Donald Trump is determined to prosecute his political enemies. It was less than a month ago that U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Siebert was forced out of a job for refusing to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and other Trump foes. The utterly unqualified Lindsey Halligan was installed in his place and immediately slapped together some charges against another Trump target, former FBI Director James Comey, as the statute of limitations was expiring, while the witch hunts against other political enemies continued.
Elizabeth Yusi, head of major criminal prosecutions in the Norfolk office of the Eastern District of Virginia, took the lead on the James investigation (in an apparent effort to insulate her staff from the political pressure of the case). And MSNBC is reporting Yusi sees no probable cause to seek mortgage fraud charges — the right’s go-to investigation for Trump’s political enemies — against James. And she’s willing to lose her job over it, according to two sources who spoke with MSNBC, as she readies to present her conclusion to Halligan.
And Seibert and Yusi aren’t the only prosecutors in that office who are opting to follow the law, rather than the politics of the moment.
On Friday, the top national security prosecutor in Virginia’s Eastern District railed against Justice Department political appointees for carrying out Trump’s directives rather than fulfilling their oath to “follow the facts and the law wherever they lead, free from fear or favor, and unhindered by political interference.”
The prosecutor, Michael Ben’Ary, had been fired after a Trump ally questioned his loyalty to Trump in a social media post. Ben’Ary wrote in a letter, “In recent months, the political leadership of the Department have violated these principles, jeopardizing our national security and making American citizens less safe.”
Randall Eliason, former prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, said, Yusi “clearly is doing the right and ethical thing by refusing to bend her legal conclusions to fit the president’s desire for political retribution.” But said it is “tragic” career prosecutors are being “forced to choose between honoring their oaths and risking their livelihood” and “forced out by the president’s politicization of the Justice Department.”
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
The post Another Career Prosecutor Prepares To Be Fired For Refusing To Seek Charges Against Letitia James appeared first on Above the Law.
Donald Trump is determined to prosecute his political enemies. It was less than a month ago that U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Siebert was forced out of a job for refusing to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and other Trump foes. The utterly unqualified Lindsey Halligan was installed in his place and immediately slapped together some charges against another Trump target, former FBI Director James Comey, as the statute of limitations was expiring, while the witch hunts against other political enemies continued.
Elizabeth Yusi, head of major criminal prosecutions in the Norfolk office of the Eastern District of Virginia, took the lead on the James investigation (in an apparent effort to insulate her staff from the political pressure of the case). And MSNBC is reporting Yusi sees no probable cause to seek mortgage fraud charges — the right’s go-to investigation for Trump’s political enemies — against James. And she’s willing to lose her job over it, according to two sources who spoke with MSNBC, as she readies to present her conclusion to Halligan.
And Seibert and Yusi aren’t the only prosecutors in that office who are opting to follow the law, rather than the politics of the moment.
On Friday, the top national security prosecutor in Virginia’s Eastern District railed against Justice Department political appointees for carrying out Trump’s directives rather than fulfilling their oath to “follow the facts and the law wherever they lead, free from fear or favor, and unhindered by political interference.”
The prosecutor, Michael Ben’Ary, had been fired after a Trump ally questioned his loyalty to Trump in a social media post. Ben’Ary wrote in a letter, “In recent months, the political leadership of the Department have violated these principles, jeopardizing our national security and making American citizens less safe.”
Randall Eliason, former prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, said, Yusi “clearly is doing the right and ethical thing by refusing to bend her legal conclusions to fit the president’s desire for political retribution.” But said it is “tragic” career prosecutors are being “forced to choose between honoring their oaths and risking their livelihood” and “forced out by the president’s politicization of the Justice Department.”
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
The post Another Career Prosecutor Prepares To Be Fired For Refusing To Seek Charges Against Letitia James appeared first on Above the Law.
