has to be given the right to complete his investigation into Russia’s attack on the 2016 presidential election and the alleged Trump campaign conspiracy with Moscow. She called for the Senate to bring a vote to the floor on the bipartisan legislation that has already been written to shield Mueller from being fired.
The senator was “concerned” about comments Whittaker has made now that he oversees the investigation, according to The Washington Post:
‘For these reasons, I believe that we should bring to the Senate floor legislation that would put restrictions on the ability of President Donald Trump to fire the special counsel. Senate debate and passage of this bill would send a powerful message that Mr. Mueller must be able to complete his work unimpeded.’
Thus far, the acting AG has not lifted the Mueller investigation management from Rosenstein, but as Collins said:
‘Mr. Whitaker has the authority to intervene at any time.’
Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has repeatedly refused to bring to the floor the legislation Collins was referring to. However, Collins was not alone in her request. Senators Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Christopher Coons (D-DE) announced they plan on trying to force a vote, too.
McConnell said:
‘The president has said repeatedly he’s not going to dismiss the Mueller investigation. He’s said repeatedly it’s going to be allowed to finish. That also happens to be my view.’
Mueller’s team has to file regular reports about the investigation’s progress to who oversees the investigation. Now that Whittaker has that spot, why would he stop working as a mole for Trump?
Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Democratic minority leader of the powerful Committee On Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter to Whittaker reminding him that he cannot destroy any documents. To do so would be illegal and interfere with an ongoing investigation.
There is some doubt about both the president firing Sessions and putting this acting AG in place. Respected Constitutional attorneys claim that this act was unconstitutional. Whittaker has never gone through the Senate confirmation process, plus he has a checkered background.
He has only been at the DOJ for a little over a year, and worked for a pyramid scheme previously. That company was fined $26 million for fraud. He also worked for a new nonprofit to gain some resume experience, except that organization only had one employee — Whittaker. Yet, the acting AG now is the head of the largest legal organization in the country.
Whittaker has no plans to recuse himself or resign, even though he has repeatedly expressed his disdain for the Mueller investigation.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
