Senate: Reject Far-right William Barr for attorney general

Tell the Senate: "Reject William Barr's nomination as attorney general. His long record of right-wing extremist views combined with his anti-Mueller memo disqualify him." Add your name:

Trump's government shutdown has been eclipsing some important news: His pick for attorney general, William Barr, wants to give him cover when it comes to the Mueller investigation. This past summer, Barr argued to senior Justice Department officials that Robert Mueller cannot investigate Trump for obstruction of justice.1 Barr's memo would be disqualifying even if the rest of his record was spotless, but of course, as a member of team Trump, his record is deep on bigotry and intolerance.2 With news last week that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein may leave the Justice Department after Barr is confirmed, there is even more urgency to build momentum to block Barr ahead of this week's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination. Tell the Senate: Reject William Barr. Click here to sign the petition. Since no one asked Barr to write his memo to the Justice Department, it appears that he was actively trying to court favor with Trump by attacking Mueller.3 He essentially signaled that he would shut down a huge portion of the Mueller investigation – the part focused on whether Trump attempted to obstruct justice – with arguments that law professors say don't hold up. The news of the memo came right after news that Acting Attorney General Matthew Whittaker overruled Justice Department ethics officials and decided not to recuse himself from overseeing the Mueller investigation. In short, Trump seems to pick attorneys general based on whether they will help cover up his alleged crimes.4 When it comes to Mueller, Barr is worse than Jeff Sessions, but he has an equally ugly record on everything else: Mass Incarceration: Barr and Sessions both want to expand mass incarceration and impose even stricter punishments. Barr even oversaw the writing of a report called "The Case for More Incarceration."5 Immigration: In the 1990s, as George H. W. Bush's attorney general, Barr led an effort that diverted Haitian asylum seekers to Guantanamo Bay. Some who were HIV positive were segregated and forced to undergo additional screening, creating what one LGBTQ activist called "the world's first and only detention camp for refugees with HIV." Barr defended it as late as 2001.6 He later went on to claim Trump's Muslim Ban was completely legal (courts disagreed) and lovingly applauded Sessions for his hard-line immigration policies like family separation.7 Right-wing agenda: Like Sessions, Barr wants to make the federal government a tool for his right-wing social agenda. He opposes Roe v. Wade, blamed secular culture for everything from HIV to crime, hailed Sessions's attempt to erase transgender Americans and once insisted that the feds should restrain what he termed “sexual immorality” like homosexuality and sex outside of marriage.8,9 The tide could be turning on Barr. Even right-leaning Democrats are saying Trump should withdraw the nomination.10 Now it's up to us. We need a loud outcry right now to make sure no Democrat supports William Barr's nomination, and every Republican knows there is a political cost to ramming it through. Tell the Senate: Reject William Barr. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/reject_william_barr?t=7&akid=31167%2E3130208%2EbIkJ2b Heidi Hess, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Daniel Hemel and Eric Posner, "Bill Barr Just Argued Himself Out of a Job," The New York Times, Dec. 21, 2018. Jon Weiner, "William Barr: Worse Than Jeff Sessions?" The Nation, Dec. 13, 2018. Daniel Hemel and Eric Posner, "Bill Barr Just Argued Himself Out of a Job," The New York Times. Charlie Savage and Katie Benner, "A Memo and a Recusal Decision Underscore Potential Threats to the Mueller Inquiry," The New York Times, Dec. 20, 2018. Weiner, "William Barr: Worse Than Jeff Sessions?" Kate Smith, "'A stain on U.S. history': Trump's attorney general pick used Guantanamo Bay to hold thousands of Haitian refugees," CBS News, Dec. 10, 2016. Weiner, "William Barr: Worse Than Jeff Sessions?" Ibid. Jay Michaelson, "William Barr, Trump’s Attorney General Pick, Wanted Government to ‘Restrain Sexual Immorality,," Daily Beast, Dec. 9, 2018. Alex Rogers and Manu Raju, "Key Senate Democrat says Trump 'should withdraw' attorney general nomination," CNN, Dec. 20, 2018. More Information: William Barr’s confirmation hearing expected to be a battle over Mueller’s future - Washington Post

Tell Senate Republicans: Demand that Mitch McConnell bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to a vote

Tell Senate Republicans: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is blocking a vote on the bipartisan legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. It’s time to put country over party and publicly call on him to hold a fair up-or-down vote for the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act." Add your name:

