Lawyers fear lasting damage to the legal system: NPR

Members of Washington's legal elite have decried the "growing politicization" of the justice system at a particularly sensitive time: the special advocate's inquiry into the interference of Russian elections over the point of concluding.

Father David Lowell, a prominent case veteran who defended members of Congress and cabinet members, lamented the public's confidence in the FBI, the Department of Justice and the government. Rule of law itself declined, even as he praised Robert Mueller the man at the head of the investigation on Russia.

"I do not know of a special lawyer who did it better," Lowell said Thursday night.

He added that he also had "great confidence in career officials" and in the new team headed by Attorney General William Barr at the Department of Justice.

Lowell, who represents Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said Mueller had conducted the investigation for nearly two years with great integrity.

But Lowell also said that he worried no matter what the special council would determine shortly, these findings would be filtered through the political prism of the legislators of the "big white dome" of the Department of Justice.

Members of Congress fought against the Justice Department and the FBI shortly after Mueller's appointment, accusing him of conspiracy and concealment. Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Renewed her call this week for a second special advocate to consider what he called the transgressions of the ministry.

Lawyers look at each other in the mirror

Lowell and his colleagues agreed that defense lawyers themselves could also contribute to an unhealthy and polarized environment.

Their comments followed just hours after a former Trump campaign president's lawyer, Paul Manafort, erroneously stated that two court judges had found that he was not allowed to go to court. There was "no collusion" between the Trump campaign and Russia.

What the judges said was that the Manafort cases did not relate to charges of collusion and therefore could not be decided.

The remarks however triggered an immediate and public reaction: in a chaotic scene in front of the federal courthouse on Wednesday, lawyer Kevin Downing was shouted by the protesters who claimed he was lying.

Bill Christeson, a self-proclaimed democracy and climate activist who has become a familiar figure in many of the legal proceedings related to the Mueller case, then published an explanation on Twitter.

Back at the Cosmos Club event, former Attorney Mary Patrice Brown advised the audience to stay tuned, since she stated that Judge Amy Berman Jackson , who presided over the Manafort affair, could still react to Downing's remarks.

Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Manafort and his legal team, did not have an immediate response to a request for comment on the statement.

A history of political attacks

The strategy of attacking the Department of Justice or the system itself is hardly new, said panelist Peter Messitte, a Maryland federal judge appointed by President Bill Clinton.

Messitte pointed out that former Vice President Spiro Agnew had launched violent verbal attacks on prosecutors while he was under investigation for corruption and other crimes under Nixon.

All the same, said Messitte, in 34 years of appearances at the national and federal levels, "I have never really seen a case of partisan prosecution".

Robert S. Bennett, a well-known advocate for Clinton in Paula Jones' sexual harassment case, told DC's hearing that he was still angry that independent lawyer Robert Fiske had been dismissed by a group of Judges in favor of Kenneth Starr, The detailed final report on Clinton provoked a violent reaction.

Bennett's remarks drew a loud laugh from the crowd.

The event was sponsored by the Searby LLP Law Firm and the Washington College of Law of American University.