The appointment of Matt Whitaker as the acting Attorney General is an outright assault on the integrity of the Justice Department and an insult to all Americans who believe in the rule of law. Why? Because it turns out Matt Whitaker is lacking the premier credentials required for the position, has prejudiced himself re the Russia investigation and also is under FBI investigation as a possible criminal in a business fraud case.
Trump chose Whitaker because he is loyal supporter and could function competently as a hatchet man. Trump needed someone to install as Attorney General who would take over the Mueller investigation and one way or another shut the probe down. Trump was in a rush to get someone in place before the new House majority started their own investigations in January. Trump eschewed the proper vetting for this appointee and now is facing the downside of moving too fast.
This appointment is considered by judicial scholars to be the worst appointment a President has ever made for the position of Attorney General. Brett Stephens, columnist for The New York Times, discusses all of this and manages to include other reasons why Whitaker should not be in charge of the Mueller investigation. .Trump now realizes that in fact his choice of Whitaker was in fact a disastrous one. Trump when asked about Whitaker and his possible involvement with business fraud responded “I don’t know the guy.” Just 29 days ago, Trump is on the record reportedly saying that he knows Whitaker and “he is a great guy.”
After reading Brett Stephens’ article, please consider calling our members of Congress, Gary Peters. Debbie Stabenow and Jack Bergman (their numbers are below) to tell them that pressure should be put on the Congress to demand that Whitaker go through the confirmation process and recuse himself from the Russia probe.. In addition, we need to tell them to act now in passing HR 3771/S 1741, the Special Counsel Integrity Act, and S 1735/HR 3654, the Special Counsel Independence Protection Act. These bills, if passed, would protect Bob Mueller from being fired.