rumitoid

USA TODAY OpinionSeptember 15, 2020, 6:48 AM MDT

The Justice Department has delivered an early "October surprise" — and it's probably not one that Attorney General William Barr had in mind.

It came last week when a highly respected and experienced prosecutor, Nora R. Dannehy, unexpectedly resigned as senior aide to Connecticut's U.S. Attorney, John Durham. Durham is leading the Barr-sponsored investigation of the FBI’s own investigation of alleged 2016 Trump campaign Russia connections and Dannehy was his No. 2.

Commentators have long predicted — and Barr has long foreshadowed — that Durham’s investigation would be shaped into an October surprise to help re-elect President Donald Trump. The expectation has been that the attorney general would bend department practice to “go public” with some aspect of the Durham probe in a continuing effort to undercut the Mueller investigation, the FBI and the Obama-Biden administration.
Durham under pressure to produce

The Hartford Courant reported that according to her colleagues, Dannehy’s resignation arose “at least partly out of concern that the investigative team is being pressed for political reasons to produce a report before its work is done." Consummate professionals like Dannehy do not leave high-profile investigations mid-stream without explanation. Had she resigned for personal reasons or to take another job, she would have said so to avoid speculation that might discredit the investigation and Durham, with whom she is close. And by now she would have rebutted her colleagues’ comments if they were wrong.

We know President Trump has pressed Barr and Durham to announce results from their investigation before the e******n — whether through indictments or a non-standard report on a pending investigation. We also know Barr publicly prejudged the FBI’s conduct under investigation by Durham. In fact, in a comprehensive July complaint to the D.C. Bar Association, 27 distinguished Washington lawyers challenged Barr’s televised remarks about that conduct as a violation of D.C. Bar professional conduct rules.

Former New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman told us that given the decades-long professional connection between Dannehy and Durham, “there must have been a profound disagreement to precipitate this type of resignation at this critical juncture.” Fishman added: “To fellow prosecutors, Dannehy’s participation lent legitimacy to a probe whose purpose many questioned. Her unexplained departure in the middle of a high-pressure investigation is a huge blow to its integrity.”

That is one reason why the resignation is important. But there is another. Dannehy’s decision serves as a model for how principled government lawyers act. They decline to violate rules and norms that long made the pre-Barr Justice Department a revered institution. One key but unwritten tradition is that the department do nothing in the 60 days before an e******n that might affect that e******n. Barr himself supported that practice as attorney general for President George H.W. Bush.

Dannehy’s model conduct came at a pivotal time, less than eight weeks before a p**********l e******n. As the 27 lawyers said in their complaint against Barr, this attorney general "has consistently made decisions and taken action to serve the personal and political self-interests of President Donald Trump, rather than the interest of the United States." If Mr. Barr remains on his current course, he is bound to continue using the powers of his office to support Mr. Trump’s re-e******n.
Blow the whistle on partisan abuse

In the coming months, that can happen in many ways. Mr. Barr has already adopted the president’s meme that mail-in b****ts lead to fraud, casting doubt on v****g by mail in the time of c****av***s. Barr is sure to harness the Justice Department to serve as the president’s individual lawyer in post-e******n court contests. Indeed, last week he commandeered the department to take over as the president’s new defense lawyer in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against Trump relating to her original allegation that he raped her (a claim he denied).

Frederick Baron and Dennis Aftergut, Opinion contributors
USA TODAY Opinion September 15, 2020, 6:48 AM MDT
https://www.yahoo.com/news/dannehy-joins-justice-honor-roll-090012653.html

Wolf counselor Loc: Heart of Texas

JW

It couldn't be that she is a long time Leftwing activist who knows the damage that Durham's report is going to do to her causes... nah...

rumitoid

Maybe, prove with evidence from a reliable source. Rumor is fun, facts not so much.

Lonewolf

When trump failed in his attempt to bribe the president of the Ukraine to start an investigation into Biden ,he didn't really need to do it but just say he was.
When that back fired and he was impeached.
Plan b hire Duran to do an investigation and leak foolishness every once in awhile that indictments were forthcoming lol.

Jlw Loc: Wisconsin

You should know

JW

I was repeating something I had heard on one of the YOU-TUBE channels and a background search on Dannehy appears to mask wh**ever political affiliation she has. The only thing I could find was that she is not a fan of the President.

So I have been doing more digging and it appears she had actually remained on Durham's staff longer than she originally agreed and Durham appears to be winding down his investigation so her work was done. I'll supply documentation as soon as I confirm it.

She gave no reasons for her resignation and rumors as why come from former colleagues.