Remove the WNBA owner who "adamantly" opposes Black Lives Matter: SENATOR KELLY LOEFFLER

On Monday, July 6, the WNBA announced that its 2020 season will be dedicated to social justice. When the league resumes play later this month, players will wear special uniforms to seek justice for women and girls, including Breonna Taylor.¹ Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was murdered on March 13 by Louisville, KY, police officers, and millions around the world have joined together to demand justice for her, call for an end to police brutality, and declare that Black lives matter.

Former Atlanta Dream player Angel McCoughtry led the campaign for the WNBA to advocate for social justice and feature the names of those killed or injured by police on players' jerseys.² But Kelly Loeffler, the co-owner of the Atlanta Dream team and a Republican senator, doesn't support the fight for social justice. In a letter to the WNBA commissioner, she wrote, "I adamantly oppose the Black Lives Matter political movement," describing it as having "promoted violence and destruction across the country."^3,4

It's no surprise that Loeffler is criticizing and undermining the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for social justice. She's an outspoken Donald Trump supporter, who voted with him 100% of the time.⁵ But Loeffler's despicable opinion does not represent the views of the WNBA players, fans, and Americans who believe in racial justice and equality.

Loeffler is refusing to give up ownership of the team.⁶ The WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert must remove Kelly Loeffler as Atlanta Dream co-owner.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert must remove Senator Kelly Loeffler—who opposes the Black Lives Matter movement—as co-owner of the Atlanta Dream team.

Former and current WNBA stars, including Breanna Stewart, Sheryl Swoopes, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Natasha Cloud, Alysha Clark, and Sue Bird have called for Loeffler's removal. Stewart, who earned league MVP honors and a championship in 2018, was among the first to publicly call for displaying #BlackLivesMatter and #SayHerName on the court for WNBA games this season.⁷ Swoopes, a former WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, tweeted, "WNBA MUST do better."⁸ The WNBA players' union tweeted, "E-N-O-U-G-H! O-U-T!"⁹

Commissioner Engelbert said that the WNBA is "based on the principle of equal and fair treatment of all people, and we, along with the teams and players, will continue to use our platforms to vigorously advocate for social justice."¹⁰ If she truly believes this, she must take action to back up her words, starting with removing Loeffler as team owner.

We need to stand with the WNBA players in their support of the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for social justice. The league commissioner must remove the team owner who is trying to intimidate the league into falling in line with Trump's racist view of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Thanks!

–Ryan Patrick

Sources:

1. "WNBA Announces A 2020 Season Dedicated To Social Justice," WNBA.com, July 6, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140967?t=10&akid=268392%2E3735812%2EGJKhOe

2. "Players want Sen. Kelly Loeffler out of WNBA ownership for opposing Black Lives Matter," NBC News, July 8, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140975?t=12&akid=268392%2E3735812%2EGJKhOe

3. "Angel McCoughtry pitches WNBA jerseys with names of police brutality victims to continue activism," Yahoo! Sports, June 23, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140974?t=14&akid=268392%2E3735812%2EGJKhOe

4. "Loeffler opposes WNBA's plan to spread 'Black Lives Matter' message," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 7, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140969?t=16&akid=268392%2E3735812%2EGJKhOe

5. "Tracking Congress In The Age Of Trump," FiveThirtyEight, accessed July 8, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140970?t=18&akid=268392%2E3735812%2EGJKhOe

6. "Sen. Kelly Loeffler ignores calls to sell stake in WNBA team after denouncing BLM," Yahoo! Entertainment, July 9, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140976?t=20&akid=268392%2E3735812%2EGJKhOe

7. "WNBA players hit back at Atlanta Dream co-owner Loeffler," Yahoo! Sports, July 7, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140971?t=22&akid=268392%2E3735812%2EGJKhOe

8. "Seattle Storm stars Bird, Stewart criticize anti-BLM comments by Dream co-owner," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 8, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140972?t=24&akid=268392%2E3735812%2EGJKhOe

9. WNBA players hit back at Atlanta Dream co-owner Loeffler," Yahoo! Sports, July 7, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/140971?t=26&akid=268392%2E3735812%2EGJKhOe

10. Ibid.

Remove Sen. Kelly Loeffler--the WNBA owner who "adamantly" opposes Black Lives Matter--as co-owner of the Atlanta Dream.

