Senior U.S. Justice Department official withdrew due to outcry over Democratic record seizure | Wall Street Journal American Politics

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According to reports, a senior official in the National Security Department of the US Department of Justice will leave. An uproar caused by the confiscation of records From the top of the Democratic Party And reporters as part of the leak of confidential information during the investigation Trump administration.

According to the New York TimesAs one of the media interviewed by reporters, the departure of the Assistant Attorney General of the National Security Department John Demers has been brewing for several months.

However, due to the seizure of records in the leak investigation, the department is stepping up the review, so news of his withdrawal came, and the investigation began at Donald Trump.

Attorney General Merrick Garland was originally scheduled to meet with senior executives from The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN on Monday afternoon.

Garland said in a statement: “As I said at the confirmation hearing, political or other improper considerations must not play a role in any investigation or prosecution decision.

“There are important issues that must be resolved in the department’s efforts to obtain records related to members of Congress and congressional staff.

“Therefore, I have instructed this matter to be referred to the Inspector General, and I am fully confident that he will conduct a thorough and independent investigation. If it is necessary to take action on the matter at any time during the investigation, I will take it promptly without hesitation action.”

Garland said he has asked the Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco to “evaluate and strengthen the department’s existing policies and procedures for obtaining legislative records.”

He concluded: “Consistent with our commitment to the rule of law, we must ensure that we give full attention to the future separation of powers.”

Demers is the longest-serving official in the Senate. He held a position under Trump and stayed in the US Department of Justice after Joe Biden became president in January. The Times reported that he will leave the department on June 25.

The news was released three days after the U.S. Department of Justice’s Inspector General announced that his office would investigate the seizure of records. The Democratic Party criticized it as an “shocking” abuse of power.

Two Democrats, Adam Schiff and Eric SwarwellAccording to reports, Don McGahn, Trump’s White House legal adviser, was also seized.

in Harsh remarks on SundayHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN: “What the Republicans did, what the government did, the judiciary, the leadership of the former president, even surpassed Richard Nixon.”

Nixon resigned as president in August 1974 due to the Watergate scandal, which involved breaking into the Democratic Party’s office and other abuses of power.

Trump’s two permanent attorney generals are former Alabama Senators Jeff Sessions and William Barr, who first assumed this position under the leadership of George HW Bush.

“Richard Nixon has an ending,” Pelosi said. “It’s about undermining the rule of law. And for these attorney generals, at least for Sessions, it’s unbelievable to say that they don’t know anything about it.”

Sunday is 50th Anniversary Another major event in the Nixon era: The New York Times first published the Pentagon document, which is a secret government record on the Vietnam War.

CNN Washington bureau chief Sam Fest will attend the meeting with Garland on Monday.

he tell On Sunday, his own network: “Our goal is to ensure that Pentagon documents and other stories of extraordinary public interest can be published in the future. This is to protect the freedom of the press now and in the future.”

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