Fmr. Ethics Director Tears Into White House Over Sessions Report: ‘That Didn’t Work at Nuremberg’
“I don’t have words I can use on TV this morning to describe how angry I am to learn this,” says ex-Office of Gov’t Ethics director Walter Shaub of reports Trump ordered WH lawyer to stop Sessions from recusing himself from Russia investigation https://t.co/hNuTwtVQBl
— New Day (@NewDay) January 5, 2018
Former Office of Government Ethics director Walter Shaub appeared on CNN today, and he tore into the White House over a report that President Trump tried to stop Jeff Sessions from recusing himself from the Russia investigation.
Shaub has been blasting off on Twitter recently, criticizing Don McGahn over the news that the White House Counsel was ordered to lobby Sessions and make him stay on top of federal investigations involving Russia.
This story infuriates me. I am outraged by McGahn undermining the rule of law in the country I love. While McGahn was demanding Sessions’ break the law, I was on the other line with DOJ demanding Sessions recuse. What I think of your attack on America, McGahn, isn’t fit to print. https://t.co/JgHgPKR0PA
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 5, 2018
These reports also noted that Trump got angry when Sessions ignored McGahn’s lobbying, which the president took to mean that the Attorney General was refusing an obligation to protect him.
When Shaun was asked to elaborate on CNN’s New Day this morning, and he called McGahn “a cancer” who is undermining the Department of Justice and the country’s anti-corruption laws.
“We learned Don McGahn was pressuring Jeff Sessions to do just the opposite, participate in that investigation. He tried to hide behind the ‘I was only following orders,’ but that didn’t work at Nuremberg, and it’s not going to work here because as an attorney, the president is not his client. The office of the president is his client, and he’s ultimately answerable to the American people. I don’t have words I can use on TV this morning to describe how angry I am to learn this.”
Alisyn Camerota was surprised that Shaub invoked the military trials held to charge Nazis with war crimes at the end of World War II. Shaub said he didn’t mean to make a comparison, but that his point was following orders is not a sufficient excuse for certain actions, and Sessions was correct to ignore McGahn as long as the Russia investigations remained pertinent to Trump.
Shaub continued that his former colleagues seemed “rattled” during his last days in office, and McGahn’s attempt to pressure them explains a few things. When asked if this was obstruction of justice, Shaub said “it would be irresponsible not to look into it, and the members of Congress who are actively trying to undermine the Mueller investigation really need to back off at all if they care about their country.”
Watch above, via CNN.
[Image via screengrab]
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