As President, Trump Demanded Investigations of Foes. He Often Got Them.

The New York Times ^ | Sept. 21, 2024 | Michael S. Schmidt

[E. Pluribus Unum]

It was the spring of 2018 and President Donald J. Trump, faced with an accelerating inquiry into his campaign’s ties to Russia, was furious that the Justice Department was reluctant to strike back at those he saw as his enemies.

In an Oval Office meeting, Mr. Trump told startled aides that if Attorney General Jeff Sessions would not order the department to go after Hillary Clinton and James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, Mr. Trump would prosecute them himself.

Recognizing the extraordinary dangers of a president seeking not just to weaponize the criminal justice system for political ends but trying as well to assume personal control over who should be investigated and charged, the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, sought to stall.

“How about I do this?” Mr. McGahn told Mr. Trump, according to an account verified by witnesses. “I’m going to write you a memo explaining to you what the law is and how it works, and I’ll give that memo to you and you can decide what you want to do.”

The episode marked the start of a more aggressive effort by Mr. Trump to deploy his power against his perceived enemies despite warnings not to do so by top aides. And a look back at the cases of 10 individuals brings a pattern into clearer focus: After Mr. Trump made repeated public or private demands for them to be targeted by the government, they faced federal pressure of one kind or another.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

This after their nine years of non-stop "show me the man and I will show you the crime" investigations of Trump.

[Paladin2]

H->! should still be in jail for her bathroom server.

[IncPen]

Recognizing the extraordinary dangers of a president seeking not just to weaponize the criminal justice system for political ends but trying as well to assume personal control over who should be investigated and charged, the White House

Odd that the NYTimes didn’t see fit to have this observation about Obama or Biden…

[The_Media_never_lie]

This after their nine years of non-stop “show me the man and I will show you the crime” investigations of Trump.

________________

NYT has and entitled sense of no self awareness!

[The_Media_never_lie]

Biden demanded political prosecutions and worse, of foes, and he got them!

[enumerated]

What a load of crap.

[stanne]

He demanded investigations of suspected criminals perhaps but not because they were foes

The NYT. They sell newspapers and on line subscriptions for the puzzles the rest is fodder for the recycling bin

[FlingWingFlyer]

The New Yawk Slimes. Questionable content.

[SharpRightTurn]

Another day, another fake hit piece from the Slimes, the paper of wrecker.

[gundog]

And Obama’s wiretaps of Trump....

[Liz]

judiciaryhouse.gov
June 14, 2022
Press Release

President Biden ‘Excited’ About Going After Parents as Domestic Terrorists: Biden Team Focused on Intimidating law-abiding parents

President Joe Biden “was excited … to go after parents” with the FBI after receiving the National School Boards Association letter asking his administration to treat concerned parents as “domestic terrorists” and use the Patriot Act, House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) told Breitbart News.

“Joe Biden called up Viola Garcia, the president of the School Boards Association, and invited her to come to the White House because he was so excited about what they were doing,” Jordan said. “And so the speed and the intensity and the excitement from this White House about putting this scheme into place, this conspiracy into place … he was excited about what this was, this whole process, this whole conspiracy to go after parents.”

Since the letter was received and acted upon by several members of the Biden administration, including most notably Attorney General Merrick Garland sending the FBI after parents who spoke at school board meetings, Jordan and the House Judiciary Republicans have been incessantly requesting information from the involved government agencies to find out who in the government was involved with the letter.

“We have sent nearly 100 letters to Departmental components requesting documents and information related to this investigation,” a letter to Garland signed by all Judiciary Republicans and obtained exclusively by Breitbart News states. “To date, we have received only two half-page responses from your Department, and none of the requested documents or substantive information.” Judiciary Republicans sent similar letters, also obtained exclusively by Breitbart News, to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House chief of staff Ronald Klain regarding their respective components’ involvement or prior knowledge of the NSBA letter.

