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More than 400 former Justice Department officials oppose the appointment of Matthew Whitaker by President Donald Trump as Acting Attorney General.
"Because of our respect for our oaths of office and our personal experience in fulfilling the mission of the ministry, we are troubled by the appointment of Matthew Whitaker by the President, who will exercise the acting Attorney General, "wrote the former officials in the signed statement: which was first published by BuzzFeed News on Tuesday. "We know that oversight of the Department of Justice is one of the most important roles of our government."
This statement by hundreds of former DOJ officials constitutes the latest public opposition Trump's decision to appoint Matthew Whitaker as acting counsel. replacing Jeff Sessions, who resigned as Attorney General at the request of the President after the mid-term elections.
Whitaker held the position of Chief of Staff of the Session. Trump selected him for the role, using a provision of the 1998 federal law on the reform of vacancies, rather than leaving Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General and Ministry of Justice n, responsible .
Whitaker was also a strange choice for another reason: before joining the administration, he had shamelessly criticized the investigation of the special advocate Robert Mueller on Russia's interference in the presidential election of 2016. Whitaker, as the current GA, is now in control of the probe.
This had led to calls, mostly from Democrats, that Whitaker would recuse himself from the investigation. A number of lawsuits have also been filed, challenging Whitaker's legitimacy. Several of them claimed that his appointment was unconstitutional because he had never received confirmation from the Senate and other officers confirmed by the Senate were available to fill the acting role.
The order of succession of the Department of Justice should override the Vacancy Reform Act, which means that Rosenstein should have been called to direct until 39, an appropriate replacement is appointed and confirmed by the Senate.
The signatories of this recent statement reiterate these arguments, calling on Trump to formally appoint a Attorney General to deal with the confirmation of the Senate and, in the meantime, to replace Whitaker with "the Senate-confirmed official who will be the next in the estate under the federal law ".
"M. Whitaker has not been confirmed by the Senate, his qualifications as the country's law enforcement officer have not been publicly reviewed and he has not yet been subjected to a thorough verification of a possible conflict of interest, "write the former officials. "While we know that thousands of dedicated departmental officials are now doing everything in their power to protect their mission and reputation, it is incumbent on all of us to ensure that the department's role in upholding the paramountcy the law is not compromised. defiled. "
The majority of those who signed the letter are former justice officials who served in the Democratic and Republican administrations," reported BuzzFeed. The other signatories are former members of the Ministry of Justice, the majority of whom served in democratic administrations.
Read the full letter here.
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