Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates is sounding an impassioned alarm about Donald Trump’s abuse of power in attempting to influence the Department of Justice’s investigation of Trump’s Russian connections. While the nation may be captivated by Trump’s tweet-barrage of insults towards his Attorney General, Yates sees something far worse for the country taking shape. From the New York Times, in an op-ed titled "Protect The Justice Department From President Trump,” she writes:
The president is attempting to dismantle the rule of law, destroy the time-honored independence of the Justice Department, and undermine the career men and women who are devoted to seeking justice day in and day out, regardless of which political party is in power.
If we are not careful, when we wake up from the Trump presidency, our justice system may be broken beyond recognition.
Yates looks past the sideshow of Trump's tweets and gets to the heart of what all of his actions—from firing James Comey at the FBI, to urging new investigations of Hillary Clinton, to pressuring Sessions to resign---are actually designed to accomplish: weaponizing the Justice Department to satisfy his personal vendettas while installing a political ally to protect him from investigation into potential felony crimes and possible treason:
President Trump’s actions appear aimed at destroying the fundamental independence of the Justice Department. All the while, he’s ripping the blindfold off Lady Justice and attempting to turn the department into a sword to seek vengeance against his perceived enemies and a shield to protect himself and his allies.
It’s almost impossible to take all of this in. And while we risk becoming numb to the daily barrage of alarming news, we can’t lose sight of the fact that this is beyond abnormal. It’s dangerous.
These are incredibly strong words coming from a former Deputy AG, particularly one as exacting as Yates, not given to hyperbole or exaggeration. She is clearly appalled by what she is witnessing at Justice. She stresses that the entire function of the Agency will be crippled if it allows Trump to influence its decisions on what or what not to prosecute, especially when the target of the prosecution is the White House itself:
In short, no one at the White House should have anything to do with any decisions about whom or what to investigate or prosecute. Period.
Her argument is that Trump’s actions go to the very core of our system of Justice, of equal protection under the law, and the fundamental independence of the DOJ from political interference. As an agency vested with the ability to deprive persons of their liberty, the Department of Justice cannot be perceived as a weapon of the Executive Branch to be used against its political enemies, or to protect itself from criminal investigation. That is the only thing that distinguishes our country from a Police State.
Yates says if this country is to survive Americans simply cannot afford to stand idly by and watch its system of justice destroyed before our eyes:
We must do more than rubberneck as we drive past this car crash. We all have a responsibility to protect our Justice Department’s ability to do its job free from interference. The very foundation of our justice system — the rule of law — depends on it.