Government Watchdog Says Homeland Security Leaders Were Not Legitimately Appointed

Appearing U.S. Secretary of Homeland Safety Chad Wolf testifies throughout a listening to earlier than the Senate Homeland Safety and Governmental Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on August 6.

Alex Wong/Getty Photos

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Appearing U.S. Secretary of Homeland Safety Chad Wolf testifies throughout a listening to earlier than the Senate Homeland Safety and Governmental Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on August 6.

Alex Wong/Getty Photos

Up to date at 4:47 p.m. ET

The Authorities Accountability Workplace says that the performing leaders of the Division of Homeland Safety, who’ve been serving of their roles with out Senate affirmation, weren’t appointed by a sound course of.

Since November, Chad Wolf has been serving as performing secretary of DHS and Ken Cuccinelli as senior official performing the duties of deputy secretary.

Neither of these appointments is reliable, the GAO discovered, as a result of they relied on the actions of a previous official who himself was improperly positioned accountable for the division as a consequence of an error in paperwork.

The opinion may immediate judges to dismiss some Homeland Safety actions as unlawful, and it additionally suggests it’s not at the moment clear who has the authorized authority to run DHS.

“We’re referring the query as to who needs to be serving because the Appearing Secretary and the Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Secretary to the DHS Workplace of Inspector Common for its overview,” Thomas H. Armstrong, common counsel for the GAO, wrote.

“We wholeheartedly disagree with the GAO’s baseless report and plan to subject a proper response to this shortly,” a DHS spokesman instructed NPR.

The Trump administration has relied closely on non permanent appointments somewhat than completely filling key posts. President Trump has stated he prefers performing appointments for the velocity and adaptability they provide. As a result of they don’t require Senate affirmation, such postings bypass a layer of legislative oversight over the chief department.

However even for the Trump administration, the dearth of everlasting management on the Division of Homeland Safety has been uncommon.

“Subsequent Friday is the 500th day that we’ve not had a Senate-confirmed secretary of Homeland Safety,” says Steve Vladeck, a legislation professor on the College of Texas. “That is a document for a cupboard emptiness.”

The final Senate-confirmed secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, resigned in 2019.

NPR reported final fall that Trump wished Cuccinelli, an immigration hard-liner, to be secretary, however apprehensive he wouldn’t be confirmed by the Senate. So as a substitute he has relied on performing leaders, together with Cuccinelli’s position as performing deputy.

However the GAO says the performing assignments have been invalid ever since Nielsen’s departure. Nielsen tried to alter the foundations governing non permanent appointments to make sure that Trump’s most well-liked selection, Kevin McAleenan, would lead the division after her. However, the GAO discovered, she bungled the paperwork. (Technically, she amended the annexes to an govt order, as a substitute of amending the chief order itself.)

McAleenan didn’t have a sound appointment to his position, so when he modified the foundations of succession to pave Wolf’s path to the performing put up, it lacked legitimacy, and when Wolf appointed Cuccinelli it wasn’t legitimate, both.

“The massive query is, so what?” asks Anne Joseph O’Connell, a legislation professor from Stanford.

She notes the GAO’s opinion will not be binding on DHS or on the court docket system.

Nonetheless, beneath the management of Wolf and Cuccinelli, Homeland Safety has attracted intense scrutiny for such actions as deploying federal brokers to protests in Portland over the opposition of native and state leaders. And new restrictions on asylum seekers and DACA candidates have prompted lawsuits from immigration advocates.

A few of these lawsuits search to throw out DHS actions on the grounds that DHS management will not be legitimately in energy. And now a authorities physique has endorsed that authorized argument, which O’Connell says “could possibly be very persuasive within the courts.”

Because of this, a few of Wolf and Cuccinelli’s actions could possibly be undone in court docket rulings.

The GAO says its overview solely targeted on the legality of the appointments themselves — and never on what this implies for actions taken by DHS officers. That matter is being referred to a different authorities watchdog for overview.

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https://centramic.com/

Government Watchdog Says Homeland Security Leaders Were Not Legitimately Appointed

Appearing U.S. Secretary of Homeland Safety Chad Wolf testifies throughout a listening to earlier than the Senate Homeland Safety and Governmental Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on August 6.

Alex Wong/Getty Photos

cover caption

toggle caption

Alex Wong/Getty Photos

Appearing U.S. Secretary of Homeland Safety Chad Wolf testifies throughout a listening to earlier than the Senate Homeland Safety and Governmental Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on August 6.

