During a “shadow hearing” before congressional Democrats Monday evening, former U.S. pardon attorney Liz Oyer — who was fired last month in retaliation for her refusal to comply with a Trump-backed order to restore Mel Gibson’s gun rights — testified that her office was never consulted on Trump’s sweeping January 6 pardons.
Monday’s hearing, led by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), was called in part to gather testimony on the extent to which the Department of Justice is being used to carry out Donald Trump’s retribution agenda.
On Monday, Schiff asked Oyer directly if her office was ever “consulted” on the 1,500-plus pardons Trump dolled out to those convicted as part of their role in the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
“I learned about those pardons on the news just like every other American,” Oyer responded.
“It should alarm all Americans that the leadership of the Department of Justice appears to value political loyalty above the fair and responsible administration of justice,” Oyer added during Monday’s hearing.
Since her dismissal, Oyer has also been the victim of a Trump-backed intimidation campaign to block her Monday testimony. On Friday, armed U.S. Marshals were reportedly set to also deliver the message to Oyer in person to warn her against testifying in person.
The hearing comes just days after President Trump’s nominee for D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin announced to his staff that he plans to expand his investigate-the-investigators gambit, as he reviews how the DOJ handled cases related to the January 6 Capitol riot. It’s one of many retribution schemes that Martin has chosen to carry out on Trump’s behalf as he serves in an interim capacity. Trump has nominated him to serve in the position permanently, but he is still awaiting Senate confirmation as Democrats do what they can to raise objections to his appointment.
Monday’s hearing combined with Martin’s announcement only further cements what continues to be clear about the role of Trump’s DOJ — lacking any typical independence from the White House, it exists simply as a weapon for Trump to go after his perceived political enemies.
According to an email Martin sent to staff in his office on Friday, reviewed by ABC News, the investigation into January 6, which he is calling the “1512 Project,” will now have an “expanded” scope. In that same email, Martin also compared the prosecution of January 6 defendants to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
“We have contacted lawyers, staff and judges about this — and sought their feedback,” Martin wrote in theFriday email, per ABC News. “One called the bi-partisan rejection of the 1512 charge the ‘greatest failure of legal judgement since FDR and his Attorney General put American citizens of Japanese descent in prison camps — and seized their property.’ I agree and that’s why we continue to look at who ordered the 1512 and why. A lot to do.”
Martin, who personally represented a January 6 defendant and who spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally one day before the Capitol riot, has previously made the absurd comparison of January 6 defendants’ arrests and convictions to the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.
What I am amazed by in yesterday’s SC decisions is the absolute lack of urgency, even while the jackals takes large bites out of “rule of law” daily.
Taken together, the pardons tied to political contributions, the extortion of in-kind pro bono work from law firms, the end run around due process and habeas corpus, the contempt for the judiciary reflected in the administration’s threats to judges and stonewalling in courtrooms, the corruption of having a politicized DOJ abetting the president’s quest for absolute power, and the utter destruction of the Constitution’s checks and balances, SHOULD have the justices unanimously defending the Constitution as if they were confronting an arsonist threatening to burn it completely. And yet…
I assume 1512 is the number of J6 criminals pardoned by the felon.
And don’t forget, you can’t spell felon without E.L.O.N.
“Whoever has experienced the power and the unrestrained ability to humiliate another human being automatically loses his own sensations. Tyranny is a habit, it has its own organic life, it develops finally into a disease. The habit can kill and coarsen the very best man or woman to the level of a beast. Blood and power intoxicate … the return of the human dignity, repentance and regeneration becomes almost impossible.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The House of the Dead
“Stop trying to make fetch happen”.
“The 1512” is going nowhere, Ed.
When that many people break the law on television, are duly charged, tried, and convicted, you’re not going to be able to re-make them as civil rights martyrs. But, Trump appreciates your efforts.
. On Friday, armed U.S. Marshals were reportedly set to also deliver the message to Oyer in person to warn her against testifying in person.
It’s official, we are now a Banana Republic.
How long before Donnie dons a uniform like this.