Donald Trump has lashed out at 2020 contender Michael Bloomberg on Twitter, calling him “a 5’4 mass of dead energy”, only for the Democratic candidate to hit back and label the president “a carnival barking clown”, deriding his chequered real estate career as one defined by “stupid deals and incompetence”.
The president has meanwhile been accused of spearheading a “descent into authoritarianism” by another possible rival, Elizabeth Warren, after admitting he asked his attorney general William Barr to intervene in the sentencing of Republican political trickster Roger Stone and refusing to rule out pardoning him.
Mr Barr has agreed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee next month to explain himself after chairman Jerrold Nadler wrote to him to express concern over his politicisation of the Justice Department at the president’s behest since taking office. “He’s an enabler,” commented Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer. “That’s a kind word.”
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Donald Trump has fired back at John Kelly after the former chief of staff unloaded on his former boss:
Hope is back!
Hope Hicks, a former campaign aide and White House adviser to Donald Trump, is returning to the administration. Hicks became a key figure in Trump's Russia controversy and delivered evidence in former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Marie Yovanovitch, ambassador ousted by Donald Trump, gets standing ovation while receiving diplomacy award
Marie Yovanovitch received a standing ovation from a crowd of diplomats while accepting an award at Georgetown University, where the ousted ambassador delivered a speech warning the State Department was “in trouble” under Donald Trump.
The former US ambassador to Ukraine was removed from her post in April 2019 following a covert effort by the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and others to have her taken out of the State Department.
Shortly after, Mr Trump urged the newly-elected Ukrainian president to launch investigations into one of his 2020 political rivals, Joe Biden, as well as unfounded allegations of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.
Ms Yovanovitch, who then served as a key figure in the president’s impeachment, said on Wednesday that the State Department was being “hollowed out” while individuals who “lack policy vision, moral clarity and leadership skills” were taking over.
“Vacancies at all levels go unfilled,” she said, “and officers are increasingly wondering whether it is safe to express concerns about policy, even behind closed doors.”
Story to come...
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The Independent's Washington Bureau Chief John Bennett has more on former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly's unusually candid comments in New Jersey, along with a colourful response from White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham:
"I worked with John Kelly, and he was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great President."
Trump repeatedly promotes tweets by sex therapist
If those Bloomberg exchanges on Twitter weren't mad enough for you, check out the president's repeated posts from California sex therapist Dr Dawn Michael AKA @SexCounseling.
If those Bloomberg exchanges on Twitter weren't mad enough for you, check out the president's repeated posts from California sex therapist Dr Dawn Michael AKA @SexCounseling.
Trump trades vicious blows with 2020 contender Michael Bloomberg on social media
In the last hour, Trump has been raging at Michael Bloomberg on Twitter, saying the ex-New York City mayor and billionaire "is a LOSER who has money but can’t debate and has zero presence" and branding him "a 5'4 mass of dead energy".
In the last hour, Trump has been raging at Michael Bloomberg on Twitter, saying the ex-New York City mayor and billionaire "is a LOSER who has money but can’t debate and has zero presence" and branding him "a 5'4 mass of dead energy".
The candidate's response is even more scorching.
Here's Chris Riotta with some timely background.
Marie Yovanovitch handed top diplomacy award and given standing ovation in rebuke to Trump
The career US diplomat who was ousted from her post in Ukraine by President Trump, then was criticised by him as she testified at his impeachment hearings, warned that the State Department is facing a crisis with senior leaders who lack "vision."
Marie Yovanovitch, accepting an award at Georgetown University on Wednesday, portrayed the department as "in trouble" and under threat even as she sought to encourage her audience of mostly students not to give up on diplomacy as a career.
Yovanovitch urged students to follow in her footsteps because the US "needs diplomats that are ready and capable."
"This country needs a robust foreign policy," Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine, said as she accepted the Trainor Award for excellence in diplomacy from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.
But she noted that the State Department is being "hollowed out" under Trump and that the art of diplomacy has become less of a priority under his administration.
"Right now, the State Department is in trouble," Yovanovitch said in accepting the award. "Senior leaders lack policy vision, moral clarity and leadership.
Secretary of state Mike Pompeo has been criticized by former diplomats and others for not coming to the defense of Yovanovitch, a charge he has denied.
Yovanovitch praised the "quiet work of diplomacy" as a way to ensure peace and prosperity in the world.
