DOJ Lawyers Who Had Represented Government in Census Case are Being Replaced: An Ominous Development
Source: Electionn Law blog
My thoughts on the news via Del Wilber:
Link to tweet
Read more: https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106106
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)Gothmog
(145,218 posts)elleng
(130,895 posts)MANY disappointed by today's goings-on.
calimary
(81,260 posts)Gothmog
(145,218 posts)there are some lawyers who need to worry about their careers https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/07/07/census-farce-trump-barr-doj-make-mockery-law/?utm_term=.08e03966936c
Trumps contempt for the rule of law and blatant dishonesty would not continue without the help of underlings. And they must do some serious soul-searching. There are some things no DOJ lawyer can do. One of those is make arguments in court that are untrue in order to benefit the political whims of a president, Joyce White Vance, a former prosecutor, says. If DOJs leadership, the [attorney general,] the deputy AG, the solicitor general and the head of the Civil Division [dont want to be] complicit in violating the duty of candor DOJ lawyers owe to the court, then they should resign on principle and in protest.
They wont resign en masse, of course, because the professional and ethical expectations have been so diminished in this administration that the unimaginable is now standard operating procedure for both political appointees and career lawyers.
Make no mistake: The government lawyers appointees and civil servants alike who are spending this weekend trying to cleanse the record of this fact and salvage this plan are employing their legal skills in the service of white power, Bassin says. Thats not just a violation of their oath of office, its an abdication of the basic morality on which we all as human beings are ultimately judged. They dont have to do this. We all make choices.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)yaesu
(8,020 posts)Russians and Saudi Arabia excluded.
Arkansas Granny
(31,516 posts)as long as they think he's "sticking it to the libs". They don't see or don't care what he is doing to the rule of law or the reputation of the U.S. throughout the world.
StClone
(11,683 posts)They have no real belief system other than power, money, fear and hate. Basic instincts.
TeamPooka
(24,225 posts)a kennedy
(29,658 posts)Who will stand up to this orange piece of shit!!!!!!!!!
bucolic_frolic
(43,159 posts)Changing horses in midstream. Any judge who bends to this will be laughed off his bench by his colleagues.
SergeStorms
(19,201 posts)like all five conservative judges on the Supreme Court? They'll eat a bucket-full of Trump's shit just so he'll say, "Nice job, boys"!
bucolic_frolic
(43,159 posts)He defers to power and the President, as he did in legalizing Obamacare. He could do the same here, rationalize a citizenship question as the perogative of the incumbent President or the power of the Presidency.
But hackles await any kowtow after so much wrangling and rejection by so many judges, and the previous reasons given to attempt to legitimize the question. You can't erase this case's history.
babylonsister
(171,065 posts)Gothmog
(145,218 posts)Subtle is not in trump's vocabulary
babylonsister
(171,065 posts)My level of disgust knows no bounds.
Gothmog
(145,218 posts)hlthe2b
(102,263 posts)Link to tweet
Gothmog
(145,218 posts)This is getting strange
hlthe2b
(102,263 posts)tishaLA
(14,176 posts)"....and I'd like to thank Mariska Hargitay."
DeminPennswoods
(15,286 posts)nt
Captain Zero
(6,805 posts)MissB
(15,807 posts)underpants
(182,800 posts)Use it.
hlthe2b
(102,263 posts)SeattleVet
(5,477 posts)Send lawyers from the Consumer Protection Branch, which he wants to strip to the bare bones.
These lawyers get caught lying to the court, they get sanctioned, and ... tRump suddenly has fewer people protecting consumers.
I wonder what 'incentives' he had to offer them to put their careers on the line like this.
Gothmog
(145,218 posts)Gothmog
(145,218 posts)KY_EnviroGuy
(14,490 posts)Texts:
Noah @DefToolNIN
8:32 PM - Jul 7, 2019
Bottom line: If attorneys dont argue this case as Wilbur Ross did, they will be contradicting his testimony which will expose him to perjury.
Because Ross LIED about the reason for the census question, they will either lose, or concede that Ross committed perjury.
===============
Geriatric Millenial JD @Errorreporrt
8:12 PM - Jul 7, 2019
The explanation is they didn't want to be sanctioned when they came back to a judge and told them they were apparently lying about the time restraints.
-------------
KY.......... ........