“The NSBA letter to President Biden alleged that ‘malice, violence, and threats’ against school officials ‘could be the equivalent of a form of domestic terrorism or hate crimes,’” the Judiciary GOP letter to Klain states. “The letter urged the President to use federal counterterrorism tools, including the Patriot Act, to target parents speaking out at school board meetings on behalf of their children.” “We know from the NSBA-commissioned report that the White House did not object to or otherwise discourage the NSBA from asking the President to use the Patriot Act and domestic terrorism statutes against America’s parents—a request of which the President said he was ‘appreciative,’” the letter continued.

What happened in the aftermath of the NSBA letter to Biden “strengthens our concerns that the Biden Administration is chilling protected First Amendment activity as parents rightfully fear that their passionate advocacy for their children could result in a visit from federal law enforcement,” according to the Judiciary GOP letter to Klain.

The majority of the information — at least initially — came from FBI whistleblowers, which Jordan numbers at over a dozen. “But for the whistleblowers who have come forward, I don’t know that we’d have learned much of anything,” he said. Additionally, after an NSBA internal review — the “NSBA-commissioned report” — the school board group admitted to heavy collusion with the White House and other administration officials, which the Judiciary GOP letter to Garland said provided “startling new evidence of how the Justice Department coordinated with the White House to target concerned parents.” NSBA investigators placed the blame for the letter — from their end — almost entirely on Chip Slaven, who at the time was the Interim CEO and Executive Director of the organization.

Slaven worked closely with White House Senior Advisor to the President Mary C. Wall, who “had advanced knowledge of the planned Letter and its specific contents and interacted with Mr. Slaven regarding the Letter during its drafting,” according to the findings of the inquiry. “In addition, evidence indicates that White House officials discussed the existence of the Letter, its requests, and the contents of the Letter with Department of Justice officials more than a week before the Letter was finalized and sent to President Biden,” the findings continue.

“Ms. Wall requested an advanced copy of the Letter to provide to her White House and Department of Justice colleagues ‘to see if there might be any options we can pursue here.’” “The NSBA-commissioned report shows serious collusion between the Biden Administration and the NSBA to create the justification to use the heavy hand of federal law enforcement against concerned moms and dads advocating for their children’s future,” the Judiciary GOP letter to Garland states. “Committee Republicans will not let this matter rest. We are committed to fully examining the Biden Administration’s use of counterterrorism resources in relation to school board meetings.”

Prior to the NSBA letter’s public release, Slaven and Wall spoke specifically about using the Patriot Act and other counterterrorism tools to investigate parents concerned with what their children were learning in school. An email from Wall to Slaven asked about “options we can pursue,” such as the “threat assessment”:

snip

[xoxox]

LOL. They already battening-down-they-hatches.

[jimfree]

His foes were breaking the law for all to see.

[Williams]

Blah blah blah.
Trump’s DOJ recused itself and appointed a special prosecutor to investigate HIM.
And nobody did a damn thing to any of his political opponents.
Meanwhile they are charging Trump basically for being an American and daring to exercise his rights.

[SunStar]

This is gaslighting at its finest. The New York Times is very skilled at pushing the most blatant and ridiculous propaganda possible out to an insatiable mass of brainwashed Democrats.

[Olog-hai]

Schmidt is Nicolle Wallace’s husband, JFTR.

[tumblindice]

This time, appoint an AG and make sure he understands he serves at the pleasure of the president, and is on double-secret probation.
Trump had a problem with cabinet appointees for four years. This time, nothing but loyalists having taken a blood oath. Seriously.
His team is going to have their work cut out for them, they don’t need any weak sister rinos. If any sneak through, ‘Here’s your hat, sayonara’.

[kiryandil]

Schmidt is Nicolle Wallace’s husband, JFTR.

A Swamp tradition - Washingsnot power players with different last names...

[mewzilla]

The content isn’t questionable.

The content is Deep State.

[carcraft]

Didn’t Obama spy on news paper reporters? Didn’t FBI spy on Trump based of false FISA Warrants? Why yes he did.