"It sounds so old-fashioned in our high-tech world, but diplomacy is about human interaction, and creating relationships of trust is more important than ever," she said. "It's not as exciting as sending in the Marines, but it's cheaper and usually more effective in the long term."
The award, named for Raymond "Jit" Trainor, a former official at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, is presented annually to "an outstanding practitioner" of diplomacy. Recipients have included former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.
Thomas Pickering, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, said Yovanovitch showed courage not just at diplomatic posts in Russia and elsewhere but in her willingness to testify before Congress, when she was publicly denounced on Twitter by Trump.
"She has, in every sense of the word, acted in the highest tradition of those who serve our country," said Pickering, himself a recipient of the Trainor Award.
Yovanovitch was making her first public appearance since her testimony to Congress about her efforts to press the government of Ukraine to address longstanding US policy concerns about corruption. At that time a back-channel effort led by Trump's personal lawyer
Rudy Giuliani sought to push the government of the eastern European nation to dig up political dirt to help Trump's re-election. Giuliani was part of a campaign that led the Republican president to order Yovanovitch's removal from her post ahead of schedule last spring. Trump appeared to threaten her, saying she "would go through some things," in a July phone call with the leader of Ukraine that was at the centew of the impeachment case against Trump.
Yovanovitch made light of the call during the Georgetown ceremony in one of her few direct references to impeachment. "When you go through some things," she said, drawing laughter, "to fall back on cliche you have to dig deep a little bit." She did not address the back-channel efforts explicitly but warned about the state of diplomacy more broadly at a time when authoritarianism seems to be on the rise.
"To be blunt, an amoral, keep 'em guessing foreign policy that substitutes threats, fear and confusion for trust cannot work over the long haul," she said. Yovanovitch, who was removed from her post in May 2019 with no public explanation, described to Congress a "concerted campaign" against her based on "unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives."
Trump publicly criticised her as she testified, saying on Twitter that "everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad." Yet, in a nearly 34-year career at the State Department, she received a series of promotions under both Republican and Democratic administrations, with positions that included ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.
AP
The career US diplomat who was ousted from her post in Ukraine by President Trump, then was criticised by him as she testified at his impeachment hearings, warned that the State Department is facing a crisis with senior leaders who lack "vision."
Marie Yovanovitch, accepting an award at Georgetown University on Wednesday, portrayed the department as "in trouble" and under threat even as she sought to encourage her audience of mostly students not to give up on diplomacy as a career.
Yovanovitch urged students to follow in her footsteps because the US "needs diplomats that are ready and capable."
"This country needs a robust foreign policy," Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine, said as she accepted the Trainor Award for excellence in diplomacy from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.
But she noted that the State Department is being "hollowed out" under Trump and that the art of diplomacy has become less of a priority under his administration.
"Right now, the State Department is in trouble," Yovanovitch said in accepting the award. "Senior leaders lack policy vision, moral clarity and leadership.
Secretary of state Mike Pompeo has been criticized by former diplomats and others for not coming to the defense of Yovanovitch, a charge he has denied.
Yovanovitch praised the "quiet work of diplomacy" as a way to ensure peace and prosperity in the world.
"It sounds so old-fashioned in our high-tech world, but diplomacy is about human interaction, and creating relationships of trust is more important than ever," she said. "It's not as exciting as sending in the Marines, but it's cheaper and usually more effective in the long term."
The award, named for Raymond "Jit" Trainor, a former official at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, is presented annually to "an outstanding practitioner" of diplomacy. Recipients have included former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.
Thomas Pickering, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, said Yovanovitch showed courage not just at diplomatic posts in Russia and elsewhere but in her willingness to testify before Congress, when she was publicly denounced on Twitter by Trump.
"She has, in every sense of the word, acted in the highest tradition of those who serve our country," said Pickering, himself a recipient of the Trainor Award.
Yovanovitch was making her first public appearance since her testimony to Congress about her efforts to press the government of Ukraine to address longstanding US policy concerns about corruption. At that time a back-channel effort led by Trump's personal lawyer
Rudy Giuliani sought to push the government of the eastern European nation to dig up political dirt to help Trump's re-election. Giuliani was part of a campaign that led the Republican president to order Yovanovitch's removal from her post ahead of schedule last spring. Trump appeared to threaten her, saying she "would go through some things," in a July phone call with the leader of Ukraine that was at the centew of the impeachment case against Trump.
