Conservative Lawyers Say Trump Has Undermined the Rule of Law

[demmiblue]

Source: NYT

WASHINGTON — The annual convention of the Federalist Society, the conservative legal group, has long been a glittering and bustling affair. In the Trump era, though, the group has become more powerful than ever, supplying intellectual energy and judicial candidates to an assertive administration eager to reshape the legal landscape.

But as the group prepares to gather on Thursday for the start of this year’s convention, more than a dozen prominent conservative lawyers have joined together to sound a note of caution. They are urging their fellow conservatives to speak up about what they say are the Trump administration’s betrayals of bedrock legal norms.

“Conservative lawyers are not doing enough to protect constitutional principles that are being undermined by the statements and actions of this president,” said John B. Bellinger III, a top State Department and White House lawyer under President George W. Bush.

The group, called Checks and Balances, was organized by George T. Conway III, a conservative lawyer and the husband of President Trump’s counselor, Kellyanne Conway. In recent opinion articles, Mr. Conway has criticized Mr. Trump’s statements on birthright citizenship and argued that his appointment of Matthew G. Whitaker to serve as acting attorney general violated the Constitution.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/us/politics/conservative-lawyers-trump.html

---

Link to tweet

[Iliyah]

1. DUH

But I do not TRUST them.

[PatSeg]

2. I wonder what goes on at the Conway home these days

Clearly Kellyanne and George are not on the same page.

[sandensea]

6. "You keep carrying water for him," George must tell her,

"And I'll keep 'expressing my concerns' so when the FBI comes after everybody, our asses will be covered."

[PatSeg]

10. Ha, Ha!

They underestimate the FBI!

[sandensea]

13. That they do.

They seem to think they can control the FBI, like third-world autocrats do with their security agencies (they're always called 'security' this or that).

When it finally dawns on them this just isn't so, I suspect a lot of them will try to flee the country.

[PatSeg]

14. Yes

and while they are out there running their mouths every day, people within the intelligence community are quietly doing their job, while drawing on resources that these clowns could not imagine.

[Guppy]

3. weirdo cult

of privileged people. Any group that considers Ted Cruz a rock star is nuts.

[knightmaar]

4. 2016 just texted

No words, just a picture of Captain Obvious.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. Translation: The jig is up, word is out on the street, we have milked

the process for as long as we can, so now is the time to step in and become an authority.

[LiberalFighter]

7. They need to get the blame for DT getting elected.

[Beakybird]

8. Motto: "Fuck up the planet -

But do it within the rule of law."

[malthaussen]

9. Nice of them to finally notice. n/t

[NewJeffCT]

11. Tom Ridge on the list as well

I think I recognize a few other names, but Ridge stands out as the most prominent, unless I'm missing something

[not fooled]

12. A clumsy attempt at damage control

these kochbots are finally getting on people's radar, and not in a good way.

[Achilleaze]

15. republicans don't give a shit what you smartass lawyers think

Teh repubes are slobberingly submissive to Dirty Donny* (R)


* aka republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

16. The Conways should have dinner with James Carville and Mary Matalin.

Now, there would be a dinner conversation worth eavesdropping on.

[mpcamb]

17. I can't help feeling it's a mistake blaming and complaining when these stories hit.

Last edited Fri Nov 16, 2018, 01:11 PM - Edit history (1)

Sure it's late for this, sure they ignored wretched behavior, sure they're politics are ass-backwards, but at least it begins to isolate the worst element of their party.

Beyond the feel-good moment of yelling at them for being so damned stupid in the first place, this is a necessary process to get trump's approval (or acceptance) numbers down to where republicans can join in the calls for impeachment.

I don't suggest welcoming them with open arms. I just think it's a mistake to reprimand and flail at them.

We came off a very positive election cycle. Nonetheless, there were a hell of a lot of close races and we dropped some of them. We need numbers. Some may come from groups like Checks and Balances.

[Cold War Spook]

18. Agreed

I wanted to post something but you did a good job.