BARR INJECTS TRUMP’S POLITICS INTO JUSTICE
ACTION ONE: JOIN US FOR #INDIVISIBLE TUESDAY
We meet today June 18, in the courtyard of Sen. Jeff Merkley’s offices at 121 SW Salmon Street, Portland, OR 97204. We will thank our Senator for quickly demanding Attorney General William Barr’s resignation because Barr “lied” to the Senate when he promised to keep politics out of the Justice Department. We will ask the Senator to
- Publicly support investigating Barr in the House.
- Call for the four prosecutors who quit the Roger Stone case to be interviewed before Barr testifies.
- Support defunding Barr’s office until he and all other Trump appointees at the department recuse themselves from any Trump-related investigations.
ACTION TWO: CALL YOUR SENATORS
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN AND MERKLEY:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR MERKLEY:
I am calling because I am concerned that Attorney General Barr is remaking the Department of Justice into a political tool for Trump. I thank the Senator for demanding Barr’s resignation. I ask the Senator to
- Publicly support investigating Barr in the House
- Call for the four prosecutors who quit the Roger Stone case to be interviewed before Barr testifies
- support defunding Barr’s office until he and all other Trump appointees at the department recuse themselves from any Trump-related investigations.
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN:
I am calling because I am concerned that Attorney General Barr is remaking the Department of Justice into a political tool for Trump. I thank the Senator for demanding Barr’s resignation and for his investigation of Barr’s attempt to blunt a criminal charge against Turkey’s state-owned bank, Halkbank, as a favor to Trump. I ask the Senator to
- Publicly support investigating Barr in the House.
- Call for the four prosecutors who quit the Roger Stone case to be interviewed before Barr testifies.
- Support defunding Barr’s office until he and all other Trump appointees at the department recuse themselves from any Trump-related investigations.
CALL SENATOR MERKLEY
CALL SENATOR WYDEN
ACTION THREE: CALL YOUR HOUSE REP
Not sure who your U.S. Representative is? Find out here.
SAMPLE SCRIPTS FOR REPRESENTATIVES:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
I am calling because Attorney General Barr is turning the Justice Department into a political tool for Trump. I ask the Representative to
- Publicly support investigating Barr in the House.
- Call for the four prosecutors who quit the Roger Stone case to be interviewed before Barr testifies.
- Support defunding Barr’s office until he and all other Trump appointees at the department recuse themselves from any Trump-related investigations.
CALL SUZANNE BONAMICI (OR-01)
CALL GREG WALDEN (OR-02)
CALL BLUMENAUER (OR-03)
CALL PETER DEFAZIO (OR-04)
CALL KURT SCHRADER (OR-05)
BACKGROUND:
Shortly after becoming Attorney General, William Barr pledged to Department of Justice staff that “Politics is not going to have a role in what we do.”
That promise exploded when a Trump tweet apparently caused the DOJ to ask for a lighter sentence for Trump-ally Roger Stone than the term DOJ prosecutors recommended.
All four DOJ attorneys to resign from the case. One left government entirely.
This weekend, over 2000 DOJ alumni demanded Barr resign because of his “interference in the fair administration of justice.” The federal judges’ association has called an emergency meeting about Barr.
At stake is a fundamental aspect of democracy, the “rule of law.” Lawyers say it’s the “evenhanded administration of justice.”
Our MoCs recognize the emergency of a rogue Attorney General. Senators Merkley and Wyden have called for Barr’s immediate resignation, writing that he “lied” to Congress about keeping politics out of the DOJ.
Wyden found Barr, at Trump’s request, tried to negotiate a sweetheart deal involving a Turkish bank to please President Erdogan.
We need our MoCs to keep up the pressure by calling for
- investigations of Barr
- defunding Barr’s office until he and all Trump appointees recuse themselves from Trump-related investigations.
We are in dangerous territory.
We need our MoCs to keep up the pressure by calling for
- investigations of Barr
- defunding Barr’s office until he and all Trump appointees recuse themselves from Trump-related investigations.
We are in dangerous territory.
SOURCES:
New York Times, Feb. 12, 2020: “Prosecutors Quit Roger Stone Case After Justice Dept. Intervenes on Sentencing” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/us/politics/roger-stone-sentencing.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes
NBC News, Feb, 11m 2020: “Barr takes control of legal matters of interest to Trump, including Stone sentencing” https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/barr-takes-control-legal-matters-interest-trump-including-stone-sentencing-n1135231
Time Magazine, Feb. 12, 2020: “If Trump Is Allowed to Turn the Justice Department Into a Political Weapon, No One Is Safe” https://time.com/5783007/donald-trump-doj-resignations/
Washington Post, Feb. 15, 2020: “This is how democracy dies — in full view of a public that couldn’t care less” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/15/this-is-how-democracy-dies-full-view-public-that-couldnt-care-less/
Medium, Feb. 16, 2020: “DOJ Alumni Statement on the Events Surrounding the Sentencing of Roger Stone” https://medium.com/@dojalumni/doj-alumni-statement-on-the-events-surrounding-the-sentencing-of-roger-stone-c2cb75ae4937
CNN, Feb. 15, 2020: “Attorney general’s actions spark outrage and unease among US prosecutors” https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/15/politics/william-barr-roger-stone-prosecutors-outrage/index.html
Time Magazine, Feb. 16, 2020: “If William Barr Truly Believed in Rule of Law, He Would Resign” https://time.com/5784932/william-barr-resign-rule-of-law/
Senate.gov, Feb. 14, 2020: “Wyden, Merkley Call for Attorney General Barr’s Resignation After “Corrupt” Intervention in Roger Stone Case” https://www.merkley.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-merkley-call-for-attorney-general-barrs-resignation-after-corrupt-intervention-in-roger-stone-case-2020
Washington Post, FEB. 14, 2020: “U.S. Attorney Timothy Shea’s role in Roger Stone sentencing storm remains in question” https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=who+is+Timothy+Shea++attorney