Why is this important?

Days after the WNBA announced it would take extraordinary steps to amplify the movement for Black Lives, U.S. Senator and co-owner of the WNBA's Atlanta Dream Kelly Loeffler, declared, "I adamantly oppose the Black Lives Matter political movement" and that we should "remove politics from sports."

The WNBA announced that it would spotlight Breonna Taylor's name on jersey's, "Say Her Name" on warm-ups, and "Black Lives Matter" on its basketball courts. Sen. Loeffler, a major supporter of President Trump, criticized the league for taking a stand and said they should put an "American flag on every jersey" as a "common-sense" solution.

Former and current WNBA stars Sheryl Swoopes, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Natasha Cloud, Alysha Clark, and Sue Bird have all called for Sen. Loeffler's removal as an owner from the league.

Basketball icon Sheryl Swoopes tweeted, "WNBA MUST do better." She's absolutely right.

We need to stand with the WNBA in their bold support of the Black Lives Matter movement, especially when a U.S. Senator is trying to intimidate the women's basketball league to fall in line with President Trump's racist view of BLM.

SOURCE:
"Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler critical of WNBA's Black Lives Matter initiative," ESPN, July 7, 2020
https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/29424379/dream-co-owner-kelly-loeffler-critical-wnba-black-lives-matter-initiative

Can you chip in to these five candidates for Congress?

Our campaign for president was never simply about winning the White House and defeating the most dangerous president in modern American history. It was about building an unprecedented grassroots movement to create an economy and a government that works for all of our people — not just those at the top.

As our country is in the midst of a series of crises, it has never been more important to continue our fight for progress and elect candidates who are committed to the struggle for justice.

Today I am asking you to do something important as part of that effort. There are five great progressive candidates for Congress who need our support, and some of them have primaries coming up very soon.

Can I count on you to add a contribution to their campaigns?

If you can afford to, please split a $27 contribution between five progressive candidates for Congress and our campaign.

Whether you're familiar with these candidates already, or you're hearing about them for the first time, I hope you'll keep reading to learn a little bit about why it's so important to have them in Congress.

Rashida Tlaib has been a strong leader of our movement in Congress as well as during our campaign for president. She has stood up to the ugliness of the Trump administration and she's taken on the greed and corruption of the economic establishment. As a fearless leader in the struggle for justice, we must keep her fighting for a strong, progressive agenda in Congress. If we come together, we will ensure she continues to represent Michigan's 13th district.

Julie Oliver worked for 15 years in the health care finance world and saw firsthand how health care companies prioritize their bottom line over people. She understands that we need a Medicare for All, single-payer system. She has also refused to take any PAC money to fund her campaign, and knows that we must fight to overhaul our campaign finance system. Electing Julie to Congress in Texas' 25th district will be a huge victory for our movement.

Cori Bush emerged as a leader while working on the frontlines of the Ferguson movement as a protester, clergy member, medic, and victim of police assault. Now she is running in Missouri's 1st congressional district to continue fighting for justice. Having experienced the burden of student and medical debt and living paycheck to paycheck, Cori is someone we can trust to stand with working people and take on the corporate elite of this country.

Paula Jean Swearengin is running for U.S. Senate in West Virginia. As the daughter and the granddaughter of coal miners, she understands deeply the desperate situation so many West Virginia families find themselves in. She will lead the charge for clean water and good-paying jobs for all. If elected, she will be a senator who stands up to the political and economic establishment and will work tirelessly to ensure the people of Appalachia are treated with dignity.