Alex Wong/Getty Photos

Up to date at 4:47 p.m. ET

The Authorities Accountability Workplace says that the performing leaders of the Division of Homeland Safety, who’ve been serving of their roles with out Senate affirmation, weren’t appointed by a sound course of.

Since November, Chad Wolf has been serving as performing secretary of DHS and Ken Cuccinelli as senior official performing the duties of deputy secretary.

Neither of these appointments is reliable, the GAO discovered, as a result of they relied on the actions of a previous official who himself was improperly positioned accountable for the division as a consequence of an error in paperwork.

The opinion may immediate judges to dismiss some Homeland Safety actions as unlawful, and it additionally suggests it’s not at the moment clear who has the authorized authority to run DHS.

“We’re referring the query as to who needs to be serving because the Appearing Secretary and the Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Secretary to the DHS Workplace of Inspector Common for its overview,” Thomas H. Armstrong, common counsel for the GAO, wrote.

“We wholeheartedly disagree with the GAO’s baseless report and plan to subject a proper response to this shortly,” a DHS spokesman instructed NPR.

The Trump administration has relied closely on non permanent appointments somewhat than completely filling key posts. President Trump has stated he prefers performing appointments for the velocity and adaptability they provide. As a result of they don’t require Senate affirmation, such postings bypass a layer of legislative oversight over the chief department.

However even for the Trump administration, the dearth of everlasting management on the Division of Homeland Safety has been uncommon.

“Subsequent Friday is the 500th day that we’ve not had a Senate-confirmed secretary of Homeland Safety,” says Steve Vladeck, a legislation professor on the College of Texas. “That is a document for a cupboard emptiness.”

The final Senate-confirmed secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, resigned in 2019.

NPR reported final fall that Trump wished Cuccinelli, an immigration hard-liner, to be secretary, however apprehensive he wouldn’t be confirmed by the Senate. So as a substitute he has relied on performing leaders, together with Cuccinelli’s position as performing deputy.

However the GAO says the performing assignments have been invalid ever since Nielsen’s departure. Nielsen tried to alter the foundations governing non permanent appointments to make sure that Trump’s most well-liked selection, Kevin McAleenan, would lead the division after her. However, the GAO discovered, she bungled the paperwork. (Technically, she amended the annexes to an govt order, as a substitute of amending the chief order itself.)

McAleenan didn’t have a sound appointment to his position, so when he modified the foundations of succession to pave Wolf’s path to the performing put up, it lacked legitimacy, and when Wolf appointed Cuccinelli it wasn’t legitimate, both.

“The massive query is, so what?” asks Anne Joseph O’Connell, a legislation professor from Stanford.

She notes the GAO’s opinion will not be binding on DHS or on the court docket system.

Nonetheless, beneath the management of Wolf and Cuccinelli, Homeland Safety has attracted intense scrutiny for such actions as deploying federal brokers to protests in Portland over the opposition of native and state leaders. And new restrictions on asylum seekers and DACA candidates have prompted lawsuits from immigration advocates.

A few of these lawsuits search to throw out DHS actions on the grounds that DHS management will not be legitimately in energy. And now a authorities physique has endorsed that authorized argument, which O’Connell says “could possibly be very persuasive within the courts.”

Because of this, a few of Wolf and Cuccinelli’s actions could possibly be undone in court docket rulings.

The GAO says its overview solely targeted on the legality of the appointments themselves — and never on what this implies for actions taken by DHS officers. That matter is being referred to a different authorities watchdog for overview.

#news
https://centramic.com/

Trump’s former lawyer sues government for “gag order”

Copyright of the image
Getty Images

Caption of the image

Michael Cohen has been in prison since May 2019

Former President Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen has sued the United States Attorney General for an alleged “gag order”.

Cohen said he was sent back to prison in retaliation for writing a book detailing the alleged racist comments made by the president.

Cohen was released in May from a three-year sentence on charges including violations of funding for the Trump campaign, due to the coronavirus.

The lawsuit claims that Cohen’s re-arrest violates his right to free speech.

The director of the Bureau of Prisons is appointed along with U.S. Attorney General William Barr in the lawsuit filed by Cohen’s lawyers and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Monday. Lawyers demanded Cohen’s immediate release from prison.

The 53-year-old has a history of breathing problems and is vulnerable to Covid-19, they said.

Cohen was brought back into custody on July 9, after authorities said he refused the terms of his arrest at home. Days before, on July 2, Cohen tweeted that he was “nearing completion” of an information book.

