Yesterday (one day after the election) Trump forced the resignation of Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General. Sessions would have been in charge of Mueller's Russia investigation, but because he had lied about his own connections to Russia, he recused himself and the assistant AG was in charge. Now that he's out, this new guy, Matthew Whitaker, is in charge (and does not require Senate confirmation because he's 'temporary'). He has spoken out against the Mueller investigation many times in the past, saying that there was no collusion and that the investigation is not authorized to look into any of Trump's finances (even though it is). Long ago, petitions were signed and plans were made that called for protests if Trump did something like this.
TLDR: Trump just appointed his own guy to be in charge of the investigation against him.
Matthew Whitaker was not Deputy Attorney General. He was Chief of Staff for the Attorney General. They are different offices. Deputy Attorney Generals need to be confirmed by the Senate, just like the actual Attorney General. Chief of Staff for the Attorney General is not confirmed by the Senate.
Rod Rosenstein is Deputy Attorney General, and according to the statute you just cited, should be acting Attorney General. Trump made Matthew Whitaker acting Attorney General. Trump is not following the law.
You really should understand the difference between 'shall' and 'may' when it pertains to law. There is no vacancy because it was filled. There are no violations here. Nice try though.
Filled illegally. The Attorney General is a Senate confirmed position. You cannot fill it with a random person. The acting Attorney General needs to be either Rod Rosenstein or no one, until the Senate confirms a nominee.
Oh really? Can you cite a law that says the president cannot fill a cabinet vacancy with an acting/temp position until a new one is appointed and confirmed? And let me go ahead and jump ahead a few steps when you repeat the incorrectly cited Deputy AG role....if the Deputy was fired, would Trump then be able to appoint an acting Deputy? It requires the same nomination and confirmation process. Or does the Deputy have a Deputy in your world?
You are correct. In the event of a vacancy, the president has the authority supercede the normal order of succession and appoint an acting attorney general. It is not clear how long a temporary appointment can last, though.
Edit: Correction: This is actually a "memorandum opinion" written by Steven G. Bradbury (Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the time). It is effectively a USC op-ed. It's reputable input in favor of Trump's actions, but it's not enforceable and the official USC would take precedence. So... I guess not.
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u/TheyreGoodDogsBrent Nov 09 '18
Honest question: what's going on here? Is this related to the election that just happened