Mike Siegel is a civil rights attorney and former public school teacher who is running a people-powered campaign in Texas' 10th congressional district. As a city attorney in Austin, he has fought on behalf of immigrant families and low-income renters. From his time in the classroom and the courtroom, Mike has been an advocate for the most vulnerable. In his campaign for Congress, he is rejecting corporate PACs because he knows that large corporations use their money to try to influence candidates and elections.

Here is the truth:

When we talk about building a political revolution, we are talking about electing candidates at all levels of government who will take on the billionaire class and put working people first.

That is exactly what these candidates will do, and that is why I am asking you directly:

Please contribute $27 to five progressives running for Congress and our campaign. Together we must elect a Congress that stands with working people, not the corporate elite.

Together we can make a big difference for these campaigns. Thank you for adding a contribution if you can afford it.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

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Defeating a moderate challenger

Last month, Trump donors and corporate Democrats tried to defeat our movement by pouring cash into our primary opponent’s campaign. Now, after they failed to defeat us, they’re turning their sights to someone else: Ilhan.

Over the last few days, two super PACs backed by Republican donors have spent a half million dollars spreading vicious attacks against Ilhan and her incredible progressive record. We’ve got to fight back.

That’s why we’re asking you directly: Can you dedicate just a few hours this week to help us defeat this corporate challenge with tried-and-true people power?

Upcoming events:

3PM Phone Bank for Ilhan Omar 3PM Daily RSVP or get more info 6PM Phone Bank for Ilhan Omar 6PM Daily RSVP or get more info

Every call you make could flip a voter, register someone new, bring a person off the sidelines, and help us make sure Ilhan wins on August 11th. Your support is critical, and we’re incredibly thankful for it.

Sincerely,

Team AOC

 

Donate

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 To contribute via check, please address to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress, PO Box 680080, Corona, NY 11368.

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RSN: FOCUS: It's Roger Stone Now. Manafort and Flynn Are Next.

12 July 20

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Don’t Forget to Feed the Watchdog

RSN manages to provide a wealth of information of great value to the community on a fraction of the budget that the corporate news media enjoys.

Fundraising has become so difficult that the organization and its mission are significantly impacted.

Don’t forget to feed the media watchdog. Its job is to bark when danger approaches.

That’s why it works.

Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News

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12 July 20

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WHATEVER IT TAKES, WE NEED FUNDING - This may not be easy and it may not be fun, but this organization needs some cash to continue operation. This is where we need to meet the challenge. Right here right now. Time to get onboard. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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FOCUS: It's Roger Stone Now. Manafort and Flynn Are Next.

Colbert I. King, The Washington Post
King writes: "I was off by a few months when I predicted in November that Roger Stone would be granted executive clemency."

“The only question is when,” I wrote. Trump’s safest course of action, I said, would be to wait until after Election Day — Nov. 3, 2020 — to do the dirty deed, but cautioned, “Trump’s impulsiveness, however, is a wild card.” And faced with his longtime henchman heading to the hoosegow next week, Trump couldn’t hold off — so Stone was given clemency in the form of commutation of his prison sentence.

Stone is the first of Trump’s three felonious friends to escape a full measure of justice.

In the November column, I bet Trump would hit a trifecta with his felon allies. The play is underway.

Convicted felon Paul Manafort, jailed for tax evasion and bank fraud, was released from prison in May and granted confinement in his home in Northern Virginia because of the coronavirus pandemic. He is never, ever, cross my heart and hope to die, going back to prison as long as Trump is president.

Given that Stone and Manafort have been spared from life behind bars, it’s all but certain that convicted felon Michael Flynn will go footloose and fancy-free. If the federal courts balk at the Trump Justice Department’s extraordinary request to drop the case outright — a case it has already won, mind you — then there can be no doubt that Trump’s ex-national security adviser will be granted executive clemency, most likely an outright pardon.