In court documents filed Monday evening, Cohen wrote that his book – tentatively titled Disloyal: The True Story of Michael Cohen, former personal prosecutor of President Donald J Trump – will describe first-hand experiences with Trump and his family, the Washington Post reported.

The book “will provide graphic and unflattering details on the president’s behavior behind closed doors,” the documents said.

These details include descriptions of “the president’s highly anti-Semitic remarks and virulently racist remarks against black leaders such as President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, none of whom he considered true leaders or worthy of respect by virtue of their race.”

Cohen’s lawyers claimed that his constitutional rights were violated when probation officers asked him to sign a gag order that would prohibit him from “talking to or through any media of any kind”, including social media. or publish a book as a condition for his release to prison.

When Cohen asked for clarification on this “unusual deal”, he was handcuffed and returned to Otisville, New York federal prison, his lawyers said.

“The government cannot jail Michael Cohen for writing a book on President Trump,” said Ben Wizner, director of ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology project.

“The gag order that the government tried to impose on Cohen was an unconstitutional preliminary check, and his continued incarceration is part of a dangerous retaliation model against Trump’s critics.”

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

Copyright of the image
Getty Images

Caption of the image

Cohen campaigns with Trump in 2016

The White House has not yet commented on the allegations.

Cohen served one year of his three-year sentence.

The former repairer admitted that he lied to Congress about a Trump Tower project in Moscow and campaigned for financial violations for his role in paying sums of money to women who reported business with Trump. He also admitted other bank fees and fraud unrelated to the president.

Source link #news

Trump’s former lawyer sues government for “gag order”

Copyright of the image
Getty Images

Caption of the image

Michael Cohen has been in prison since May 2019

Former President Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen has sued the United States Attorney General for an alleged “gag order”.

Cohen said he was sent back to prison in retaliation for writing a book detailing the alleged racist comments made by the president.

Cohen was released in May from a three-year sentence on charges including violations of funding for the Trump campaign, due to the coronavirus.

The lawsuit claims that Cohen’s re-arrest violates his right to free speech.

The director of the Bureau of Prisons is appointed along with U.S. Attorney General William Barr in the lawsuit filed by Cohen’s lawyers and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Monday. Lawyers demanded Cohen’s immediate release from prison.

The 53-year-old has a history of breathing problems and is vulnerable to Covid-19, they said.

Cohen was brought back into custody on July 9, after authorities said he refused the terms of his arrest at home. Days before, on July 2, Cohen tweeted that he was “nearing completion” of an information book.

In court documents filed Monday evening, Cohen wrote that his book – tentatively titled Disloyal: The True Story of Michael Cohen, former personal prosecutor of President Donald J Trump – will describe first-hand experiences with Trump and his family, the Washington Post reported.

The book “will provide graphic and unflattering details on the president’s behavior behind closed doors,” the documents said.

These details include descriptions of “the president’s highly anti-Semitic remarks and virulently racist remarks against black leaders such as President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, none of whom he considered true leaders or worthy of respect by virtue of their race.”

Cohen’s lawyers claimed that his constitutional rights were violated when probation officers asked him to sign a gag order that would prohibit him from “talking to or through any media of any kind”, including social media. or publish a book as a condition for his release to prison.

When Cohen asked for clarification on this “unusual deal”, he was handcuffed and returned to Otisville, New York federal prison, his lawyers said.

“The government cannot jail Michael Cohen for writing a book on President Trump,” said Ben Wizner, director of ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology project.

“The gag order that the government tried to impose on Cohen was an unconstitutional preliminary check, and his continued incarceration is part of a dangerous retaliation model against Trump’s critics.”

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

Copyright of the image
Getty Images

Caption of the image

Cohen campaigns with Trump in 2016

The White House has not yet commented on the allegations.

Cohen served one year of his three-year sentence.

The former repairer admitted that he lied to Congress about a Trump Tower project in Moscow and campaigned for financial violations for his role in paying sums of money to women who reported business with Trump. He also admitted other bank fees and fraud unrelated to the president.

Source link #news

Trump’s former lawyer sues government for “gag order”

Copyright of the image
Getty Images

Caption of the image

Michael Cohen has been in prison since May 2019

Former President Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen has sued the United States Attorney General for an alleged “gag order”.

Cohen said he was sent back to prison in retaliation for writing a book detailing the alleged racist comments made by the president.

Cohen was released in May from a three-year sentence on charges including violations of funding for the Trump campaign, due to the coronavirus.

The lawsuit claims that Cohen’s re-arrest violates his right to free speech.

