BY BRIAN BEUTLER, PRIYANKA ARIBINDI

& CROOKED MEDIA

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

—Attorney General William Barr on Robert Mueller’s letter accusing him of sabotage

LETTER OF THE LAWLESS

Attorney General William Barr reluctantly revealed something important and disturbing about the Trump administration before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday: All that impeachable conduct Special Counsel Robert Mueller documented in his report? It continues to this day—only now Trump has an attorney general who will help him get away with it.

Barr admitted—or was unable to deny—that Trump continues to pressure the Justice Department to investigate his political enemies. “Uhmmm. I wouldn’t, uhmmm. Could you repeat the question?” he said to Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), “um…the president or anybody else...I’m trying to grapple with the word suggest.”

He was also unable to deny that Trump continues to hit up DOJ for information about criminal investigations of himself and his associates: “It’s possible that the name of a case was mentioned,” he told Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).

As with the Mueller report’s confirmation that Trump routinely demanded investigations of Hillary Clinton, and the voluminous evidence that Trump did everything he could to get inside the Russia investigation, these aren’t crimes. But they are deeply corrupt and cut-and-dry examples of impeachable conduct.

That’s alarming for several reasons:

• House Democratic leaders remain resolutely opposed to beginning an impeachment proceeding, where they could examine Trump’s abuse of federal law enforcement powers, and make everyone in Congress vote on whether it’s acceptable behavior for a president.

• Despite ample evidence that he’s misled the public and Congress, and can’t impartially oversee investigations of Trump, Barr refused to recuse himself from any of the 14 investigations Mueller spun off to other Justice Department components.

• Barr reiterated that he intends to investigate the investigators, and “the people I have helping me with my review will be working very closely with” the Justice Department inspector general, who is supposed to be independent.

One of the dangers of Democrats’ politically-driven fear of impeachment has always been that it will encourage Trump to uncork his authoritarian desires. The Mueller report has been out for less than a month, and it’s already happening.

The Department of Homeland Security plans to start DNA testing families at the border in order to find and prosecute immigrants “posing as families.” Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan believes that the Flores settlement, which prohibits the U.S. from detaining children for more than 20 days, encourages migrants to pose as families. But in the past year, only one percent of families stopped at the border have been found to be lying about their relations. DHS will administer the tests with cheek swabs, and claims it will not keep the results.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro remains in power despite the attempted coup opposition leader Juan Guaidó orchestrated Tuesday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. might intervene militarily in Venezuela to assist Guaidó, but added “we’re trying to do everything we can to avoid violence.” Sure, Jan.

An unaccompanied 16-year-old migrant from Guatemala died in the government’s custody on Tuesday. The young boy became “noticeably ill” the morning after the government transferred him to a shelter, and spent days at a children’s hospital before passing away. He is the third migrant child known to have died while in U.S. custody since December.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) gave Attorney General William Barr what for at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: “The American people know you are no different from Rudy Giuliani or Kellyanne Conway, or any of the other people who sacrificed their once decent reputations for the grifter and liar who sits in the Oval Office.”

A gunman killed two students and wounded another four in a shooting at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte on Tuesday. The suspect, a former student, is in custody.

Florida’s legislature has approved a “school safety” bill that will allow teachers to carry guns on school campuses, and sent it to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who is expected to sign it into law.

Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor has been convicted of murdering an unarmed woman who approached his squad car while he was on duty in 2017.

The shooter at the Poway synagogue in San Diego reportedly planned a larger attack, and had 50 unused bullets in his possession when he was arrested. He was unable to keep shooting because his rifle jammed, but not before he killed a woman who tried to shield the synagogue’s rabbi.

New data finds that the rate of teen suicide among U.S. boys spiked significantly in the months after the release of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why, a show about a teenage girl’s suicide and tapes she created about the reasons she killed herself. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741.

The Indian Army thinks it found Yeti footprints, and naturally, is tweeting about it.

The world’s highest athletics court has upheld a rule banning women with naturally high levels of testosterone from competing in some international track races.

South African gold medalist Caster Semenya challenged the restrictions as “discriminatory, unnecessary, unreliable, and disproportionate” and meant to target her unfairly. Now, athletes like her may be required to take medications to suppress their testosterone levels in order to compete in certain races. While the court recognized that the restrictions were discriminatory and expressed “serious concern” about the side effects of treatments to suppress testosterone levels, it ruled that the restrictions should be in place regardless.

Human Rights Watch chastised the court for its decision. “Women with intersex variations have the same right to dignity and control over their bodies as other women…. In scrutinizing and excluding women competitors based on their natural hormone levels, the IAAF regulations stigmatize, stereotype, and discriminate against all women.”

Maine became the first state to ban to-go containers made of Styrofoam on Tuesday because the material can’t be recycled there. (Though Styrofoam is recyclable in some parts of the country, most recycling facilities don’t process it.) Styrofoam absorbs toxins easily and is mistaken for food by marine life, which spreads the toxins into the food chain. The ban will go into effect in 2021, and will fine those who violate it up to $100.

From Brian: Priyanka really wanted you all to see this, too, FYI.

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