“If this continues, we will be left with a justice department leadership populated only by cowards and fools. A justice department used both as a sword to go after the president’s enemies, and a shield to hide its corruption.”
Washington D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) delivered remarks on the Senate floor criticizing President Donald Trump’s attack on the rule of law and warning of the serious threat presidential immunity poses to our democracy and our justice system.
Watch his full remarks HERE. Download remarks HERE.
Key Excerpts:
On Trump evading the justice system:
Four years ago, after losing his re-election campaign, Donald Trump conspired to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power and incited a violent attack on the Capitol. He also withheld highly classified material and obstructed an investigation into that offense.
In what can be seen as a vindication of the rule of law, Donald Trump was indicted for these crimes. But a system of justice bound by the rule of law requires not only that charging decisions be made against people similarly situated, without preference or disfavor according to their position, but that the conduct of those prosecutions likewise be timely and appropriate.
In this, our justice system failed miserably. Trump was able to seek endless delays in court, and the courts, understanding the motivation, mindful of the fact that justice delayed can mean justice is denied, willfully delayed the prosecution of Donald Trump until he could avoid a reckoning with justice altogether.
Most egregious was the conduct of the high court itself. The Roberts Court first delayed any potential trial of the president, and then crippled the prosecution altogether in a decision granting the president immunity from prosecution for the commission of crimes while in office. No wonder the president thanked the court at last night’s joint address and told Justice Roberts in particular that he would not forget. For the first time in America, the Supreme Court held that if you reach the pinnacle of power — the presidency — the criminal laws need not apply to you, that indeed you may use the power of the office itself to commit crimes and never be held to account.
On Trump’s unjust department of justice:
It is a justice department in which Trump’s lawyers have sought to dismiss a serious corruption case against the mayor of New York, as an alleged quid pro quo for his willingness to do the president’s bidding on unrelated policy matters. They seek a dismissal without prejudice, meaning the president can lower that sword of Damocles on the head of the mayor should he ever demonstrate independence from the whims of the president.
Six senior justice department prosecutors resigned their office rather than pervert justice in this way. As one wrote in his resignation letter: “I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me.” Other prosecutors at the justice department have likewise refused illegal orders to initiate investigations where no probable cause exists, rather than violate their oath of office.
If this continues, we will be left with a justice department leadership populated by only cowards and fools. A justice department used both as a sword to go after the president’s enemies, and a shield to hide its corruption. Then what will remain of our nation of laws, but a sad memory of a time when we lived up to our founder’s dreams only to squander the gift of our inheritance.
Read the transcript of his remarks as delivered below:
John Adams once said that we are a nation of laws, not men, and this idea has been foundational to the understanding of the American Republic. But what does it mean to be a nation of laws? And is it still true in America in the era of Donald Trump? Are we a nation of laws? One characterized by a legal code that applies equally to all citizens, a justice system in which no one is above the law or beyond its reach, in which there is not one law for the rich and powerful and yet another for everyone else?
Or have we become a nation of men, in which the law must bend to the will of its most powerful citizens. A society in which wealth and privilege mean that the law need not apply to them with the same force as it applies to others, or not at all?
Four years ago, after losing his re-election campaign, Donald Trump conspired to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power and incited a violent attack on the Capitol. He also withheld highly classified material and obstructed an investigation into that offense.
In what can be seen as a vindication of the rule of law, Donald Trump was indicted for these crimes. But a system of justice bound by the rule of law requires not only that charging decisions be made against people similarly situated, without preference or disfavor according to their position, but that the conduct of those prosecutions likewise be timely and appropriate.
In this, our justice system failed miserably. Trump was able to seek endless delays in court, and the courts, understanding the motivation, mindful of the fact that justice delayed can mean justice is denied, willfully delayed the prosecution of Donald Trump until he could avoid a reckoning with justice altogether.
Most egregious was the conduct of the high court itself. The Roberts Court first delayed any potential trial of the president, and then crippled the prosecution altogether in a decision granting the president immunity from prosecution for the commission of crimes while in office. No wonder the president thanked the court at last night’s joint address and told Justice Roberts in particular that he would not forget. For the first time in America, the Supreme Court held that if you reach the pinnacle of power — the presidency — the criminal laws need not apply to you, that indeed you may use the power of the office itself to commit crimes and never be held to account.
As Justice Sotomayor wrote, that new immunity lies about like a loaded weapon, and makes a mockery of the principle that no man is above the law.
Now we have entered a perilous new phase as a country, in which a person who escaped the application of law, is now charged with administering the law. In which Donald Trump has appointed his own criminal defense lawyers to top positions in the justice department and appointed an FBI director with a long published enemies list.
It is a justice department in which Trump’s lawyers have sought to dismiss a serious corruption case against the mayor of New York, as an alleged quid pro quo for his willingness to do the president’s bidding on unrelated policy matters. They seek a dismissal without prejudice, meaning the president can lower that sword of Damocles on the head of the mayor should he ever demonstrate independence from the whims of the president.
Six senior justice department prosecutors resigned their office rather than pervert justice in this way. As one wrote in his resignation letter: “I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me.” Other prosecutors at the justice department have likewise refused illegal orders to initiate investigations where no probable cause exists, rather than violate their oath of office.
If this continues, we will be left with a justice department leadership populated by only cowards and fools. A justice department used both as a sword to go after the president’s enemies, and a shield to hide its corruption. Then what will remain of our nation of laws, but a sad memory of a time when we lived up to our founder’s dreams only to squander the gift of our inheritance.
Mr. President, I yield back.
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