The director of the Bureau of Prisons is appointed along with U.S. Attorney General William Barr in the lawsuit filed by Cohen’s lawyers and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Monday. Lawyers demanded Cohen’s immediate release from prison.

The 53-year-old has a history of breathing problems and is vulnerable to Covid-19, they said.

Cohen was brought back into custody on July 9, after authorities said he refused the terms of his arrest at home. Days before, on July 2, Cohen tweeted that he was “nearing completion” of an information book.

In court documents filed Monday evening, Cohen wrote that his book – tentatively titled Disloyal: The True Story of Michael Cohen, former personal prosecutor of President Donald J Trump – will describe first-hand experiences with Trump and his family, the Washington Post reported.

The book “will provide graphic and unflattering details on the president’s behavior behind closed doors,” the documents said.

These details include descriptions of “the president’s highly anti-Semitic remarks and virulently racist remarks against black leaders such as President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, none of whom he considered true leaders or worthy of respect by virtue of their race.”

Cohen’s lawyers claimed that his constitutional rights were violated when probation officers asked him to sign a gag order that would prohibit him from “talking to or through any media of any kind”, including social media. or publish a book as a condition for his release to prison.

When Cohen asked for clarification on this “unusual deal”, he was handcuffed and returned to Otisville, New York federal prison, his lawyers said.

“The government cannot jail Michael Cohen for writing a book on President Trump,” said Ben Wizner, director of ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology project.

“The gag order that the government tried to impose on Cohen was an unconstitutional preliminary check, and his continued incarceration is part of a dangerous retaliation model against Trump’s critics.”

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

Copyright of the image
Getty Images

Caption of the image

Cohen campaigns with Trump in 2016

The White House has not yet commented on the allegations.

Cohen served one year of his three-year sentence.

The former repairer admitted that he lied to Congress about a Trump Tower project in Moscow and campaigned for financial violations for his role in paying sums of money to women who reported business with Trump. He also admitted other bank fees and fraud unrelated to the president.

Source link #news

Trump’s former lawyer sues government for “gag order”

Copyright of the image
Getty Images

Caption of the image

Michael Cohen has been in prison since May 2019

Former President Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen has sued the United States Attorney General for an alleged “gag order”.

Cohen said he was sent back to prison in retaliation for writing a book detailing the alleged racist comments made by the president.

Cohen was released in May from a three-year sentence on charges including violations of funding for the Trump campaign, due to the coronavirus.

The lawsuit claims that Cohen’s re-arrest violates his right to free speech.

The director of the Bureau of Prisons is appointed along with U.S. Attorney General William Barr in the lawsuit filed by Cohen’s lawyers and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Monday. Lawyers demanded Cohen’s immediate release from prison.

The 53-year-old has a history of breathing problems and is vulnerable to Covid-19, they said.

Cohen was brought back into custody on July 9, after authorities said he refused the terms of his arrest at home. Days before, on July 2, Cohen tweeted that he was “nearing completion” of an information book.

In court documents filed Monday evening, Cohen wrote that his book – tentatively titled Disloyal: The True Story of Michael Cohen, former personal prosecutor of President Donald J Trump – will describe first-hand experiences with Trump and his family, the Washington Post reported.

The book “will provide graphic and unflattering details on the president’s behavior behind closed doors,” the documents said.

These details include descriptions of “the president’s highly anti-Semitic remarks and virulently racist remarks against black leaders such as President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, none of whom he considered true leaders or worthy of respect by virtue of their race.”

Cohen’s lawyers claimed that his constitutional rights were violated when probation officers asked him to sign a gag order that would prohibit him from “talking to or through any media of any kind”, including social media. or publish a book as a condition for his release to prison.

When Cohen asked for clarification on this “unusual deal”, he was handcuffed and returned to Otisville, New York federal prison, his lawyers said.

“The government cannot jail Michael Cohen for writing a book on President Trump,” said Ben Wizner, director of ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology project.

“The gag order that the government tried to impose on Cohen was an unconstitutional preliminary check, and his continued incarceration is part of a dangerous retaliation model against Trump’s critics.”

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

Copyright of the image
Getty Images

Caption of the image

Cohen campaigns with Trump in 2016

The White House has not yet commented on the allegations.

Cohen served one year of his three-year sentence.

The former repairer admitted that he lied to Congress about a Trump Tower project in Moscow and campaigned for financial violations for his role in paying sums of money to women who reported business with Trump. He also admitted other bank fees and fraud unrelated to the president.

Source link