Yovanovitch made light of the call during the Georgetown ceremony in one of her few direct references to impeachment. "When you go through some things," she said, drawing laughter, "to fall back on cliche you have to dig deep a little bit." She did not address the back-channel efforts explicitly but warned about the state of diplomacy more broadly at a time when authoritarianism seems to be on the rise.
"To be blunt, an amoral, keep 'em guessing foreign policy that substitutes threats, fear and confusion for trust cannot work over the long haul," she said. Yovanovitch, who was removed from her post in May 2019 with no public explanation, described to Congress a "concerted campaign" against her based on "unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives."
Trump publicly criticised her as she testified, saying on Twitter that "everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad." Yet, in a nearly 34-year career at the State Department, she received a series of promotions under both Republican and Democratic administrations, with positions that included ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.
AP
Indian city building wall ‘to block slum districts from Trump’s sight’ during visit
Trump is due to visit the city of Ahmedabad this month and, in preparation, local officials are taking a leaf out of the president's book and erecting a wall to block its slums from view, part of a "beautification and cleanliness" drive, they say.
Trump is due to visit the city of Ahmedabad this month and, in preparation, local officials are taking a leaf out of the president's book and erecting a wall to block its slums from view, part of a "beautification and cleanliness" drive, they say.
White House budget chief says he 'doesn't anticipate' further Ukraine aid blocks, not entirely reassuringly
Russ Vought, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), appeared before the House Budget Committee on Wednesday and afterwards denied that the administration might again withhold military assistance from Kiev - in less than convincing terms.
“I am not going to take any tools that the president has off the table but I don’t anticipate anything on that front,” he told reporters.
Russ Vought, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), appeared before the House Budget Committee on Wednesday and afterwards denied that the administration might again withhold military assistance from Kiev - in less than convincing terms.
“I am not going to take any tools that the president has off the table but I don’t anticipate anything on that front,” he told reporters.
Hmmm...
Inexplicably, congressmen inside the three-hour hearing did not directly bring up the department's role in freezing that pesky $391m (£302m) aid to Ukraine last summer even once, according to Politico.
Committee chairman John Yarmuth came closest when he asked what steps the OMB had taken to avoid the agency withholding "duly enacted appropriations", to which Vought answered: "We will continue to be transparent with regard to how we manage the people's money and... ensure that money is not wasted in the process."
“We believe that we need to abide by the appropriation passed by Congress.”
The redoubtable Hakeem Jeffries did at last try and put him to the sword on the president's latest budget proposal:
Inexplicably, congressmen inside the three-hour hearing did not directly bring up the department's role in freezing that pesky $391m (£302m) aid to Ukraine last summer even once, according to Politico.
Committee chairman John Yarmuth came closest when he asked what steps the OMB had taken to avoid the agency withholding "duly enacted appropriations", to which Vought answered: "We will continue to be transparent with regard to how we manage the people's money and... ensure that money is not wasted in the process."
“We believe that we need to abide by the appropriation passed by Congress.”
The redoubtable Hakeem Jeffries did at last try and put him to the sword on the president's latest budget proposal:
President resumes Stone meddling in early tweets
Here's Trump watching Fox and Friends and continuing to meddle in the Stone case, completely unabashed.
He has also mispelled Devin Nunes's name here, suggesting an unflattering degree of indifference towards the California congressman, conspiracy-pusher and loyalist who served as the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee through the impeachment process.
Here's Trump watching Fox and Friends and continuing to meddle in the Stone case, completely unabashed.
He has also mispelled Devin Nunes's name here, suggesting an unflattering degree of indifference towards the California congressman, conspiracy-pusher and loyalist who served as the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee through the impeachment process.
Rudy Giuliani challenged in latest chaotic Fox News interview
The president's personal attorney returned to Fox last night to tell host Shannon Bream that Barr's Justice Department had not set up an "intake process" to hear his assortment of wild Ukraine-related conspiracy theories after all.
"Not only am I not I'm not getting special treatment, I've been getting terrible treatment!" he declared.
The president's personal attorney returned to Fox last night to tell host Shannon Bream that Barr's Justice Department had not set up an "intake process" to hear his assortment of wild Ukraine-related conspiracy theories after all.
"Not only am I not I'm not getting special treatment, I've been getting terrible treatment!" he declared.
