May 2019

    I listened to Jeff Daniels talk about the Broadway play “To Kill a Mockingbird”, in which he portrays the noble attorney, Atticus Finch.  The play written by Aaron Sorkin, adapted from Harper Lee’s great book, a classic in American Literature, is powerful; the drama is set in a small town in 1934 Alabama, a black man unjustly accused and arrested for rape.   Daniels stated that “the current political climate impacts his performance”, and he talked about “those now in Congress worried about the politics of standing up against Trump”, saying, ‘”You are worthless to me right now.  I need people to be heroic.  Who are you?  Because democracy is at stake!”  Daniels said that he agrees it would be too big a gamble to go all the way up to 2020 and lose, “that is the end of democracy”.

    Atticus says, ” We have to heal this wound or we will never stop bleeding!  We can’t go on like this!  We have to make good this crime!  So let’s hasten the change; let’s hasten the end of the beginning! Let’s begin with justice!”   James Comey spoke on his experience of viewing this play saying, “people can be deeply biased and flawed, but the Truth is a real thing.  Our heroes, in the long run, are the ones who stood up for it.  The thousand little cowards melt away; no plays will be written about the virtue of this Republican party and their passion for truth.”    

    Daniels likens Trump rallies  to an angry mob, saying, “A mob acts on emotion, absent facts, absent contemplation and responsibility; it seeks anonymity.  A conscience can be exhausting; it can keep you up at night.  But these are people you go to church with, you see in your community.”  Daniels explained that Atticus has to go through a change, somewhat different than in the book; “he’s more of a protagonist, he’s an apologist, an enabler”.   “Atticus Finch believes that there is good in everyone; he appealed to the better angels of the white, Christian, farmer-jurors in the courtroom.”   In the play, Atticus’ daughter, Scout, recognizes one of the KKK members, who come to the jail to lynch the accused, as her neighbor, Mr. Cunningham, and speaks to him.   This is a Moral crises!   We must conduct ourselves as if ALL our children are watching, because they are!   This is our wake-up call!   Who will be our heroes?  

Trish Forsyth Voss

The most astounding thing Barr said before the Senate on May 1, 2019, was that he “didn’t personally review all the underlying evidence in the Mueller report”.  He was asked by Senator Kamala Harris, “if Deputy AG Rosenstein had, or if any of their staff had?  Barr answered, ‘No, we accepted it all as accurate”.  Wow!  Well, he’s not acting as if he accepts all that Mueller put forth!  So with this ploy, ‘not being familiar with what’s in the report’, Barr gets off not answering to the discrepancies between what he’s arguing and what Mueller conscientiously constructed from facts, testimonies and evidence.  Barr was tapdancing, splitting hairs, talking around everything, acting as if he didn’t understand the questions he was asked, denying, refuting. doubling down on “No Collusion”.  Then he argued with Senator Blumenthal’s characterization that Barr had basically cleared Trump; he said that he “didn’t exonerate Trump”.   I’m reminded of the overweight Senator dancing in “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” movie, except that THAT actor was good and funny.

Mueller wrote a letter to Barr, for the record, that Barr “did not fully capture the context, nature and substance of his report”, when giving his ‘opinion’ about the report, initially.   Mueller wrote that, “there is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation.  This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations”.   Barr said Muller’s letter to him “was a bit snitty; one of his aides probably wrote it”.  Even though Barr, throughout his earlier career, has tried his best to counter accusations against prior Republican presidents, this stint might undo him.  “Everything that Trump touches …. turns to crap!”   James Comey said that Trump, “eats the souls of the people who get close to him and agrees to be on ‘Team Trump’.  He continued, “of course to stay …. you must be seen to be on his team, then he eats your soul in small bites”

