Dump Whitaker
MARYLAND SUES TO CAN DON’S ATT’Y GEN. PICK
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker should be bounced from the country's top federal law enforcement job because he's a partisan threat and hasn't gotten the OK from Congress, Maryland's attorney general charged Tuesday.
The Old Line State's AG Brian Frosh asked a federal judge to promptly declare President Trump's installment of Whitaker unconstitutional and allow Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to take his place.
“Few positions are more critical than that of U.S. attorney general, an office that wields enormous enforcement power and authority over the lives of all Americans,” Frosh said in a statement. “Trump's brazen attempt to flout the law and Constitution in bypassing U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein in favor of a partisan and unqualified staffer cannot stand.”
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
Whitaker, a Trump loyalist and vocal critic of special counsel Robert Mueller, was tapped by the President to serve as acting AG after he
forced Jeff Sessions to resign last week.
As the nation's top law enforcement official, Whitaker oversees all matters under the purview of the Justice Department — including Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between Trump's campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 election.
Democrats and Trump critics have called on Whitaker to recuse himself from supervising Mueller's inquiry, considering his numerous public rebukes of the investigation and closeness to the White House.
Frosh's legal challenge, which comes as part of an ongoing lawsuit attempting to force the Trump administration to uphold components of the Affordable Care Act, goes one step further in calling for Whitaker's appointment to be nulled altogether.
The action argues Whitaker's appointment violates the Constitution's Appointments Clause, which mandates that “principal” government officials, such as the attorney general, be confirmed by the Senate before taking office.
Frosh's office also contends Whitaker, who previously served as Sessions'
chief of staff, can’t be elevated to acting attorney general because federal law lays out a line of succession that would give authority to the deputy attorney general when the top post is open.
Prior to Whitaker’s appointment, Rosenstein oversaw Mueller’s investigation since Sessions recused himself in March 2017 amid revelations about his contacts with Russian officials while serving as a top adviser on Trump’s campaign.
Also Tuesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked the committee’s Republican chairy man Chuck Grassley to schedule a hearing with Whitaker.
“As you y have stated p previously, you ‘have confidence in Mueller, the president ought to have confidence in Mueller,’” Feinstein (D-Calf.) said in a statement, quoting Grassley (R-Iowa). “I agree and believe it is critically important to have Mr. Whitaker before the Committee to ensure that he will take no action to restrict or otherwise interfere with the Special Counsel’s work.”
Whitaker has given no public indication that he plans to recuse himself. A Justice Department pokeswoman said late Monday the acting attorney general is consulting with ethics officials about the matter.