Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates is “pessimistic” about the status of the rule of law under President Trump, expressing concern about the normalization of attacks on government institutions.
Speaking at an ideas conference hosted by the Center for American Progress, Yates rated the rule of law in the U.S. as a six on it’s way to a five. MSNBC host Chris Hayes asked Yates and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., to apply their rating to a scale of one to 10. A one being “we’ve irrevocably slipped into some sort of authoritarian degradation” and a 10 being everything is fine.
“I’m putting us at the six point. Not because I think the institutions are actually crumbing, I don’t, but I think it’s not for a lack of trying,” Yates said. “What I worry about is the normalization of so much that is not normal — changing how the rule of law operates in our country even after this presidency is over.”
Klobuchar agreed, saying Congress needs to pass legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller and his ongoing investigation into Russian meddling and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.
“We see this constant onslaught on the rule of law,” Klobuchar said. “You don’t have to like everyone in the Justice Department but we have an obligation to protect that rule of law. That means protecting special counsel investigation and his job.”
Klobuchar, whose father was a reporter, added that Congress needs to better protect the First Amendment.
“You literally have a president in office that can tweet anything he wants every single morning but he doesn’t respect the amendment that allows him to do it,” she said.