Senator Mazie Hirono called Barr out as a liar, which he is.  Senator Kamala Harris said, “Barr lacks all credibility; Barr is biased and should recuse himself from the 14 other Mueller referral cases”.  Senator Richard Blumenthal tried to hold him to several truths, unsuccessfully.  Barr said that Trump’s “attempt to have Mueller fired was not Obstruction!”  He further announced that, “a president does not need to let an investigation run its course if it is groundless and he is falsely accused; that would NOT be Obstruction”.   “Everything Trump touches turns to crap!”   Senator Harris directly asked Barr, “Did the president or anyone else at the White House ever suggest that you open an investigation of anyone?”  Barr could not answer that query; he was struggling with the word: suggest.  So, we know that’s a ‘Yes!’  Trump intends to go after his ‘political enemies’, just like Nixon’s “enemies list”.  So many parallels between Nixon and Trump.  Law and Order, indeed!       Democrats call for AG Barr’s Resignation!  John Mitchell, Nixon’s AG,  was convicted on charges of conspiracy, perjury, and obstruction of justice, and served 19 months prison time.

In case you’re looking for  the ‘Mueller Report’,  book for sale, Walmart has it; I got my copy and will be digging in.   Stay tuned: I’ll be writing on issues concerned therein. (And for those of you who haven’t yet seen the movie: ‘VICE’, go rent it and watch it!   Another example of : Deep State.

Trish Forsyth Voss

“Deep State Politics is the study of hidden, permanent institutions and interests whose influence on the political realm transcends the elected, appointed, and career officials who come and go”, per Peter Dale Scott, who wrote ‘The American Deep State’ (2018) and ‘American War Machine’ (2010).  One example of ‘Deep State’ includes private sources of power, out-side government, such as Russian, private, Alfa ‘Bank’, and that “institution’s clout in Washington D.C, including protection from senior Republicans” for deals done, recent and in decades past.

Alfa Group’s connections stretch right to the current Attorney General William P. Barr, as well as Brian Benczkowski, the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, both of whom previously worked for Kirkland & Ellis, LLP — that represented Russia’s Bank Alfa.  Barr reportedly made over $1 million from Kirkland (between March 2017, until he was confirmed as AG in Feb 2019).  Brian Benczkowski was narrowly confirmed in July 2018; both landing in these high positions to cover-up alleged criminal activities.   These connections represent flagrant conflicts of interest.  “The legal standard is clear — it’s not about actual conflict — it’s about the appearance of conflict or bias.”

But that’s not all.  Barr has holdings in “Vector Group, whose company’s president, Howard Lorbes, brought Trump to Moscow in the 1990s to seek investment projects there — the trip seen as the first of many attempts to establish a Trump Tower Moscow”.   Then there’s Barr’s significant assets (between $100,000 – $250,000) with Deutsche, which was the only bank lending Trump money when all others said, “NO”.  Deutsche Bank has actually paid huge fines for previous involvement in Russian money-laundering schemes.  Two Congressional committees are investigating Trump’s business ties to Deutsche Bank.

Alfa financial-group — created by three Russian oligarchs (Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven and German Khan); it’s principal owner, Fridman is a Russian-Jewish, mega-billionaire with Israeli citizenship and close ties to both Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu — is accused of running a secret, cyber-communications channel between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russian authorities.   “Many individuals are now facing jail terms because of Mueller and FBI investigations, but no such danger threatens firms big enough to participate in the higher nexus of what I call the deep state”, said Peter Dale Scott.

Barr is not only attempting to shield the Executive Office, but also dismissal of any collusion conflicts with Bank Alfa, Vector Group and Deutsche Bank.       Trump, Barr and senior Republicans can holler all they want, “It’s OVER!”    But, it’s far from over!

Trish Forsyth Voss

We wanted to believe the best about William P. Barr when confirmed Attorney General by the Senate.  He was described as having had a distinguished career and was a “principled-institutionalist”.  Obviously, that’s not always a positive.  Barr’s recent ‘legal order’ delivers on Trump’s promise to end “catch and release” of migrants crossing the border to escape death and sexual-trafficking  in their home countries.  “William Barr was an ardent champion of policies that have transformed America into the world’s leading incarcerator”, except when it comes to high-level Republicans convicted of crimes.  Former president George H.W. Bush pardoned six individuals — involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, four of whom had already been convicted of lying to federal and congressional investigators about the secret, illegal operation — at the suggestion of William Barr, as former AG.