What, after all, is presidential power to Donald Trump, except to be used as he sees fit?

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), angered by Trump’s decision, tweeted this morning, “Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president.”

Must have made Trump yawn.

Since entering office, Trump has demonstrated nothing but disregard for ethics and justice.

Against the advice of experienced, respected leaders in the Pentagon, Trump intervened in three cases involving war-crimes accusations, overturning decisions of military juries and issuing full pardons to two soldiers convicted of war crimes, as well as reversing disciplinary action against a third service member.

He got caught trying to bribe a foreign country to interfere in a U.S. election — specifically by offering desperately needed military assistance in exchange for that county pledging to publicly dig up dirt on an opponent — a blatant abuse of presidential power — and got away with it.

A nosy U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York is invading Trump’s business and financial affairs? Why, just sic Attorney General William P. Barr on him. Pressure now-former U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman to resign. Entice the federal prosecutor with other prominent government jobs. If that doesn’t work? Fire him — which Trump did.

Don’t care for independent inspectors general scouting our waste, fraud and abuse during the Reign of Trump? Purge and replace them with more pliant appointees. From April to May, five IGs were kicked out the door in six weeks. Because he wanted to.

None of this should come as a surprise.

What does the rule of law and the system of justice mean to Donald Trump, who thinks his presidency is uncheckable?

Trump must be taught otherwise on Election Day.

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ACLU: The Confederacy upheld white supremacy and slavery. Period.

Last week, as many prepared to celebrate America's "independence," Mississippi voted to remove the Confederate emblem from its state flag. Just days later, a federal court would block the city of Graham, North Carolina from suppressing protests against its Confederate monument following a lawsuit by the ACLU. Considering all of this, we wanted to give you a deeper look into the historical context behind Mississippi's recent vote and the growing debate around Confederate symbols nationwide. Read more in my full piece here. What is the history exactly? We know that the top ten states with Confederate monuments account for over 4,000 lynchings from 1877 to 1950. The University of Washington's Lynching Violence Database documents 689 lynchings in Mississippi alone between 1877 and 1949. However, it was the modern-day lynching of George Floyd, and the anti-racist movement it reinforced, that finally led to the decision about the Mississippi flag last week. Some – including President Trump – argue that Confederate icons and monuments like this should remain because "if you don't understand history, you will go back to it again." But monuments that portray Confederate traitors as heroes are viewed as icons by white supremacists and have done nothing to stop the rise of white supremacy or stop the brutality that Black people have faced for centuries. Please read more on how this deeply harmful "heritage" persists still today. The fact is that the racist ideology upheld by the Confederacy will be ingrained in our memories and history books no matter how many monuments are toppled. To preserve the names of its so-called heroes and the battle flag they fought under only tells Black Americans that this country doesn't care what they did to our ancestors. That's why the decision to retire the Mississippi state flag is not erasing history – it's telling the truth about America's legacy of slavery. And it's long past time for us to reckon with that truth. Thanks for reading, Jeffery Robinson ACLU Deputy Legal Director

This email was sent by: American Civil Liberties Union 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10004, USA

Daily Kos Recommended:

Daily Kos Recommended

Some of this week's most important and widely read stories about the ongoing coronavirus crisis from Daily Kos, the largest online gathering space for progressives.

• Florida man loses job after Costco mask meltdown went viral amid coronavirus pandemic
  
• President Hillary Clinton announces that every case of COVID-19 has now been traced to its source
  
• Cartoon: Mistakes were made
  
• There's something you can do to make sure Daily Kos isn't a victim of the ongoing media extinction event: Start a $3 monthly recurring to Daily Kos to support our work. It really helps.
  
• Trump sank himself in Michigan. Biden didn't have to lift a finger
  
• More than 100 fraternity members test positive for COVID-19 as colleges weigh reopening plans
  
• COVID-19 rages, Trump melts down, and Congress takes a two-week break
  
• Millions of Americans will soon find out just how badly they've been screwed by Trump and the GOP
  
• Trump's tragic incompetence has cost American lives. Every Republican senator who voted to acquit Trump needs to be held accountable for the crisis they've helped create. Chip in now to end Republican control of the Senate.
  