Rudy laid into the "corrupt media" for refusing to take seriously his concerns about Joe Biden's supposedly corrupt intervention to remove Ukrainian prosecutor general Viktor Shokin while serving as Barack Obama's vice president in 2016.
"Look, Biden is so guilty. It is so obvious this was a bribe," Giuliani raved. "You have to be a fool not to see it."
"Look, Biden is so guilty. It is so obvious this was a bribe," Giuliani raved. "You have to be a fool not to see it."
Bream's patient scepticism was a marvel to behold.
Trump fights back against senators attempting to limit his powers on war with Iran
Eager to avoid losing an ounce of power, Trump issued a pair of tweets last night to pressure Senate Republicans from supporting a measure that would limit his authority to launch military operations against Iran.
A final vote is expected today on a measure pushed by Democrat Tim Kaine of Virginia that would require the president push any formal declaration of war against Tehran through both chambers of Congress.
"The resolution underscores that Congress has the sole power to declare war, as laid out in the Constitution," Kaine said in a statement. "The resolution will force a public debate and vote in Congress as intended by the framers of the Constitution to determine whether United States forces should be engaged in these hostilities."
Eager to avoid losing an ounce of power, Trump issued a pair of tweets last night to pressure Senate Republicans from supporting a measure that would limit his authority to launch military operations against Iran.
A final vote is expected today on a measure pushed by Democrat Tim Kaine of Virginia that would require the president push any formal declaration of war against Tehran through both chambers of Congress.
"The resolution underscores that Congress has the sole power to declare war, as laid out in the Constitution," Kaine said in a statement. "The resolution will force a public debate and vote in Congress as intended by the framers of the Constitution to determine whether United States forces should be engaged in these hostilities."
John T Bennett has this report.
Rush Limbaugh: 'America's still not ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage'
Presidential Medal of Freedom recepient and conservative blowhard Rush Limbaugh is getting grief online for the above comment made on his nationally syndicated radio show about 2020 rising star Pete Buttigieg.
Assessing the Democratic field following the New Hampshire primary, Limbaugh's remarks in full were as follows:
Assessing the Democratic field following the New Hampshire primary, Limbaugh's remarks in full were as follows:
“You’ve got Fauxcahontas [Elizabeth Warren] way back there in the background barely out of the tepee bringing up the tail end. Biden’s gone. So you’re faced with a dyed-in-the-wool socialist who’s not even a Democrat [Bernie Sanders] and a gay guy, 37 years old, loves kissing his husband on debate stages.
"Can you see Trump have fun with that? And Amy Klobuchar. So you are, whoever the grand poobahs in the Democrat Party are, you’re looking at your options today, and you’re asking, 'OK, can we win with Klobuchar? We don’t want to put Klobuchar up there because she doesn’t have a prayer.
"Then they’re sitting there, and they’re looking at Mayor Pete, a 37-year-old gay guy, mayor of South Bend, loves to kiss his husband on the debate stage. And they’re saying, 'OK, how’s this gonna look, a 37-year-old gay guy kissing his husband onstage next to Mr Man Donald Trump? What’s gonna happen there?'
“They gotta be looking at that. They’ve gotta be saying that despite all the great progress and despite all the great 'wokeness' and despite all the great ground that’s been covered, America’s still not ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage president. They have to be saying this, don’t they?"
While Limbaugh's homophobic inflections here are repellent, one fears he is unlikely to be alone in holding this opinion among the broader American public.
For balance, Joe Biden had this to say on Limbaugh during Friday's Democratic debate.
Trump yet again haunted by old tweet
As we know with President Trump, there is ALWAYS a tweet from the past to undermine whatever his current position on a given issue is.
This week's crisis is no exception.
As we know with President Trump, there is ALWAYS a tweet from the past to undermine whatever his current position on a given issue is.
This week's crisis is no exception.
(Twitter)
Georgia Republican Doug Collins raced out to debunk the comparison on Fox but, quite frankly, failed to convince.
Hillary Clinton labels Trump a 'tyrant' over post-acquittal retribution tour
Fresh from calling her former foe a "failed-state fascist" yesterday, Hillary Clinton has ramped up her criticism of the president's lashing out and score-settling in the week since his impeachment win in the Senate.
Fresh from calling her former foe a "failed-state fascist" yesterday, Hillary Clinton has ramped up her criticism of the president's lashing out and score-settling in the week since his impeachment win in the Senate.