Gothmog
(145,218 posts)EndGOPPropaganda
(1,117 posts)Neal Katyal helped get us into this mess by endorsing Gorsuch
Link to tweet
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Duppers
(28,120 posts)I didn't know that.
Thank you.
EndGOPPropaganda
(1,117 posts)Skittles
(153,160 posts)KPN
(15,645 posts)supports Donald tRump, and that is based principally in whit male supremacy and fascist ideology.
dlk
(11,566 posts)Theyre hoping to save their careers, or what will be left of them.
Gothmog
(145,218 posts)From the Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/07/08/somtimes-doj-lawyer-must-just-say-no/?utm_term=.8047534f232a
Others agree that swapping out lawyers is highly unusual. Its extraordinary and downright bizarre to see the government parachute in new lawyers at this late stage of the litigation, says legal scholar Joshua Matz. If past is prologue, this may indicate that were about to see some extremely sketchy moves that the existing team was unwilling to take for professional or reputational reasons. That the administration would have to go so far afield, to recruit consumer protection lawyers, suggests that the entire federal programs branch of the Justice Department is unwilling to defend whatever the administration plans to file.
This is not the first time in this presidency a set of lawyers has dropped out of a case brought on specious grounds. In the case seeking to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act, three career attorneys withdrew without signing onto a brief many considered legally preposterous.....
Not to put too fine a point on it, but what these lawyers do will have profound consequences for the country and their careers. Constitutional scholar Larry Tribe warns, The Department of Justice cannot avoid the long-term credibility cost to its litigating posture of contradicting itself in successive filings simply by changing the names of the career DOJ lawyers on the pleadings or by bringing new faces into court. If thats the aspiration, its not going to succeed.
The new team of lawyers should think very carefully before accepting an assignment from an attorney general not above misrepresenting the work of a special counsel or adopting the role of the presidents private counsel.
Gothmog
(145,218 posts)watoos
(7,142 posts)When Trump defies 3 or 4 court orders we will have a very, very, strong case for impeachment.
marylandblue
(12,344 posts)The Senate is not going to convict because they have given Trump carte blanche. They have given Trump carte blanche because he may create a permanent Republican ruling elite. If he succeeds, good. If he fails, they all run for cover and they are no worse off than they were before.
They don't care what history thinks of them because history doesn't vote or make campaign contributions.
Gothmog
(145,218 posts)Ilsa
(61,695 posts)whether the census lawyers can convince the judge to disapprove of the attorneys being replaced.
machoneman
(4,007 posts)...get up to speed on the case. This would be a direct refutation of the earlier arguments that time was of the essence and damn the court's priorities in 'jumping' the case. It's a fool's paradise for sure but just watch for this or even more ludicrous steps they will take.
forgotmylogin
(7,528 posts)if they do manage to include the question, I think the judge should also require them to include a "No answer." option. Or at least instruct the census-takers to honor no answer/refusal to answer for that question and leave it blank. Same as "Ethnicity" which on most forms usually has a "prefer not to answer" box.
If enough people just don't answer it, the data will be useless to them.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)Hopefully be tied up in court. Republicans again - nada.
They fear they are running out of time. Ya think since for many years they always claimed patriotism, it was always the reverse.
Gothmog
(145,218 posts)BlueIdaho
(13,582 posts)Under the control of congress - can an executive order ever really be legit?
Gothmog
(145,218 posts)Gothmog
(145,218 posts)Link to tweet
As The Post reports, the change in the legal team might signal legal or ethical concerns about Trumps handling of the affair. One source said such concerns were harbored by some career attorneys.
It gets worse. A Justice Department lawyer tells the New York Times that due to the switch, no lawyers from the division that defends administration policies in court the federal programs branch will be working on the case.
The Times adds that the move strongly suggests that career lawyers decided to quit a case that at the least seemed to lack a legal basis, or worse, could force them to defend statements that could well turn out to be untrue.
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,439 posts)1/ Why is AG Barr transferring responsibility for the census cases to the DOJ Consumer Protection Branch, given that its functions have nothing to do with the census? Watch for the name David Morrell, recently appointed to be Deputy Assistant AAG in charge of the CP Branch.
Link to tweet
2/ Morrell clerked for Edith Jones and Clarence Thomas--then worked at Jones Day and in the White House Counsel's Office. No surprise he'd be in charge. Watch for whether any career lawyers agree to join, and whether OSG is on-board, despite its earlier representations re: 06/30.
Link to tweet
More on the SG and the deadline here:
Link to tweet