Slotkin lawyer warns Blanche not to obey Trumps frivolous demand to investigate her
WASHINGTON — An attorney for Democratic Sen.Elissa Slotkin is warning Attorney General Todd Blanche not to bow to President Donald Trump’s demand for a criminal investigation into her political speech.Over the weekend, Trump posted on his social media platform that he was demanding the Justice Department look into the Michigan senator’s recent comments about how Democratic investigations into the Trump administration could send a “deterrence message” to young people thinking about joining the administration in its final two years.“By copy of this statement, I am ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!” Trump wrote.
In a letter to Blanche made public Monday, Preet Bharara, the former U.S.attorney in the Southern District of New York, wrote that it “should not be hard to make clear that we do not live in an authoritarian regime where mere criticism of the powerful can land anyone in legal peril and possibly prison.”“That requires a clear and public statement confirming that the Department will not pursue this investigation against Senator Slotkin,” he wrote.
The Justice Department didn’t comment on Trump’s post.The attorney general is appointed by the president and is a member of his Cabinet, but it’s still highly unusual for the White House to publicly demand an investigation.
The Justice Department has long sought to separate politics from the law.But under Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, the department has investigated many of the president’s perceived political enemies.
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