Prosecutors: Trump and Barr Have Politicized DOJ
June 24, 2020
The DOJ whistleblowers testifying before the House Judiciary Committee are not the first to criticize the unprecedented politicization of the department.
Aaron Zelinsky and all three other prosecutors withdrew from the Roger Stone case to protest Barr overruling them to seek a lighter sentence.
Vox: “The entire prosecution team for Roger Stone’s case abruptly withdrew from that proceeding Tuesday afternoon, just over a week before Stone’s sentencing — in an apparent protest of interference from Justice Department higher-ups over a sentencing recommendation for the longtime Trump adviser.”
Brandon Van Grack withdrew from the Michael Flynn case last month after DOJ moved to drop charges even after Flynn had admitted his guilt.
Bloomberg: “One of the lead prosecutors in the case against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn has stepped down, as the U.S. Justice Department moves to dismiss the charges.”
Jonathan Kravis, who resigned from DOJ altogether after Barr meddled in Stone’s sentencing, excoriated corruption under Barr.
KRAVIS: “I resigned because I was not willing to serve a department that would so easily abdicate its responsibility to dispense impartial justice.”
KRAVIS: “The department undercut the work of career employees to protect an ally of the president, an abdication of the commitment to equal justice under the law.”
Former federal judge and mafia prosecutor John Gleeson ripped DOJ’s “corrupt” and “politically motivated” “gross abuse of prosecutorial power” in the Flynn case.
GLEESON: “These interests are imperiled if the Executive Branch seeks the dismissal of criminal charges for corrupt, politically motivated reasons that undermine confidence in the integrity of judicial process.”
GLEESON: “[The Department of Justice] has abdicated that responsibility through a gross abuse of prosecutorial power, attempting to provide special treatment to a favored friend and political ally of the President of the United States.”
Thousands of former prosecutors have slammed DOJ’s politically motivated actions under Trump and Barr.
More Than 2,600 Former DOJ Officials: “Each of us strongly condemns President Trump’s and Attorney General Barr’s interference in the fair administration of justice.”
Former High-Ranking DOJ Officials: “The record reeks of improper political influence.”
Former Federal Prosecutors: “The DOJ is turning into an organization that unjustly pursues the president’s perceived enemies and unjustly favors his friends, allies and cronies.”
Former Federal Prosecutor: “Bill Barr’s conduct is unprecedented and, what’s worse, unchecked.”