DOJ urges justices not to delve into Whitaker appointment
By JOSH GERSTEIN 11/26/2018 09:57 PM EST Updated 11/26/2018 10:44 PM EST
The Justice Department is urging the Supreme Court to turn down — at least for now — a chance to weigh in on whether President Donald Trump acted legally when he installed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, as acting attorney general earlier this month after demanding Sessions’ resignation.
Litigants in several different courts have questioned the legality of Trump’s move, but Solicitor General Noel Francisco told the Supreme Court on Monday that it should stay out of the fray until lower courts had a chance to weigh in.
“No court — in this case or any other — has previously addressed the questions petitioner seeks to inject here,” Francisco wrote. “The Court therefore should decline petitioner’s request to address those matters in the first instance in this suit.”
Lawyers for Nevada businessman Barry Michaels raised the issue with the Supreme Court on Nov. 16, asking the justices to replace Whitaker as one of the official targets of a petition relating to the government’s power to deny firearms to nonviolent felons like Michaels. The motion argued that Whitaker’s appointment was illegitimate and urged the high court to substitute Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as the respondent.
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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/26/doj-supreme-court-whitaker-1017365
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"The DOJ" tells justices to stand down. 