This New York Daily News cartoon sending up Barr's fealty to Trump also deserves a wider audience.
Ex-chief of staff John Kelly unloads on Trump over Vindman, Putin, Kim and immigration
The president's former minder has largely maintained a dignified silence since leaving the administration in 2017 but finally let rip during a 75-minute speech at Drew University in Morristown, New Jersey, on Wednesday night.
General Kelly stood up for Lt Col Alexander Vindman, ousted from the Pentagon on Friday as vengeance for sounding the alarm against Trump's Ukraine plot to his superiors and then testifying against the president to the House impeachment inquiry last November.
"He did exactly what we teach them to do from cradle to grave," Kelly told his audience. "We teach them: Don’t follow an illegal order. And if you’re ever given one, you’ll raise it to whoever gives it to you that this is an illegal order, and then tell your boss.”
The former chief of staff also attacked Trump for cosying up to Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin, denied the president's frequent assertion that the American press is "the enemy of the people", defended migrants and said the US-Mexico border wall he was once tasked with getting built was unnecessary.
The president's former minder has largely maintained a dignified silence since leaving the administration in 2017 but finally let rip during a 75-minute speech at Drew University in Morristown, New Jersey, on Wednesday night.
General Kelly stood up for Lt Col Alexander Vindman, ousted from the Pentagon on Friday as vengeance for sounding the alarm against Trump's Ukraine plot to his superiors and then testifying against the president to the House impeachment inquiry last November.
"He did exactly what we teach them to do from cradle to grave," Kelly told his audience. "We teach them: Don’t follow an illegal order. And if you’re ever given one, you’ll raise it to whoever gives it to you that this is an illegal order, and then tell your boss.”
The former chief of staff also attacked Trump for cosying up to Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin, denied the president's frequent assertion that the American press is "the enemy of the people", defended migrants and said the US-Mexico border wall he was once tasked with getting built was unnecessary.
Welcome to the resistance, sir.
Trump asked what he's learned from impeachment: 'That the Democrats are crooked'
Republican senator Susan Collins justified her cowardly decision to acquit the president at his impeachment trial last week by blithely insisting Trump had learned his lesson from the Ukraine scandal and was unlikely to try and abuse his position to cheat an election again.
Asked by a reporter whether this was the case during a Q&A with his Ecuadorian counterpart Lenin Moreno yesterday, Trump answered thusly:
Republican senator Susan Collins justified her cowardly decision to acquit the president at his impeachment trial last week by blithely insisting Trump had learned his lesson from the Ukraine scandal and was unlikely to try and abuse his position to cheat an election again.
Asked by a reporter whether this was the case during a Q&A with his Ecuadorian counterpart Lenin Moreno yesterday, Trump answered thusly:
Collins was dishing out more insight into the man's mind on Capitol Hill yesterday, declaring: "I think the president was angered by impeachment and that is reflected in the personnel choices he made."
That one at least has the ring of truth to it.
That one at least has the ring of truth to it.
What White House officials say about Trump and Roger Stone
Here's more from John T Bennett on what the administration is really up to here.
William Barr to testify before House Judiciary Committee
Barr has agreed to appear before congressional investigators next month to explain himself after Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler wrote to him to express concern over his politicisation of the Justice Department at the president’s behest since taking office. “He’s an enabler,” commented Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer. “That’s a kind word.”
Nadler released a letter to Barr on Wednesday "to confirm your agreement to testify" on 31 March. In the letter, Nadler and committee Democrats write that they have concerns that Barr has misused the criminal justice system for political purposes.
Nadler released a letter to Barr on Wednesday "to confirm your agreement to testify" on 31 March. In the letter, Nadler and committee Democrats write that they have concerns that Barr has misused the criminal justice system for political purposes.
"In your tenure as attorney general, you have engaged in a pattern of conduct in legal matters relating to the president that raises significant concerns for this committee," Nadler and the Democrats wrote.
The Justice Department confirmed Barr would testify. His appearance will be the first before the House Judiciary panel since he became attorney general a year ago, and since he declined an invitation to testify about special counsel Robert Mueller's report after it was released.
In addition to interventions in the Stone case, they said they will also ask Barr about his department's announcement that it is taking information that Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is gathering in Ukraine about the president's Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son. The House voted in December to impeach Trump because of his pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democrats; the GOP-led Senate acquitted him this month.
