Republican strategist Karl Rove ripped into President Donald Trump on “America’s Newsroom” Friday for considering a Justice Department investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“I think it’s unwise for any president of any party to look like he is demanding that the Justice Department investigate his political opponents,” Rove said. (RELATED: Karl Rove Says Trump’s War On The Media ‘Does Not Help Him’)
“It is just unseemly. I think a good test of this is turnabout. What if Hillary Clinton had won the election? Would we be excited about Hillary Clinton calling upon her attorney general to investigate Donald Trump over the meeting at the Trump Tower?”
Rove said that’s not the way “we do things” in America and advised Trump to stop talking about a possible Clinton investigation altogether.
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“This is not how we do things, or should do things in America,” he added. “And the president, I think, would be well advised not to be making these kind of demands.”
Rove said concern over political partisanship in the DOJ is nothing new and dates back to the late ’70s when Democrats were concerned about witch hunts under Richard Nixon. Rove said one of the laws they passed set a clear standard for recusal and explains why Sessions had to step away.
“Democrats concerned about the political use of the Justice Department under Richard Nixon and Republicans concerned about the political use of the Justice Department under John Kennedy whose brother was attorney general, passed a law requiring standards to be set for recusal. The number one standard is has the attorney general been involved in the political campaign of the president,” Rove said.
“If Jeff Sessions leaves after the midterms you can bet that his nominated successor by President Trump is going to face some very tough questions about the independence of the Justice Department if he is confirmed,” he concluded.
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