Three Senate Democrats are suing to challenge the appointment of Trump’s Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker:
DAILY BEAST – A group of Senate Democrats is suing to block Matt Whitaker from serving as acting attorney general on grounds that his placement in the post was unconstitutional.
The suit, which is being filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is the latest and most aggressive salvo against the Whitaker appointment. Last week, the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel defended Whitaker’s promotion in a memo that drew immediate criticism for its expansive understanding of the president’s power. That view is in hot dispute, including from the state of Maryland, which petitioned a federal judge to stop him from serving on constitutional grounds.
“Installing Matthew Whitaker so flagrantly defies constitutional law that any viewer of Schoolhouse Rock would recognize it,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “President Trump is denying Senators our constitutional obligation and opportunity to do our job: scrutinizing the nomination of our nation’s top law enforcement official. The reason is simple: Whitaker would never pass the advice and consent test. In selecting a so-called “constitutional nobody” and thwarting every Senator’s constitutional duty, Trump leaves us no choice but to seek recourse through the courts.”
This isn’t about the fact that Whitaker hasn’t been confirmed by the Senate. This is about Mueller. Democrats are worried that Whiteaker might ax the Mueller investigation and want Rosenstein because they think he’ll protect Mueller.
But of course they have to argue it on legal grounds.
Remember, the Justice Department has issued a legal opinion defending the Whitaker appointment.
Honestly, I think they’ll ultimately lose. But they’ll get a few activist judges to side with them along the way, which will make headlines. By the time it reaches the Supreme Court, if it goes that far, my guess is that Trump will probably have a new AG so it will be moot.
You can read the full lawsuit complaint here.