Sally Yates Says Justice Department Needs to Be Protected From Trump
Sally Yates wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times today, condemning Donald Trump’s actions towards the Justice Department with the Russia investigation, James Comey and Jeff Sessions.
Yates begins the piece by saying Trump is trying to “humiliate” Attorney General Jeff Sessions. But while that spectacle is happening, there’s something even worse going on.
“The president is attempting to dismantle the rule of law, destroy the time-honored independence of the Justice Department, and undermine the career men and women who are devoted to seeking justice day in and day out, regardless of which political party is in power,” Yates wrote.
Yates warns that the “justice system may be broken beyond recognition.”
Trump complaining that he doesn’t have a “political ally” in the Justice Department to “protect” him from the Russia Investigation. That is true how he fired FBI Director James Comey, and is now trying to push out Jeff Sessions.
Yates writes, “President Trump’s actions appear aimed at destroying the fundamental independence of the Justice Department. All the while, he’s ripping the blindfold off Lady Justice and attempting to turn the department into a sword to seek vengeance against his perceived enemies and a shield to protect himself and his allies.”
She adds that we are all “at risk” of becoming numb from the “daily barrage of alarming news.” She calls on readers to stay vigilant, and not lose sight that all of Trump’s actions are “abnormal.”
“The strict separation between the Justice Department and the White House applies to even the most mundane of criminal investigations, and nowhere does it matter more than when the investigation reaches into the White House itself.”
Yates adds, “In short, no one at the White House should have anything to do with any decisions about whom or what to investigate or prosecute. Period.”
At the end of her piece, she calls on everyone to do more than “rubberneck as we drive past this car crash.”
“We all have a responsibility to protect our Justice Department’s ability to do its job free from interference. The very foundation of our justice system — the rule of law — depends on it,” Yates ends.
You can read the whole op-ed here.
[image via screenshot]
