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john kelly
Public Citizen Makes the Case Against 'Both-Sidesing' the Trump Indictment
"While Trump and his allies continue their bluster, the media should focus on the facts of the indictment and the unprecedented obstruction it outlines."
Jun 20, 2023
A top official at the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen on Tuesday issued a resounding repudiation of Republicans who draw false equivalencies between the alleged misdeeds of former President Donald Trump—who faces scores of federal and state criminal charges—and those of President Joe Biden and his son.
Earlier this month, Trump was charged with 37 federal felony counts related to his alleged possession and sharing of classified government documents after he left office. Additionally, the Manhattan district attorney's office in April charged Trump with 34 felony counts involving alleged hush money payments during the 2016 election cycle to cover up sex scandals.
Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis has signaled that Trump could also be charged for alleged "criminal interference in the administration of Georgia's 2020 general election" during the state superior court's upcoming term, which runs from July 11 through the end of August.
"Key Republicans and former Trump administration officials who have looked at the facts admit that these charges are credible, serious, and necessary."
While numerous Republicans have condemned Trump's actions, the former president and many of his supporters have called his prosecution a "witch hunt" while claiming he's a victim of a legal double standard. Trump's backers point to the classified documents improperly held by Mike Pence, his former vice president and 2024 GOP presidential rival, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and Biden—who is currently under investigation by a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Some right-wing observers also contend that the plea deal announced Tuesday under which Hunter Biden, the president's son who holds no government office, will avoid prosecution—an outcome common to about 97% of federal criminal cases—proves a legal double-standard favoring Democrats.
\u201cTo all the Republican morons and the \u201cboth sides are bad\u201d idiots reacting to Hunter Biden news - Trump also could have plead guilty any time and gotten a deal, or simply returned documents when he was asked to and avoided being charged in the first place, or not done a coup, or\u201d— Mariya Alexander (@Mariya Alexander) 1687270427
However, legal and other experts reject such comparisons, pointing to Trump's refusal to hand over documents in his possession and his showing of the secret files to at least several people, an act that critics say could jeopardize national security.
"There is no both-sidesing this indictment. Key Republicans and former Trump administration officials who have looked at the facts admit that these charges are credible, serious, and necessary," Public Citizen executive vice president Lisa Gilbert said in a statement.
Gilbert cites Trump administration officials including Attorney General William Barr—who called the Espionage Act charges against the former president "solid" and the evidence in the case "very, very damning"—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly to underscore how even former members of Trump's inner circle acknowledge the validity and gravity of the federal indictment.
Former Defense Secretary Mike Esper said "clearly, it was unauthorized, illegal, and dangerous" for Trump to allegedly take classified national security documents to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and show them to aides, a writer, and at least one supporter.
\u201cFormer Trump AG Bill Barr on Trump's federal indictment: "If even half of it is true, then he's toast. I mean, it's a very detailed indictment, and it's very, very damning. This idea of presenting Trump as a victim here -- a victim of a witch hunt -- is ridiculous."\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1686492463
Esper compared Trump's alleged actions to those of Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman arrested in April for allegedly leaking sensitive documents online.
According to Gilbert:
While Trump and his allies continue their bluster, the media should focus on the facts of the indictment and the unprecedented obstruction it outlines: Trump repeatedly blocked federal law enforcement officials who were attempting to retrieve approximately 300 classified documents that endanger our national security; and he directed his staff and lawyers to hide evidence, lie, and obstruct the FBI and grand jury in an attempt to keep them from recovering these documents—which contained highly classified national security information.
"As the overwhelmingly bipartisan response to the seriousness of this indictment shows, Americans are united in the belief that no one is above the law, not even a former president of the United States," Gilbert added.
Other observers have also decried comparisons of Trump and Biden's alleged misdeeds.
\u201cComparing what Trump did with classified documents to what Clinton, Pence or Biden did with classified documents is like comparing what Dylann Roof did with a gun to what Dick Cheney did with a gun \u2026 it\u2019s arguing deliberate is the same as accidental.\n https://t.co/26jJtFZzJ3\u201d— Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) (@Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired)) 1686570160
Equating Trump's alleged crimes with Democrats' purported misdeeds may hold water with Trump's staunchest supporters, "but it's false," Vox politics reporter Nicole Narea recently wrote.
"None of those figures ignored a subpoena to turn over classified material concerning highly sensitive matters of national security and then sought to conceal it from federal officials and their own attorneys, as is alleged of Trump," she argued. "And in fact, history suggests that if Trump complied with that request, as some of his peers did, prosecutors may not have pressed charges."
"The case against Trump is not so much about the fact that he retained documents he had no right to keep—but that he allegedly did so knowingly and brazenly defying the federal government while putting U.S. interests at risk," Narea added. "That puts Trump in a class of his own."
