Aaron Zelinsky - DOJ decision to change Roger Stone sentencing memo was "political", because DC "US Attorney was afraid of the president"

Sho_Nuff82 · Jun 23, 2020

Zelinsky and John W. Elias quit the Roger Stone case just before sentencing phase, as after securing a conviction, the DOJ wildly swung in the opposite direction and stated to the court that he deserved no jail time. Stone was sentenced to 3 years in prison anyway. Both men are testifying tomorrow, and may be joined by recently fired US attorney from SDNY (Berman) if he accepts the invitation.

A bombshell statement to Congress from Aaron Zelinsky, the prosecutor in the Roger Stone case who says he withdrew because of "wrongful political pressure":

"I was explicitly told that the motivation for changing the sentencing memo was political, and because the U.S. Attorney was "afraid of the President." https://judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/zelinsky_opening_statement_hjc.pdf?utm_campaign=4024-519

Context:

Mueller deputy who quit Stone case to testify before House panel

One of former special counsel Robert Mueller's deputies who quit the Roger Stone case after the Justice Department eased the sentencing recommendation will testify before a Democratic-led House committee next week as part of a hearing scrutinizing the actions of Attorney General William Barr.

www.cnn.com

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/aaron-zelinsky-roger-stone-john-elias-antitrust-william-barr/2020/06/16/84f433b0-afe3-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html

Chairman Nadler Statement on Testimony from Former DOJ Official and Subpoenas for Whistleblowers

judiciary.house.gov

KG · Jun 23, 2020

We got him?

ManNR · Jun 23, 2020

Wow. So many cracks are appearing that it boggles my mind this administration is holding together at all.

KujoJosuke · Jun 23, 2020

I wish Stone spent the rest of his life in prison and out of the news so I never have to see his fucking weird looking head again

Proxy-Pie · Jun 23, 2020

Banana republic

GK86 · Jun 23, 2020

Law.
And.
Order.

nopattern · Jun 23, 2020

so is this something Trump will actually have to answer for or is this going to be another thing that gets swept by?

Everybody Lies · Jun 23, 2020

The best people.

Geist 6one7 · Jun 23, 2020

ManNR said:
Wow. So many cracks are appearing that it boggles my mind this administration is holding together at all.

Who's gonna hold them accountable, the Senate???

Wyman Manderly · Jun 23, 2020

So many scandals

Sho_Nuff82 · Jun 23, 2020

KG said:
We got him?

nopattern said:
so is this something Trump will actually have to answer for or is this going to be another thing that gets swept by?

After the new unredacted material from the Mueller report that was also dropped Friday night (which collaborated what we already learned in Stone's trial from Roger Gates), we have testimonial proof that Trump a) knew about Roger Stone's connection with Wikileaks, b) lied to the special counsel about it in writing, and c) tried to interfere in his sentencing for political reasons.

All 3 individually should be impeachable offenses. Barr misleading the public about the first two and having a part in the third should be impeachable as well.

The judge who finished reading the unredacted Mueller report two weeks ago demanded that Barr explain himself in a July conference. So I guess we'll see where that goes.

Baji Boxer · Jun 23, 2020

nopattern said:
so is this something Trump will actually have to answer for or is this going to be another thing that gets swept by?

Oh, this is defenitely getting swept away outside of having to dodge a couple questions and yell "Fake news!" for a bit. Kind of minor compared to a lot of other things coming out, or that he's publicly done/said, recently.

TheOMan · Jun 23, 2020

The twitter ranting is going to ratchet up pretty hard.

ced · Jun 23, 2020

This should at least get Barr.

ManNR · Jun 23, 2020

ced said:
This should at least get Barr.

Except, didn't I read somewhere this week that Dems don't feel it is worth it to go after Barr?

However, we are witnessing a corrupt group running away with our country in real time. If leaders won't stand up for law & order then they should be considered traitors to the country.

Latvian Hitman · Jun 23, 2020

ced said:
This should at least get Barr.

The system will never work as intended with the GOP controlling any branch of government. We should, of course, document everything and hold hearings an get as much sunlight on all the corruption as possible, but the only way to "get" Barr or Trump is at the polls in November.

Sho_Nuff82 · Jun 23, 2020

Related, but somewhat coincidentally released today:

"Law professors and faculty from George Washington University Law School, Attorney General William Barr's alma mater, said in a letter Tuesday he has 'failed to fulfill his oath of office to 'support and defend the Constitution of the United States.' "

CNN said:
In a bi-partisan statement signed by 65 faculty and professors from the law school, the group wrote that Barr's actions as attorney general "have undermined the rule of law, breached constitutional norms, and damaged the integrity and traditional independence of his office and of the Department of Justice."
Signatories to the letter include president and CEO of the National Bar Association Alfreda Robinson and interim dean of the school Christopher Alan Bracey.

