Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

CousinIT

(9,241 posts)
Tue Jul 10, 2018, 10:50 PM Jul 2018

Manchin voted to confirm Benczkowski. Of course.

The dirtbag sonofabitch is in now and can go to work running interference and being a mole for Trump in re: Mueller investigation.

Who this is and why this is bad. REALLY bad: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/could-this-trump-nominee-interfere-with-mueller/2018/03/22/33f346a8-2e13-11e8-8688-e053ba58f1e4_story.html

This may seem like a routine bureaucratic appointment. But because the stakes are so high in any matter that affects Mueller’s status, it’s worth reviewing the basic questions before the Senate votes on confirmation.

The nominee is Brian Benczkowski, who served as head of the Trump transition team at Justice and was staff director of the Senate Judiciary Committee when Sessions was the ranking Republican. Supporters praise his performance in the George W. Bush administration. “I’ve never seen Brian do anything unethical, nor do I think that he ever would,” says Michael Mukasey, who made Benczkowski his chief of staff when he was Bush’s attorney general.

Critics fault Benczkowski for his 2017 legal representation of Alfa Bank, a Russian financial giant that has prospered under the Putin government, after he helped run the Trump transition operation. News reports in 2016 had explored the bank’s possible computer communications with Trump Tower, but Benczkowski told senators that two independent investigations later found no connection between the bank and the Trump Organization.

Benczkowski now says he wouldn’t have taken Alfa Bank as a client had he anticipated his nomination to head the Criminal Division. But when asked by the Judiciary Committee if he would recuse himself from the Russia investigation because of the Alfa connection, he answered: “I cannot commit to such a recusal at this time.”

Benczkowski also told senators that in a December 2016 conversation with Sessions, he had criticized “mistakes” by James B. Comey, then FBI director, in handling the Hillary Clinton email investigation, “converting his role as FBI director into that of a prosecutor. . . .” This was one of the rationales Trump initially gave for firing Comey last May.

The leading skeptic about Benczkowski’s nomination is Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a Judiciary Committee member who voted against Benczkowski in the 11-to-10 party-line vote that sent his nomination to the floor in January. Whitehouse, a former U.S. attorney, worries that as Criminal Division chief, Benczkowski could have a “window” on the Mueller investigation.
9 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,683 posts)
1. It's especially fishy when you consider that the guy has no federal trial experience,
Tue Jul 10, 2018, 10:52 PM
Jul 2018

either criminal or civil. Even aside from his evident conflict of interest, how could he possibly considered even minimally qualified for the job?

CousinIT

(9,241 posts)
2. He isn't. Trump just wanted him as a mole and to run interference in the Mueller investigation.
Tue Jul 10, 2018, 10:54 PM
Jul 2018

And possibly to take Rosenstein's place when Trump fires him.

 

aquamarina

(1,865 posts)
3. Just how unqualified do you have to be
Tue Jul 10, 2018, 10:55 PM
Jul 2018

to not get a job in this administration. I am thunderstruck over the complete capitulation of the republican party to their oath of fidelity to this country. I am literally speechless. I guess absolute power does corrupt absolutely. !!

Never tried a single case in his entire legal career!

LenaBaby61

(6,974 posts)
6. Hows he get to be a Dem?
Tue Jul 10, 2018, 11:30 PM
Jul 2018

IF you're speaking about Old Joe, it has something to do with him being a Dem Senator in West Virginia instead of a RETHUG or something like that

Ilsa

(61,695 posts)
5. What possible reason could he have for voting for this bastard?
Tue Jul 10, 2018, 11:10 PM
Jul 2018

I've been praying a lot lately for certain people to get struck by lightning, eat a salad with E.coli, etc., to save our nation.

 

bdtrppr6

(796 posts)
7. Manchin is seriously
Wed Jul 11, 2018, 12:22 AM
Jul 2018

a piece of shit. fake D, probably involved in the Buy Out of the USA currently evolving. always on the wrong side.

the end is coming hard and fast. get used to it.

octoberlib

(14,971 posts)
9. Rachel did a piece on this last night. Manchin basically just voted to endanger the
Wed Jul 11, 2018, 08:40 AM
Jul 2018

Mueller investigation.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Manchin voted to confirm ...