ustice Department prosecutors are refusing to honor a judge’s order to release secret transcripts of conversations between former national security adviser Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak after the Obama administration had slapped sanctions on Russia for interfering in the 2016 presidential election. Federal district judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered the release in a rare request for a secret wiretap of foreign officials. (The New York Times, May 31, 2019, by Adam Goldman)
Some legal experts are saying Attorney General Bill Barr is acting suspiciously in not complying with Sullivan’s order. It would be a widely expected that rather than publicly defy the order. the Justice Department would appeal or ask for a closed session with the judge explaining their national security concerns. Conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin expressed alarm over the defiance and suggested that the remedy should be impeachment hearings. “If allowed to continue this conduct,” she wrote, “the Trump administration will do permanent and serious damage to the Constitution.” (Raw Story, June 2, 2019, by Tom Boggioni)