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Federal Lawsuit Naming Top Trump Officials Seeks Damages for 'Horrific' Trauma Imposed on Separated Children and Families
"Some may never recover, but we are fighting to give them a chance."
Oct 03, 2019
The ACLU and other attorneys filed a federal lawsuit in the Arizona U.S. District Court Thursday "seeking damages on behalf of thousands of traumatized children and parents who were forcibly torn from each other under the Trump administration's illegal practice of separating families at the border."
"We think that the family separations was so extreme and so unprecedented that if ever there was a case warranting damages, it's this one."
--Lee Gelernt, ACLU
The new lawsuit covers all forced separations from 2017 to present.
"The suffering and trauma inflicted on these little children and parents is horrific," Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, said in a statement. "Tragically, it could take years for these families to heal. Some may never recover, but we are fighting to give them a chance."
The administration's so-called "zero tolerance" policy was officially unveiled by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in May of 2018 and, in another case brought by the ACLU, a federal judge issued a nationwide injunction against it and ordered the reunification of separated migrant families the following month.
In January of this year, the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed in a report that President Donald Trump's administration had separated thousands more children from their parents at the southern U.S. border than was previously known--dating back to July of 2017, almost a year before Sessions publicly introduced the policy.
Announcing the case on Thursday, the ACLU referenced an HHS inspector general report from last month which found that "according to program directors and mental health clinicians, separated children exhibited more fear, feelings of abandonment, and post-traumatic stress than did children who were not separated."
"Separated children experienced heightened feelings of anxiety and loss as a result of their unexpected separation from their parents after their arrival in the United States," the HHS report continued. "For example, some separated children expressed acute grief that caused them to cry inconsolably."
\u201cA new report last month found separated children suffered from "acute grief that caused them to cry inconsolably," "believed their parents abandoned them," experienced "feelings of anger and guilt," and more.\n\nWe've sued for damages because reunions don't magically heal this.\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1570128510
The children weren't alone in enduring severe emotional trauma because of the administration's policy of ripping apart migrant families in a bid to drive down immigration rates through fear. According to the ACLU, "Several parents attempted suicide, and some tragically occurred."
Six-year-old Andres "was torn kicking and screaming from the arms of his father," Jacinto, "as Jacinto struggled to make uninterested guards aware of Andres' heart murmur."
--lawsuit
Some separated families have since been reunited, but others have not. The ACLU noted that "the administration's care and tracking for the separated children was so deficient that when a federal court finally ordered the government to reunify families, government officials were unable to identify which child belonged to which parent."
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, docketed as A.I.I.L. v. Sessions, include families from Guatemala and Honduras who were separated at Arizona-Mexico border. In one case, 13-year-old Karina was separated from her mother Lorena, "on Christmas Day, and kept handcuffed to control her as her mother was taken away and then subjected to the trauma of 16 months of separation, without any regard for her preexisting mental health issues."
Three-year-old Beatriz was taken from her father Jairo "after watching U.S. immigration officials violently remove another child from her mother. Later, Beatriz was physically abused by her caretaker while in the custody of the U.S. government," the complaint says. Six-year-old Andres "was torn kicking and screaming from the arms of his father," Jacinto, "as Jacinto struggled to make uninterested guards aware of Andres' heart murmur. Jacinto was deported without Andres, and Andres did not see his father again for nearly 10 months."
For the lawsuit, The Associated Pressreported Thursday,
the ACLU wants class action status, meaning if it wins, thousands of families who are not plaintiffs can also be compensated. Attorneys didn't list a dollar amount requested, but have also filed complaints with the Department of Homeland Security that seek $3 million per family. Those complaints could be eventually tied into this lawsuit.
"We think that the family separations was so extreme and so unprecedented that if ever there was a case warranting damages, it's this one," Gelernt told the AP. Gelernt added that he hoped families could use some of the money to get mental health assistance and "put their lives back together."
The suit names several former and current Trump administration officials as defendants, including Sessions; HHS Secretary Alex Azar; former White House Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly; former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen; and Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to the president.
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Slamming 'Corruption' That Has Allowed Rampant Abuse, Warren Releases Plan to Ban Private Prisons
"There should be no place in America for profiting off of putting more people behind bars or in detention."
Jun 21, 2019
Calling the federal government's close ties with for-profit prison operators "corruption," Sen. Elizabeth Warren released her plan to ban private prisons should she win the presidency in 2020.
The Massachusetts Democrat's proposal focused on the massive growth in the private prison industry over the last two decades. In that time, the government has turned a blind eye to human rights abuses within private detention centers, the price gouging companies like Core Civic and Geo Group subject inmates to, and as lawmakers have enriched their campaigns through their relationships with those companies--making the enforcement of any restrictions impossible.
