Third, there must be a recognition of the breadth of corruption across the executive branch. If officials in the Trump administration-career or political-have broken the law, they must be treated like everyone else and held to account. Second, nonpartisan career prosecutors must be allowed to pursue evidence of wrongdoing without political interference. This type of special treatment violates the DOJ’s Justice Manual, which states that “legal judgments of the Department of Justice must be impartial and insulated from political influence.” 7 Where possible, decisions that have been improperly influenced must be revisited. There should be a particular focus on instances in which Trump administration allies received special treatment or opponents of his administration were targeted. While Congress will have a role in seeking to prevent future abuses, there are immediate steps a future administration can take.įirst, the attorney general must conduct a top-to-bottom review of the DOJ to identify where politicization has influenced investigations, charging decisions, sentencing recommendations, and the like. democracy have greatly escalated-with the administration politicizing the deployment of federal law enforcement and casting doubt on the legitimacy of electoral processes-and are likely to grow in intensity unless it is clear that there will be accountability for wrongdoing. The Trump administration’s efforts to undermine U.S. Ignoring the Trump administration’s attacks on the rule of law will only invite further attacks-and likely even more brazen and threatening ones. It is critical for leaders to make clear now that those who break the law will face accountability in the future.
#FORMER ACTING ATTORNEY TESTIFIES EFFORTS SUBVERT LICENSE#
But the lesson from the past four years is clear: The absence of accountability is treated as license to escalate abuses of power. Whenever the Trump administration ends, there may be good-faith concerns that addressing the administration’s misconduct will be too divisive, set a bad precedent, or lead to political pushback from the administration’s supporters. Department of Justice (DOJ), 4 inspectors general, 5 and Congress 6-to eliminate even the possibility of oversight. These efforts constitute a direct and sustained attack on the rule of law that effectively creates two justice systems-one for the Trump administration and its allies and one for everyone else.Īs part of its attack on the rule of law, the administration has worked to subvert the very institutions that might hold it accountable-including the U.S. Administration officials and their allies have lied to federal investigators, 1 lied to Congress, 2 and sought to obstruct federal investigations, 3 among other illegal actions. The Trump administration has engaged in a wide-ranging pattern of actions that violate laws, agency regulations, and ethical requirements, repeatedly putting its own interests before the public interest.
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