• Those right-wingers who praised Sweden's response to COVID-19 are looking pretty stupid now
  
• Sen. Joni Ernst says 130,000 American deaths show Trump is 'stepping forward'
• 
  Though it is a holiday weekend, the Sunday news shows continued on in mostly the usual fashion. Trump ally Sen. Joni Ernst, one of the corrupt man-child's most ardent defenders as the Republican Senate nullified impeachment charges against Trump without investigation, once had a lot to day about two (2) Americans dying of Ebola under President Barack Obama, saying it showed "failed leadership." CNN host Dana Bash asked Ernst whether 130,000 Americans dying in the (now fully out-of-control) COVID-19 pandemic also is showing "failed leadership."

  Sen. Joni Ernst replied with yet another response seemingly hand-tailored to show just how corrupt, incompetent, and buffoonish the Republican Party has become. After a long filibuster resulting in Bash repeating of the question: "No, I think that the president is stepping forward," she clowned.
  Lord, now that was just pathetic. I’m embarrassed for both of them.

  Again, the whole premise of so-called "news" programs is invalidated if political leaders are simply allowed to bullshit their way through each with no repercussions. Bash's question was spot-on, probing whether a sitting senator's supposed outrage at one pandemic would translate to the next. Clearly, it did not.

  What, then, should the repercussions be for being so transparently a hack? Should a buzzer sound? Should a duck drop from the ceiling? During the pandemic itself physical solutions are largely out of bounds, as most of the people praising Donald Trump's brilliant handling of a pandemic now expected by the White House to result in at least a quarter million dead are praising him from inside their own homes because it is simply too unsafe to travel to the studios as usual. That means the best solution is, for now, right out; nobody is going to agree to have a pie-throwing machine installed in their den.

  Hecklers, then. I'm going to propose the "news" shows liven up their broadcasts with professional hecklers. If any politician says something as egregiously tawdry as Joni Ernst says regularly, ninety seconds of interview time will be given to a team of hecklers to point it out and roast their target into oblivion.

  Hey, it's more news than what's currently being broadcast. If the nation's top political reporters are incapable of bringing shame to those that quite transparently deserve it, we need to bring in people with more appropriate skills.
• Trump is deliberately making things worse, and those who remain at the White House know it
  
• Epic New York Times columnist freak-out on Trump’s dereliction on COVID-19 & more
  
• Sign the petition: Demand Congress hold abusive employers accountable if they cause COVID-19 outbreaks. REJECT COVID-19 corporate immunity!
  
• Researchers argue that COVID-19 is 'airborne,' and it could change social distancing guidelines
  
• Cartoon: Save our statues!
  
• Missouri summer camp gives children coronavirus parting gift
  
• 'No one among us is immune': Penn State student dies of COVID-19 complications
• 
  A 21-year-old Penn State student has died from complications related to COVID-19, and the university is now working to track down those who have had contact with the student, the school said in a statement Thursday. Juan Garcia was living off-campus when he became sick and decided to travel home June 19 to Allentown, which is about 165 miles east of the university. While home, Garcia was tested for COVID-19 on June 20 and died 10 days later, according to the school.

  “We are profoundly saddened to learn about Juan’s untimely death during this pandemic,” Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims said in the statement. “While I did not know Juan personally, we have learned through conversations with those closest to him that this young man had a remarkable spirit and was greatly loved. I know our entire campus community sends our deepest condolences to his family and friends as they grieve this unthinkable loss. It is a poignant reminder that no one among us is immune to the worst consequences of this virus.”
  The university is asking anyone who may have been in contact with Garcia to call the University Health Services 24/7 Advice Nurse at 814-863-4463. “The University is in the process of contact tracing to reach those who may have been in close contact with Garcia while he was contagious,” Penn State officials said.