"We didn't get here by chance," Warren wrote in a Medium post. "Washington works hand-in-hand with private prison companies, who spend millions on lobbyists, campaign contributions, and revolving-door hires--all to turn our criminal and immigration policies into ones that prioritize making them rich instead of keeping us safe."
Warren explained how she would ban private, for-profit prisons; stop contractors from charging fees for essential services; and ensure oversight of how detention centers operate.
The senator wrote that after ending all contracts between the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and other public entities with private prison operators, she would cut federal public safety funding for states and municipalities unless they agreed to use the money for publicly-run prisons only.
\u201cFirst, I'll end all contracts between the Bureau of Prisons, ICE, and the U.S. Marshals Service and private detention providers. There should be no place in America for profiting off of putting more people behind bars or in detention.\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1561123052
The senator's plan won praise from critics of mass incarceration on social media.
\u201cImportantly, Warren\u2019s plan would go beyond ending private prison and detention centers\u2014it also takes direct aim at the prison retail industry\u2019s financial exploitation of prisoners and their families, calling to provide services like communication at no-cost to the consumer. Huge.\u201d— Brian Highsmith (@Brian Highsmith) 1561123666
\u201cAnother plan America desperately needs from @ewarren. \n\nElizabeth Warren Wants to Ban Private Prisons: They Have \u2018No Place in America\u2019 https://t.co/qYWJkDMeSo via @thedailybeast\u201d— Victoria Brownworth #NotLeavingThisBirdApp (@Victoria Brownworth #NotLeavingThisBirdApp) 1561128180
"We are glad to see that the prison industrial complex is finally part of the national electoral discussion on criminal justice, and that presidential candidates like Sen. Warren are addressing the issue directly," said Bianca Tylek, executive director of criminal justice advocacy group Worth Rises, in a statement. "The intention that roots her plan resonates with our mission to end the exploitation of all people touched by incarceration and offers concrete policies to help us get there."
Warren pointed to former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly's new role as a member of the board at Caliburn International, whose subsidiary operates the largest detention center for unaccompanied migrant children, as one example of the corruption deeply embedded in the operation of for-profit prisons and the need to shut them down.
"Caliburn has profited directly off of the Trump administration's inhumane immigration policies--while children at [Caliburton's detention center] are reportedly kept in unsanitary, prison-like conditions, often for months," wrote Warren. "Now John Kelly is cashing in, too."
"This is just the latest example of private prison companies wringing billions out of federal taxpayers," she added.
Private prison operators like Caliburn, GEO Group, and CoreCivic spend millions on lobbying and campaign contributions to politicians like President Donald Trump, who received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the industry in 2016. The private prison sector's inmate population grew at five times the rate of the overall prison population from 2000 to 2016.
Trump's aggressive anti-immigration agenda has also been a boon for the industry, as Kelly's involvement in Caliburn demonstrates. CoreCivic and Geo Group raked in at least $800 million in 2018 in government contracts to transport and detain migrant children under Trump's detention policies.
"These companies got their biggest break yet when Donald Trump landed in the White House," wrote Warren. "With Trump, private prison companies saw their chance to run the same playbook for our immigration system. They poured money into lobbying for 'alternatives' to ICE detention centers. And boy, did it pay off. Private detention centers have made millions implementing Trump's cruel immigration policies, as the number of detained children quintupled in just a single year. Today 73 percent of detained immigrants are held in private detention facilities."
Close relations with the government have also helped the private prison industry to explode and essentially govern itself by its own rules in order to increase its profits--all with minimal oversight thanks to a loophole in FOIA which exempts private prisons from the transparency federal and state prisons are subject to.
The secrecy with which these facilities operate, Warren wrote, has resulted in human rights abuses including the illegal overuse of solitary confinement as a space-saving measure, a higher rate of assault than at public prisons, and under Trump's immigration agenda, the deaths of children in privately-run detention centers.
Warren wrote that she plans to close the FOIA loophole and appoint an independent prison conditions monitor to work in the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General. The monitor would be charged with making sure all prisons operate safely, without cutting corners, and would terminate their operation if they fall short.
\u201cFinally, I'll hold contractors accountable by expanding oversight, transparency and enforcement. It\u2019s time to shine sunlight on the black box of private services that receive taxpayer dollars.\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1561123052
"Washington hands billions over to corporations profiting off of inhumane detention and incarceration policies while ignoring the families that are destroyed in the process," Warren wrote. "We need to call that out for what it is: corruption. Incarcerating and detaining millions for profit doesn't keep us safe. It's time to do better."
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