05-22-2018, 10:36 AM
(05-22-2018, 10:24 AM)hollodero Wrote: Can he ask the Justice Department to hand over information about the investigation he is a "subject" of? Can he ask the identity of an informant (if such a person ever existed)?
Can he investigate the investigation investigating him? If so, is he above the law?
I feel that's pretty important. If something like that went down in my country, I'd be deeply troubled.
The answer to all of your questions (except the last one) is yes. What he is doing he has the Constitutional authority to do. The independence of the DoJ has been a norm in Washington, but it is a department of the executive branch which the POTUS is the head of. POTUS is not above the law, however, as there is a method for holding the position accountable: impeachment. That is the simple, and legal, answer.
One of the things that this administration has brought to light for many people is just how many things in government we have taken for granted as laws were actually just unofficial norms. What is going on is troubling to me and many others, but this is our current legal administrative framework in this country and holding the POTUS accountable is a political act, not a legal one.
Now, I will say that this is just more bluster that is either him trying to rally his base or is him not understanding how these things work. The whole reason an informant was used was to not politicize what happened. The FBI caught wind of contacts members of the campaign made with foreign agents. Instead of pulling people in for interviews, which would be SOP, they used an informant to more subtly gain more information. This was done because of the timing in the election cycle. The DoJ/FBI was aware of what it would look like if they pulled campaign staffers in. This was not a spy embedded in the campaign, and this was not an attempt to tip the scales against Trump. The DoJ and FBI actually aided Trump in his election win, which is why I always find it ridiculous when this type of thing gets hyped.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
