The WashPost throws a spotlight on the lawyers that Trump went to cover his butt on the Ukraine call caper….
Four government lawyers appointed by President Trump face mounting scrutiny over the roles they played in seeking to limit the exposure of his prodding the Ukrainian government to dig up dirt on his leading 2020 challenger. Those efforts prompted that whistleblower complaint that was released this morningand have led to an official impeachment inquiry.
The White House counsel helped to identify legal obstacles to the disclosure of information that could be politically damaging to Trump. The head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a classified opinion to initially block the whistleblower’s complaint from being transmitted to congressional committees that are legally entitled to receive it. The director of DOJ’s criminal division swiftly dismissed a criminal referral from the intelligence community’s inspector general that said Trump may have broken campaign finance laws by seeking dirt on Joe Biden. And Bill Barr declined to recuse himself, even though Trump invoked the attorney general at least twice during his July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Here’s a quick primer on why each of the four taxpayer-funded attorneys is in the spotlight….