"[Barr] obfuscated and misled the American public about the results of the Mueller investigation. He wrongfully interfered in the day-to-day activities of career prosecutors, and continues to do so, bending the criminal justice system to benefit the President's friends and target those perceived to be his enemies," the letter read.

Of course, Nadler thinks impeaching Barr is a waste of time:

The New York Democrat also told CNN's Jake Tapper Sunday he thinks impeaching Barr over the move would be a "waste of time" and instead would look at withholding $50 million from the Department of Justice in an effort to punish the attorney general.
"I don't think calls for his impeachment are premature any more than calls for the President's impeachment were premature, but they are a waste of time at this point," Nadler said on "State of the Union." "We've seen a pattern of ... Barr corruptly impeding all these investigations, so this is just more of the same."

Strike · Jun 23, 2020

Sho_Nuff82 said:
All 3 individually should be impeachable offenses. Barr misleading the public about the first two and having a part in the third should be impeachable as well.

Under normal circumstances, yes. It'll be interesting to see if it'll go anywhere.

BWoog · Jun 23, 2020

Sho_Nuff82 said:
Related, but somewhat coincidentally released today:

Of course, Nadler thinks impeaching Barr is a waste of time:

I don't care how soulless some of these assholes are, I know some of this shit has to hurt.

BoboBrazil · Jun 23, 2020

shnurgleton · Jun 23, 2020

what's the going rate for a soul these days

PeskyToaster · Jun 23, 2020

exercising your constitutionally mandated duties as a co-equal branch of government is never a waste of time.

BossAttack · Jun 23, 2020

Sho_Nuff82 said:
Related, but somewhat coincidentally released today:

Of course, Nadler thinks impeaching Barr is a waste of time:

Hey, my alma mater. Of course, it also produced Kellyanne Conway.

T0M · Jun 23, 2020

Anyone heard from the Senate GOP today? No? Well okay then.

Deleted member 2533 · Jun 23, 2020

Keep the pressure up, Pelosi didn't want to impeach Trump until the chorus was loud enough. Nadler can absolutely be pushed to open up impeachment. Dems are affected more by public pressure than Republicans are.

Wilsongt · Jun 23, 2020

All of these people afraid of Donald fucking Trump.

CascadingOCDuty · Jun 23, 2020

Trump and co won't make it to November.

Wilsongt · Jun 23, 2020

Also, all of these strongly worded letters about Barr are useless.

Username1198 · Jun 23, 2020

Absolute corrupt and criminal administration. Heads need to roll for this shit when Biden wins. None of that "forgiveness and move on" bullshit. A reversal of everything these evil fucks are doing needs to be done. I want to see a combined million year sentence for the entire admin and trump crime family.

acheron_xl · Jun 23, 2020

CascadingOCDuty said:
Trump and co won't make it to November.

Of course they will.

mugurumakensei · Jun 23, 2020

ManNR said:
Except, didn't I read somewhere this week that Dems don't feel it is worth it to go after Barr?

However, we are witnessing a corrupt group running away with our country in real time. If leaders won't stand up for law & order then they should be considered traitors to the country.

I mean can't get the senate to vote to remove the head much less his lackey

BWoog · Jun 23, 2020

CascadingOCDuty said:
Trump and co won't make it to November.

Come on man. Not only will they, but they have a good chance of flat out winning again. Shit sucks.

Erpy · Jun 23, 2020

mugurumakensei said:
I mean can't get the senate to vote to remove the head much less his lackey

Yeah, Democrats aren't gonna give Barr the satisfaction of getting a TOTAL EXONERATION in the senate nor are they going to give Trump the satisfaction of taking news cycles away from the burning trainwreck he's currently heading.

Best thing to do is be pragmatic: avoid the temptation for hollow moral victories and quick owns, win the presidency and the senate in November, drag Barr before the new congress after he's lost the protection of the department he's ruling and give him the 3rd degree for real.

Kernel · Jun 23, 2020

BWoog said:
Come on man. Not only will they, but they have a good chance of flat out winning again. Shit sucks.

People really need to stop this.

You're way more confident of Trump winning than he is.

acheron_xl · Jun 23, 2020

Kernel said:
People really need to stop this.

You're way more confident of Trump winning than he is.

I never said he'd win, I refuted someone who said he'd be done by November. The only way Trump leaves early is if he dies.

spookyduzt · Jun 23, 2020

I still don't understand how anybody is still afraid of Trump. He's an incompetent ineffectual mantoddler who's greatest skill is word vomiting on Twitter during bowel movements. So what if he fires you? Wear it like a badge of fucking honor.

