Aides fear acting AG’s actions actionable
WASHINGTON — Senior Justice Department lawyers advised acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker not to sign a gun regulation change last week, warning him that doing so could lead to a successful legal challenge to his appointment as the nation’s top law enforcement official, according to officials familiar with the discussions.
Whitaker, picked by President Donald Trump in November to lead the Justice Department on a temporary basis, also heard from Justice Department officials who felt he should sign a change in gun regulations that bans the use of bump stocks, devices that attach to semiautomatic rifles and allow them to fire more like automatic weapons, these people said.
He signed the document Tuesday.
The internal debate over Whitaker’s signature, which began weeks ago, shows how concerned even top Justice Department executives are that his appointment to acting attorney general is vulnerable to a legal challenge, particularly when lawyers suing the department over various policy issues need to find only one federal judge who agrees with that position, according to officials familiar with the discussions. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail internal discussions.
It comes at a fraught moment in Whitaker’s short tenure, after it was revealed Thursday that senior ethics officials had said Whitaker should recuse himself from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian interference.
Whitaker decided instead to follow the recommendation of other aides, prompting angry criticism from Democrats who say he is flouting the rule of law.
Whitaker is overseeing the Justice Department while William Barr awaits confirmation hearings in the Senate to become the next attorney general.