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has yielded multiple indictments of high-level Trump associates.1 But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continues his dangerous agenda of putting his party over democracy. He is trying to kill the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, the bipartisan bill that would stop Trump from sabotaging Mueller. Trump has constantly threatened to fire Mueller – and many have speculated that Trump has come very close to firing Mueller's supervisor Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.2,3 McConnell will continue to be complicit in Trump’s lawlessness unless he lets Congress do its job and protect Mueller’s investigation into Trump. There are enough votes to pass this bill in the Senate – but only if McConnell allows it come to the floor.  Tell Senate Republicans: Demand that Mitch McConnell bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to the Senate floor for a fair up or down vote. Click here to sign the petition. McConnell says he will not allow a Senate vote on the bipartisan legislation because he doesn’t think the president will try to fire Mueller.4 But Trump already tried fire to Mueller back in June and only backed down when White House staff threatened to quit.5 Trump is doing everything he can to undermine Mueller's investigation. On Sunday, he tweeted that the FBI had placed a "spy" on his campaign – an attempt to weaken public confidence in the Department of Justice – and demanded that the DOJ open an investigation. 6 On Monday, he met with Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray. After the meeting, Rosenstein announced that the DOJ would turn over highly classified information from Mueller's investigation to congressional Republicans. This is an unprecedented breach of protocol and capitulation to partisan politics and Trump lapdog Devin Nunes, who has been making that demand for months in his role as House Intelligence Committee Chair.7 The vast majority of Americans think Mueller should conduct his investigation without presidential interference.8 That fact isn’t lost on the many GOP senators who’ve said they agree with the American people that Trump would be crossing a red line by disrupting the investigation now. A vote on this bill would send a strong message to Trump that the Senate will no longer be complicit in his attempts to undermine the investigation. Congress has a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check on the executive branch. With an illegitimate autocrat occupying the White House, our system of laws needs the strongest possible defense – no White House is above the law. Congress must step up now to make sure we have a truly independent investigation of Trump. Tell Senate Republicans: Demand that Mitch McConnell bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to the Senate floor for a fair up or down vote. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/mcconnell_covering_for_Trump?t=7&akid=28674%2E3130208%2EuPFzj0 - Kaili Lambe, CREDO Action Add your name: Carl Hulse "Push for Special Counsel Bill Shows G.O.P.’s Rising Fear Mueller Will Be Fired," The New York Times, April 19, 2018. Chris Cillizza, "Donald Trump has never been more likely to fire Robert Mueller than he is right now," CNN, April 10, 2018. Cristiano Lima, "Trump on whether he'll fire Mueller: 'We'll see what happens,'" POLITICO, April 9, 2018. Lauren Gambino, "McConnell says he will not allow vote on bill protecting Mueller from firing," The Guardian, April 17, 2018. Michael Schmidt and Maggie Haberman, "Trump Ordered Mueller Fired, but Backed Off When White House Counsel Threatened to Quit," New York Times, Jan. 25, 2018. Adam Edelman, "DOJ seeks probe of FBI conduct in 2016 campaign after Trump 'spy' claim," NBC News, May 21, 2018. Justin Sink, "Rosenstein Will Let Congress See ‘Highly Classified’ Information, White House Says," Bloomberg, May 21, 2018. Scott Clement and Emily Guskin, "https://act.credoaction.com/go/22537?t=18&akid=28674%2E3130208%2EuPFzj0," The Washington Post, April 13, 2018.

Tucson Nobody is Above the Law Rally

Right now, rumors are swirling around Washington, D.C. that Donald Trump is planning to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein -- Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s boss -- because of his involvement in the independent investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

From bragging about avoiding paying federal income taxes, to refusing to release his tax returns, to profiting from the presidency, Trump has proven time and time again that he believes the rules and laws of our American institutions don’t apply to him.

But firing Rosenstein is an ALARMING red line that, if crossed, would lead us into an unprecedented constitutional crisis. It would be the clearest attack yet on the Special Counsel’s investigation into potential collusion with Russia, obstruction of justice, and many more crimes.

That’s why hundreds of thousands of people in over 800 towns and cities across the country have committed to taking to the streets if Rosenstein is fired.

It’s essential that we send a strong message that Trump is NOT above the law -- sign up right now to join a pre-planned rally near you.

As Special Counsel Mueller’s boss, Rosenstein has power over how the Russia investigation is conducted and even whether its results are made public. Firing Rosenstein and replacing him with one of Trump’s flunkies would be just as dangerous to the investigation as firing Mueller.

At this time last year, we marched for tax fairness and government accountability, but now the future of our democracy is at stake -- sign up to attend a rally right now.

- Nicole Gill,Tax March

Let's meet up outside of the district court building in case Trump fires Mueller. Many of our fellow citizens now say that the president can not obstruct justice--in effect, arguing that the president is above the law. We must show resistance if the president acts above the law by firing Mueller.

This is an event planned as a rapid-response protest in the event that Donald Trump fires Special Counsel Robert Mueller or acts in other ways to seriously threaten the Trump-Russia investigation. Please note that the listed date is a placeholder and will be updated to be within 24 hours of the firing, should it occur. 

The Tucson part of the event will be held:

United States District Court - District of Arizona - Tucson
405 W Congress Street
Tucson, AZ 85701

RSVP to let the event host know that they can count on you to attend the event.

Once you sign up, make sure to invite friends to join you at the event!

The host has marked that this event is wheelchair accessible.

Note: If you choose to attend an event, you agree to engage in nonviolent, peaceful action, to act lawfully, and to strive to de-escalate any potential confrontations with those who may disagree with our values.

Event ground rules

By participating in this event, you agree
(i) not to engage in any act of violence or violation of any applicable law,
(ii) to obey the orders of authorized event marshals and law enforcement authorities, and
(iii) that event organizers and sponsors will not be responsible for any injury or damage to your person or property resulting from or occurring in the course of your participating in the event, and you agree to release and forever hold harmless event organizers and sponsors, and their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents from liability for any such injury or damage.