“Barr figured prominently in arguments to limit CIA responsibility to provide notification to Congress about covert actions during the 1980’s.”  Barr, at a senior post in Office of Legal Counsel, wrote legal responses supporting the idea of the president’s “virtually unfettered discretion” in foreign policy, and downplayed Congress’s power of the purse, asserting that it was “by no means limitless”.

Barr misled Congress 30 years ago when as Assistant Attorney General under ‘Poppy Bush’, he wrote a controversial legal opinion titled, “Authority of the FBI to Override Customary or Other International Law in the Course of Extraterritorial Law Enforcement Activities”, basically saying that FBI agents had the authority to apprehend enemies or fugitives from U.S. law …. in foreign countries, without first obtaining the foreign state’s consent.  Shortly thereafter, Barr appeared before Congress and refused to provide the document he had authored, but offered to give them a “summary of principal conclusions” of the reasoning and objectives.  Sound familiar?  Barr’s memo reversed an earlier ruling (warning that agents could face kidnapping charges abroad if they used such tactics).  Barr provided a “redacted opinion” to Congress.  “There was no justifiable reason for having withheld that document from Congress or the public”, and Barr omitted the most controversial parts of that justice department memo when giving his ‘summary’ to Congress.  ‘Poppy Bush’ had thrown out several statements regarding overthrowing Panama; the memo written in-part to justify seizing dictator, Manuel Noriega.

Barr, ‘the cover-up General’, feels strongly that the Office of the Presidency has “virtually unfettered discretion” in doing whatever it deems necessary, and obviously feels “the ends justifies the means’.  A career distinguished — by GOP cover-ups.

Trish Forsyth Voss

On Sept, 8,1787, when the “Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia was winding down, the draft of the U.S. supreme law almost finished”, a few of the Founding Fathers had concerns with the powerful government they were creating, namely that a “president could become a tyrant as oppressive as George III”.  Should a president be removed from office only for Treason or Bribery?  One of Virginia’s richest planters and a major framer of his home state’s constitution, George Mason asked, “Shall any man be above justice?  Shall that man be above it who can commit the most extensive injustice?  Shall the man who has practiced corruption, and by that means procured his appointment in the first instance, be suffered to escape punishment by repeating his guilt?”

Governor Morris of Pennsylvania asserted, “Should he be re-elected — that will be sufficient proof of his innocence”.  But, the Framers decided that waiting to vote-out a corrupt president prove too injurious to our democracy.   James Madison argued that the Constitution needed a provision “for defending the community against the incapacity, negligence, or perfidy of the Chief Magistrate.   He might pervert his administration into a scheme of speculation, embezzlement or oppression.  He might betray his trust to foreign powers.”  Delegate Edmund Randolph agreed,  “The Executive will have great opportunities of abusing his power, particularly in time of war, when the military force, and in some respects, the public money will be in his hands”.

“The Founding Fathers never wanted impeachment to be an insurmountable hurdle.”  In Virginia, in June 1788, they ultimately constructed an outline of impeachable offenses, such as: attempts to subvert the Constitution, and other ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’, obstruction of justice, abuses of pardoning and other powers,  violating emoluments clause, accepting payments and influence from a foreign power.   Madison said, “If the President be connected in any suspicious manner with any person, and there be grounds to believe he will shelter him, the House of Representatives can impeach him”.

Lindsey Graham, in 1999, regarding the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton argued,  “You don’t have to be convicted of a crime.  Impeachment isn’t about punishment; it’s about cleansing the office!”   Mitch McConnell, on that subject said, “He could do the right thing or he could cling to the Presidency — regardless of the costs and regardless of the consequences  — to his family, to his friends, aides, his Cabinet, and most importantly to his country”.   Curiously — what say they now?

Trish Forsyth Voss