"In the past week alone, you have taken steps that raise grave questions about your leadership," the Democrats wrote.
After the department indicated it would overrule the prosecutors, Trump tweeted congratulations to Barr "for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have been brought," suggesting the prosecutors had gone rogue.
The department insisted the decision to undo the sentencing recommendation was made on Monday night, before Trump began tweeting about it, and that prosecutors had not spoken to the White House about it.
Despite Graham's comment yesterday, the Senate has shown less interest in grilling Barr on the Stone episode, defending the department's decision to reduce the sentence and saying they didn't expect to call him specifically to discuss it.
Here's Chris Riotta on some further Republican criticism of Trump and Barr, this time from George W Bush's former press secretary Ari Fleischer.
Elizabeth Warren attacks 'authoritarian' Trump over Roger Stone as he refuses to rule out pardoning political trickster
Donald Trump has been accused of spearheading a “descent into authoritarianism” by 2020 Democratic contender Elizabeth Warren after admitting he asked his attorney general William Barr to intervene in the sentencing of Republican political trickster Roger Stone and refusing to rule out pardoning him.
"I don't want to say yet," Trump answered, again calling Stone's conviction and sentencing "a disgrace."
"They treated Roger Stone very badly," he told reporters. "No one even knows what he did... They ought to apologise to him."
Responding on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 last night, Warren commented: “I have to say, I know everybody wants to talk about the horse race [the Democratic primary results from New Hampshire] but the thing that is really getting to me right now is what’s going on over at the Justice Department.
“The whole notion that we have people in our Justice Department resigning because of Donald Trump’s inappropriate influence, and the attorney general overturning a sentencing of Donald Trump’s cronies, right in front of our eyes we are watching a descent into authoritarianism.”
The American Bar Association's president Judy Perry Martinez agreed with Warren and released the following statement criticising Trump yesterday, saying her organisation "steadfastly supports judicial independence and the sound exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Public officials who personally attack judges or prosecutors can create a perception that the system is serving a political or other purpose rather than the fair administration of justice.”
Even South Carolina GOP senator Lindsey Graham has the jitters on this one:
But a key Trump ally on Fox News, Tucker Carlson, has been using his platform to egg on the president to override the rule of law and excuse Stone.
Here's John T Bennett in Washington.
Donald Trump has been accused of spearheading a “descent into authoritarianism” by 2020 Democratic contender Elizabeth Warren after admitting he asked his attorney general William Barr to intervene in the sentencing of Republican political trickster Roger Stone and refusing to rule out pardoning him.
After firing off a tweet on Monday morning calling prosecutors' plans to seek a nine-year sentence for Stone "a horrible and very unfair situation" and a "miscarriage of justice," Justice Department leaders subsequently announced they would seek a softer sentence. What followed was the resignation of all four prosecutors making the case against the Man with the Richard Nixon Back Tattoo - convicted of witness tampering and lying to federal investigators - and a gushing tsunami of outrage by Democrats.
The former Apprentice host was asked by reporters on Wednesday whether he has decided on pardoning Stone, who was convicted on charges of lying to Congress and impeding a federal investigation.
"I don't want to say yet," Trump answered, again calling Stone's conviction and sentencing "a disgrace."
"They treated Roger Stone very badly," he told reporters. "No one even knows what he did... They ought to apologise to him."
Responding on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 last night, Warren commented: “I have to say, I know everybody wants to talk about the horse race [the Democratic primary results from New Hampshire] but the thing that is really getting to me right now is what’s going on over at the Justice Department.
“The whole notion that we have people in our Justice Department resigning because of Donald Trump’s inappropriate influence, and the attorney general overturning a sentencing of Donald Trump’s cronies, right in front of our eyes we are watching a descent into authoritarianism.”
The American Bar Association's president Judy Perry Martinez agreed with Warren and released the following statement criticising Trump yesterday, saying her organisation "steadfastly supports judicial independence and the sound exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Public officials who personally attack judges or prosecutors can create a perception that the system is serving a political or other purpose rather than the fair administration of justice.”
Even South Carolina GOP senator Lindsey Graham has the jitters on this one:
But a key Trump ally on Fox News, Tucker Carlson, has been using his platform to egg on the president to override the rule of law and excuse Stone.
Here's John T Bennett in Washington.
