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Barr says no investigations into 2020 candidates, campaigns without his approval Attorney General William Barr notified federal agents and lawyers Wednesday that they cannot open investigations of presidential candidates, their campaigns, or advisers without his approval. His directive follows a report by the Justice Department's inspector general that harshly criticized the FBI's investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign. It recommended an evaluation of the kind of sensitive matters that should require high-level approval, particularly those involving politics. In his memo, Barr said the Justice Department must respond when faced with credible threats to campaigns. But he said that "the existence of a federal criminal or counter-intelligence investigation, if it becomes known to the public, may have unintended effects on our elections." Barr makes himself gatekeeper of investigations of campaigns Feb. 6, 2020 04:08 Under the new rules, no investigation can be opened of a declared candidate for president or vice president, their campaigns, or senior staff members without consulting with the appropriate U.S. attorney and getting approval of the attorney general. Investigations of candidates for U.S. Senate or House require notifying and consulting with an assistant attorney general, as do investigations of potentially illegal foreign campaign contributions. Barr said the requirement would be in place through the 2020 election season. Afterward "the department will study its experiences and consider whether changes to the requirements are necessary." Read more here. Share this -







Trump world wages war on Romney as he fears 'unimaginable' consequences for impeachment Sen. Mitt Romney is bracing for "unimaginable" consequences as President Donald Trump and his allies seek revenge over the Utah Republican's impeachment vote. Romney was the sole Republican on Wednesday to vote for Trump's conviction. His vote did little to change the all-but-guaranteed end to the president's impeachment trial — Trump's acquittal — but it dramatically shifted the surrounding narrative. What Trump had called an entirely "partisan" impeachment was no longer so. As Democrats praised Romney for his act of "moral courage," Trump world began relentlessly attacking the Utah senator. Trump told the audience at Thursday morning's National Prayer Breakfast that "I don't like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong." His comments were a thinly veiled shot at Romney, who cited his Mormon beliefs during his speech announcing his impeachment vote. The president had on Wednesday tweeted an ad displaying Romney as a Democratic "secret asset" and tweeted early Thursday that if the "failed presidential candidate" had "devoted the same energy and anger to defeating a faltering Barack Obama as he sanctimoniously does to me, he could have won the election." Read more here. Share this -







Schumer responds to Trump speech: 'Mistruths and profanity' Schumer appeared in a press conference at his office in New York on Thursday and responded to a speech Trump made at the White House celebrating his impeachment acquittal. Schumer, who Trump referred to as "Cryin' Chuck" during his speech, ripped the president's speech afterwards, calling it a "diatribe filled with mistruths and profanity." While Trump could have used his remarks to "show some contrition," Schumer said, he instead got on "his self-righteous high horse saying he did nothing wrong." If that were true, the New York Democrat said, Trump would have welcomed witnesses and documents in the trial instead of blocking them. "His acquittal vote has no value," Schumer said, because a trial without witnesses or documents is "a sham." "The bottom line is President Trump executed the largest cover-up since Watergate," Schumer said. Share this -







FIRST READ: Romney's impeachment vote didn't change the outcome but it did change the narrative At the end of the day, the Senate didn’t need to censure President Trump over the Ukraine scandal — because Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, did it for the chamber on Wednesday afternoon. What Trump did in his dealings with Ukraine "was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security, and our fundamental values. Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.” While Romney was the only Republican senator who voted to convict President Trump in his impeachment trial, he wasn’t some random GOP senator – he was the party’s last presidential nominee. If Democrats were only going to get one GOP vote, he was one to get. It helps explain why no Democratic senators — including Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema and Doug Jones — broke from their party. And it puts pressure on moderate and at-risk GOP senators – like Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Cory Gardner and Martha McSally – to explain why they didn’t see the same simple facts above that Romney saw. Get the rest of First Read. Share this -







Yovanovitch: Despite 'shocking' treatment, 'I have no regrets' Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch said in an opinion piece published in The Washington Post on Thursday that while she found her treatment during the Ukraine saga "shocking," she doesn't regret her testimony in the impeachment inquiry that followed. "We must not allow the United States to become a country where standing up to our government is a dangerous act," Yovanovitch wrote. "It has been shocking to experience the storm of criticism, lies and malicious conspiracies that have preceded and followed my public testimony, but I have no regrets. I did — we did — what our conscience called us to do. We did what the gift of U.S. citizenship requires us to do." The last year, she wrote, has shown "we need to fight for our democracy." "This administration, through acts of omission and commission, has undermined our democratic institutions, making the public question the truth and leaving public servants without the support and example of ethical behavior that they need to do their jobs and advance U.S. interests," Yovanovitch added. "The next generation of diplomats is counting on something better." Share this -