Darryl M R · Jun 23, 2020

Another impeachment sounds fine with me right now.

Digital Dinosaur · Jun 23, 2020

freshlysqueezed said:
I still don't understand how anybody is still afraid of Trump. He's an incompetent ineffectual mantoddler who's greatest skill is word vomiting on Twitter during bowel movements. So what if he fires you? Wear it like a badge of fucking honor.

Everyone is terrified of Trump because of Trumpism. Trumpism has become the new normal, and scours out anyone who isn't subservient to an extreme far-right agenda. Trumpism demands everything be done for purely political reasons.

They figure if Trump / the GOP maintain control of the government anyone who doesn't play ball will be blacklisted for life.

Trumpism has made these people terrified of mean tweets from Trump. They think the slightest displeasure of the child emperor will result in their destruction.

Tbm24 · Jun 23, 2020

acheron_xl said:
I never said he'd win, I refuted someone who said he'd be done by November. The only way Trump leaves early is if he dies.

Are you implying he's not gonna leave if he loses the election?

BWoog · Jun 23, 2020

Kernel said:
People really need to stop this.

You're way more confident of Trump winning than he is.

I know that Biden is far more likely to win than Hillary, that's a gimme, but I'm scared shitless of the GOP's flagrant cheating and antics they'll pull running up to the election.

Being confident in Biden winning means I have to be confident in the American people and I'm not there. I don't think I ever will be.

Sho_Nuff82 · Jun 23, 2020

freshlysqueezed said:
I still don't understand how anybody is still afraid of Trump. He's an incompetent ineffectual mantoddler who's greatest skill is word vomiting on Twitter during bowel movements. So what if he fires you? Wear it like a badge of fucking honor.

These people's only friends are other Republicans and donors in DC, and their only political aspirations are more power. It probably didn't take a lot of cajoling from Barr to get him to lean on this case.

Shea took one for the team, and was promoted shortly afterwards to head the DEA: https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/...unces-timothy-j-shea-new-acting-administrator

NCR Ranger · Jun 23, 2020

nopattern said:
so is this something Trump will actually have to answer for or is this going to be another thing that gets swept by?

Federally? Nothing before the election. If he wins than that would depend on who controls the senate and the house. Even then if he gets removed from office Pence will pardon him so the nation can "heal". If he loses then Biden will probably do his best to "not look backward, but to the future" and not go after Trump in any meaningful way.

On the state level, it might be different. I will gladly eat crow if the feds bring Trump up on anything, but there are real incentives for a president to not set the precedent of going after a former president.

acheron_xl · Jun 23, 2020

Tbm24 said:
Are you implying he's not gonna leave if he loses the election?

Did you miss the word 'early' in my post?

Whitemex · Jun 23, 2020

How are the Dems so spineless? We're here with 7 years of Benghazi/Buttery mails investigations with little evidence to go on by the Republicans meanwhile this is clear fucking cut and the response is "not worth the time" ?

Tbm24 · Jun 23, 2020

acheron_xl said:
Did you miss the word 'early' in my post?

I'm seeing what you were saying as the person you quoted didn't quote you so was a little confused. Gotcha.

Kernel · Jun 23, 2020

BWoog said:
I know that Biden is far more likely to win than Hillary, that's a gimme, but I'm scared shitless of the GOP's flagrant cheating and antics they'll pull running up to the election.

Being confident in Biden winning means I have to be confident in the American people and I'm not there. I don't think I ever will be.

I can understand the apprehension but he got destroyed in the midterms and his plan to win the election was Ukraine which got taken apart by impeachment hearings, COVID took care of the "strong economy" and everything else he was riding on.

The illusion on how he can't lose and the fear he strikes in Liberals is a big part of his appeal to his base.

Deleted member 12224 · Jun 23, 2020

Whitemex said:
How are the Dems so spineless? We're here with 7 years of Benghazi/Buttery mails investigations with little evidence to go on by the Republicans meanwhile this is clear fucking cut and the response is "not worth the time" ?

It's cowards thinking masquerading as grand strategy.

"No, see, we have all these reasons to not do it, you see, it's actually genius."

Deleted member 2533 · Jun 24, 2020

Does anyone know if this is going to be televised on Wednesday?

Fergie · Jun 24, 2020

Some of Trump's circle have gone down but the orange demagogue won't stop since he has GOP making sure he's unaccountable.

Cuburger · Jun 24, 2020

So this sounds like a juicy session of Congress today. Is it going to be public?

Aaron Zelinsky - DOJ decision to change Roger Stone sentencing memo was "political", because DC "US Attorney was afraid of the president"

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