  Garcia's death happened as the school is preparing to reopen Aug. 24, with double-room residence hall occupancy, The New York Times reported. Campus instruction is, however, planned to end Nov. 20, according to the university. The news has triggered criticism on social media, with many condemning what are believed to be the school’s economic priorities. Penn State accounts for about $128 million annually in Centre County, where the university is located, the Times reported.

  “What I've heard is ‘we simply have to,’ ‘life as we know it will stop’ if we can't send kids back to school, open up our colleges, get people back to work as fast as possible,” Gregg Gonsalves, a public health professor at Yale University said in a Twitter thread Sunday. "What if the price of reopening is death?”

  He also shared a tweet from feminist author Mona Eltahawy, who argues “there is no going back to normal after a pandemic.” “At least 365,000 people have died around the world during this pandemic,” she said in late June. “That’s what normal brought us. F—k normal.”

  WARNING: This video contains profanity which may not be suitable for younger readers.

  Penn State isn’t the only university struggling to balance reopening needs with public health concerns. Nearly all of the country's 4,300 colleges and universities are promising a mix of online and in-person options for students, and presidents at the institutions are hoping multiple testing locations, reenvisioned academic formats, and tight social distancing guidelines will help protect students and staff members, USA Today reported.

  Terry Hartle, senior vice president with the American Council on Education told the newspaper: “At the end of the day, a lot of it is going to depend on young people showing discretion and good sense.” 

  Pennsylvania has seen 6,749 deaths related to COVID-19, including three reported Saturday, The Patriot-News reported. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 634 Saturday, bringing the state's total to 89,375. 

  Still, the statewide counts pale in comparison to epicenters of the virus such as Florida and Texas. Texas is reporting almost 192,000 cases, and more than 190,000 people have been infected with the virus in Florida where Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he won’t shut down businesses again, according to CNBC.

  Although Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered bars to close and began requiring people to wear face coverings in public, the state, which was one of the first to lift its stay-at-home order, has only required restaurants to scale back seating capacities. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, whose county is experiencing a "non-linear increase" in COVID-19 related hospitalizations, told ABC’s “This Week” she is pushing for the state to implement a stay-at-home order.

  “I'm sure a mask order will make some difference and I’m grateful that that’s happened,” she told the network. “That said, as long as we’re doing as little as possible and hoping for the best, we’re always going to be chasing this thing. We’re always going to be behind and the virus will always outrun us.”
• Sign the petition: Urge key oversight bodies to investigate Facebook -- and stop the company from profiting off of vote-suppressing ads.
  
• Justin Trudeau turns down Trump's invite to bathe in our COVID filth
  
• Trump's COVID-19 response plan: total surrender
  
• Working parents cannot return to their jobs if they can't afford diapers
  

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The Daily Kos team

RSN: FOCUS: Bill Barr Is Running an October-Surprise Factory at Justice

12 July 20

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Revelation: Funding the Organization Is Not a Crime

What all this hoopla over fundraising is all about is a basic budget for the organization. It a simple thing, a straight forward thing and something that, when ignored creates large immediate problems.

It’s funding, getting it squared away is not a crime, it’s a necessity.

In earnest.

Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News

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SMALL DONORS RALLYING FOR RSN, NEED SOME MATCHING FUNDS! - Got a nice burst of very small donations last night and this morning. We could really use a few larger ones to get the progress bar moving again. Could that be you? / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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FOCUS: Bill Barr Is Running an October-Surprise Factory at Justice

Chris Smith, Vanity Fair
Smith writes: "Speculating on an October surprise has been a quadrennial media ritual, much like chatter about the possibility of a brokered convention. This year's version will be a Bill Barr production."

