Anonymous ID: 4f1985 Jan. 17, 2019, 6:16 a.m. No.4790099   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>0112 >>0124 >>0170 >>0402

Potential presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke has stunningly suggested that the United States should ditch its own Constitution.

During an interview with the Washington Post, the Texas Congressman openly mulled whether the rapidly changing nature of the world meant that the founding document of the country was out of date.

 

Throughout the two-hour interview — which was often interrupted by bystanders urging him to run for president — O’Rourke boomeranged between a bright-eyed hope that the United States will soon dramatically change its approach to a whole host of issues and a dismal suspicion that the country is now incapable of implementing sweeping change.

 

When asked which it is, O’Rourke paused.

 

“I’m hesitant to answer it because I really feel like it deserves its due, and I don’t want to give you a — actually, just selfishly, I don’t want a sound bite of it reported, but, yeah, I think that’s the question of the moment: Does this still work?” O’Rourke said. “Can an empire like ours with military presence in over 170 countries around the globe, with trading relationships…and security agreements in every continent, can it still be managed by the same principles that were set down 230-plus years ago?”

 

The bizarre quote is sure to come up again should O’Rourke decide to run for president, a scenario that looks more likely in the aftermath of his Senate challenge, which O’Rourke almost certainly knew he would lose but embarked upon anyway to increase his name recognition.

 

Some analysts think that Beto is more likely to seek a spot on the 2020 ticket as the Democratic vice presidential candidate, but with views like this, many conservatives will want him nowhere near the White House.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-16/beto-orourke-suggests-america-should-ditch-constitution

Anonymous ID: 4f1985 Jan. 17, 2019, 6:30 a.m. No.4790212   🗄️.is đź”—kun

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s planned departure after William Barr is confirmed as the next attorney general has sparked a guessing game in Washington about who will succeed him.

 

Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee this week that President Trump will let him choose his second-in-command, and legal experts say he may very well pick someone he’s worked with before.

 

Among those in the mix are George Terwilliger, Ira Raphaelson and Douglas Cox. All three were senior Justice Department officials in the George H.W. Bush administration when Barr was attorney general.

 

Terwilliger was deputy attorney general, Raphaelson served as special counsel for the financial institutions fraud unit and Cox was deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel.

 

Terwilliger sat behind Barr throughout Tuesday's confirmation hearing, increasing speculation that he will once again be Barr's deputy.

 

In an interview with The Hill on Wednesday, Terwilliger declined to say whether Barr has approached him about the position or whether he would take it if offered.

 

“I think it would be inappropriate to presume I would be asked,” he said. “I’m not going to comment on that. I will say that I have a lot of commitments to clients about things important to them and to me. I’m not sure it could be in the cards for me anyway.”

 

He also downplayed the significance of his attendance at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.

 

“I really was just there to be supportive of someone who I both worked with professionally and who is a close friend,” he said.

 

Raphaelson and Cox did not respond to requests for comment.

 

If Terwilliger isn’t interested, his son might be.

 

G. Zachary Terwilliger, who was confirmed as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in August, has close family ties to Barr and could be a candidate, said a source who previously worked on Justice Department nominations.

 

Terwilliger declined to comment for this story.

 

The same source also said Brian Benczkowski, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, could be in the running for the deputy post.

 

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Experts say Barr is likely to seek someone with prosecutorial experience.

 

“The deputy attorney general oversees all the federal prosecutors across America,” said Elliot Williams, who served a deputy assistant attorney general for legislative affairs during the Obama administration. “Barr, in spite of his record, isn’t a career prosecutor."

 

Williams noted that deputies are often former U.S. attorneys. Rosenstein served as the U.S. attorney for Maryland and Sally Yates, who served as deputy attorney general under former President Obama, was the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

 

Selecting someone with prosecutorial experience, Williams said, might also minimize any fears among career employees that the people at the top are too political.

 

News of Rosenstein’s imminent departure has put Washington on edge, with many worrying about what will become of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Rosenstein has been overseeing the Russia probe since former Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself in March 2017.

 

Barr has been critical of Mueller’s investigation in the past, but on Tuesday promised the special counsel would be allowed to complete his work if he’s confirmed as attorney general.

 

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) pressed Barr during his confirmation hearing on whether he had anything to do with Rosenstein’s plans to leave the department.

 

“You have not undertaken to run him out in any way?” Whitehouse asked.

 

“Absolutely not,” Barr said.

 

Barr said that he and Rosenstein have been discussing the departure.

 

“He told me he viewed it as a two-year stint and would like to use my coming in as an occasion to leave,” Barr said. “But we talked about the need for a transition and I asked if he would stay awhile, and he said he would.”

 

When asked what he would look for in a successor, Barr said he would prefer someone who’s a good manager and has experience running government programs.

 

“I want a first-rate lawyer and someone who’s judgement I feel comfortable in,” he said.

 

The Hill contacted several former DOJ officials, and many insiders were tight-lipped about possible contenders. Several legal experts, however, were adamant that acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker is not in the running.

 

“I feel confident Barr would never choose him,”said Harry Litman, a law professor and lawyer who worked under Barr in 1991 and 1992.

 

 

More Here:

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/425752-speculation-swirls-over-candidates-to-succeed-rosenstein