Matt Whitaker: 5 Minute Man

Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, the temp employee Donald Trump installed as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, appeared before the House Judiciary Committee last week. He had agreed to answer five minutes of questions from each committee member, but what he did was run out the clock. Instead of answering a question from Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D, NY-10), Mr. Whitaker replied “Mr. Chairman, I see that your five minutes is up.”

Running out the clock is really Acting AG Whitaker’s only job right now. William Barr is expected to be confirmed as a real Attorney General this week. If not, Mr. Whitaker may be subpoenaed to a second House Judiciary Committee meeting.

After the hearing Matt Whitaker celebrated by heading straight to Disney Land the new Department of Justice headquarters, the Trump Hotel.

More:

“Matthew Whitaker’s five minutes are up,” Dana Milbank, Washington Post

“The most powerful moment of the Whitaker hearing had nothing to do with Mueller,” Aaron Rupar, Vox

“Matthew Whitaker Apparently Only Owns One Tie,” Joe Patrice, Above the Law

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Fraudster & Political Hack Illegally Acting as U.S. Attorney General

After firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, President Trump appointed right-wing political hack Matthew Whitaker, a man the president doesn’t know (except when he does) as acting attorney general. There are a few issues with Mr. Whitaker’s appointment, chief among them the fact that it’s against the law. The Constitution, Which Donald Trump swore to defend, requires principal federal cabinet officers to be confirmed by the senate, and Matt Whitaker wasn’t. His appointment was illegal. Even Kellyanne Conway’s husband says so. So does Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano.

But there’s more. As acting AG, Matt Whitaker oversees the Mueller investigation, and he is already on record criticizing it, suggesting he would choke off Mueller’s funding. Mr. Whitaker has also opined that judges should be Christian, and the courts are an inferior branch of government, an interesting stance for the nation’s chief law enforcement officer.

And Matt Whitaker has some distinctly unchristian episodes in his past. He was on the board of World Patent Marketing, which paid a judgment of $25,987,192 to the FTC for defrauding inventors. Mr. Whitaker used his reputation as a former federal prosecutor to threaten inventors who complained. A perfect AG pick for a president with fraud judgments of his own.

More:

“Acting attorney general reportedly interviewed to be a ‘legal attack dog’ for Trump against Mueller,” Bonnie Kristian, The Week

“Trump’s acting attorney general involved in firm that scammed veterans out of life savings,” Jon Swaine, The Guardian

“Whitaker abandoned taxpayer-funded project in Iowa in 2016,” Ryan J. Foley and David Pitt, Associated Press

“Who Is Matt Whitaker And Why Is He Illegally Pretending To Be The Attorney General?” Elie Mystal, Above the Law

“Trump pick Whitaker rose through ranks as partisan targeting Democrats,” Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Jon Swaine, The Guardian

“The rules are clear: Whitaker can’t supervise Mueller’s investigation,”Neal Katyal, Washington Post

“A Quick Primer on the Legality of Appointing Matthew Whitaker as ‘Acting’ Attorney General, and Whitaker’s Power to Influence the Russia Investigation,” Marty Lederman, Just Security

Update:

“Whitaker’s Appointment as Acting Attorney General Faces Court Challenge,” Charlie Savage, Washington Post

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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