The attorney general’s probe of the Russia probes will inevitably arrive in the midst of campaign season—just one small detail of the Justice Department’s ugly politicization under Barr.

he “October surprise” is the Bigfoot of presidential politics—much rumored, rarely seen. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s announcement, 12 days before election day 1972, that “peace is at hand” in the Vietnam War comes closest to fitting the profile of a late-breaking, calculated, election-influencing ploy, though President Richard Nixon hardly needed the help against Senator George McGovern. Ever since, speculating on an October surprise has been a quadrennial media ritual, much like chatter about the possibility of a brokered convention.

This year’s version will be a Bill Barr production. In May 2019, the attorney general brought in John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to examine the origins of the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Robert Mueller’s report documented ample reasons for the FBI to have opened a probe; Michael Horowitz, the Department of Justice inspector general, declared that the investigation was justified, though he identified FBI procedural errors. None of which seems to have shaken Barr’s longstanding view that the whole Russia thing was a politically motivated conspiracy, so he assigned Durham to find the real facts.

Perhaps new revelations exist. Perhaps the right’s feverish wish to see former FBI director James Comey indicted will finally be granted. Whatever Durham has found now seems likely to be unveiled—coincidentally, of course—in the run-up to this November’s presidential vote. “The DOJ inspector general identified mistakes in the revised applications for surveillance warrants, so an agent or attorney who was involved in that probably needs a good lawyer,” says Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor who has followed the Russia case closely. “Based on what we know now, the Comey stuff is pretty weak, for a lot of reasons. I’ve seen some creative thinking by right-wingers that the memos Comey wrote about his meetings with Trump that ended up leaking are government property, so Comey should be prosecuted for theft. You’re never going to get a conviction on that. If he writes up his fantasy football draft on the office computer, is that government property? Come on.”

Even if Durham’s work does not result in major criminal prosecutions, he and Barr are expected to issue a report asserting their conclusions—something that would break with DOJ precedent, but be completely in character with Barr’s politicization of the department. The attorney general’s attempt to intervene in the sentencing of Roger Stone and Barr’s firing of U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, head of the Southern District of New York, are only his latest high-profile moves to bend Justice in Trump’s favor.

“Barr has a quite inappropriate policy of regularly having people he especially trusts for some reason handling special issues,” says Donald Ayer, who was a deputy attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, a job in which Ayer supervised Barr, who was then head of the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel. “He has people come in and second-guess the career lawyers and sometimes decide they’ve really screwed up. Having somebody higher up look at a case and say, ‘No, I don’t think so,’ that’s fine. But having recurrent ad hoc processes, new review levels that didn’t exist before, that’s a problem. For instance, there’s a person or a group of people who are receiving whatever intake there is from Rudy Giuliani, instead of whoever normally takes such complaints or information. I have not spoken with anyone who is in the department now. But I have spoken with a couple of people who have been there recently, and been in positions to know, who have said that morale is just horrible. That’s p

Erica Newland joined the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel as an attorney adviser in 2016, during the Obama administration, and left in November 2018, when Jeff Sessions was still attorney general. Things have not improved under Barr. “OLC seems to have abandoned any pretense of impartiality or any pretense of a commitment to the rule-of-law notion that you have to treat like cases alike,” Newland says. “I was really surprised to see the strong language in the June 26 executive order on monuments. It sounded more like a barn burner political speech rather than something with the imprimatur of the country’s top lawyers. I think there has been a radical reorientation of what the office’s purpose is and what the purpose of the attorneys who work there is. Bill Barr has articulated a view of the president as king, and so loyalty is to this president rather than to the Constitution, which is the oath we all take. Phenomenon number two is a culture of fear that has permeated the department since Trump came into office. Fear of the president’s tweets—people saw Bruce Ohr and Andy McCabe having their professional lives destroyed, and that had a strong silencing effect.”

A last-minute rescue of Trump’s reelection chances would far outstrip all of Barr’s previous actions. But even without knowing the results of the Durham investigation, the damage already done to the DOJ’s credibility has been deep and wide.

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