Top ethics watchdog files suit against DOJ concerning those FBI texts that were made public.

Courtesy of Business Insider: 

A top ethics watchdog said Wednesday it is suing the Justice Department for all communications concerning the DOJ's decision to share with the press text messages exchanged between two FBI employees, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, during the 2016 election. 

Many of the texts were overtly critical of President Donald Trump, and Strzok and Page mocked him at various points throughout the campaign, calling him an "idiot." 

Strzok and Page also disparaged other political leaders, like the Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders and former Attorney General Eric Holder. The texts concerning Trump, however, were quickly weaponized by the most vehement critics of special counsel Robert Mueller following the DOJ's decision to release them to Congress and the press. That release came just one day before Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testified before the House Judiciary Committee on December 13. 

The department has failed to answer a significant lingering question stemming from that release: how it chose which texts, of the more than 10,000 the department obtained over the summer, to unveil publicly. Nor has it released additional messages that could provide context to the ones that were shared with lawmakers and reporters. DOJ has also not disclosed who authorized the release. 

The lawsuit, filed by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington asked the " DOJ’s senior leadership offices for all communications concerning the decision" to give the texts to a small group of reporters the day before Rosenstein's testimony. CREW filed the expedited request Wednesday after the DOJ failed to respond to their initial inquiry within 20 working days. 

Yeah I would like to see these questions answered as well.

Since when do private communications between lovers become the business of the DOJ unless one or more of the participants are under criminal investigation?

New watchdog groups forms just to keep an eye on the Trump Administration.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

A former State Department lawyer and the founder of another Washington watchdog group have joined forces to form an organization they say will serve as a check on the Trump administration. 

American Oversight will primarily use litigation and open records laws to “uncover and publicize information about malfeasance and corruption by administration officials,” it said in a release announcing its creation on Monday. 

 “Congress has abdicated its constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities of the executive branch — from failing to vet individuals before they take office to explicitly refusing to investigate conflicts of interest and misconduct,” the announcement says. While key figures in the group have ties to Democrats, American Oversight bills itself as non-partisan. 

Austin Evers, who most recently served as a senior counsel at the State Department, will lead the non-profit and Melanie Sloan, who founded Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, will be working as a senior adviser. She served as executive director of CREW for more than a decade and left in 2014 after David Brock was elected to the board of directors.

Yeah I think we need all the help we can get with this cadre of criminals.

Though personally I would like to see dozens of organizations like this form. 

With enough pressure, and enough exposure, we just might be able to hold the damage done to the country to a minimum.

Read more about American Oversight here.