Attorney General William P. Barr said Monday that he did not expect the prosecutor he handpicked to review the 2016 FBI investigation into President Trump’s campaign would investigate former president Barack Obama or former vice president Joe Biden — an assertion that is likely to dismay Trump and his conservative allies.

Barack Obama has reportedly said the “rule of law is at risk” in the US, after the justice department said it would drop its case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

In remarks likely to enrage Donald Trump, Obama also reportedly labeled the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak “an absolute chaotic disaster”.

Flynn, a retired general, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations with the Russian ambassador about sanctions over election interference, which were levied by Obama at the end of his presidency.

More...

The Justice Department on Thursday said it is dropping the criminal case against President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, abandoning a prosecution that became a rallying cry for Trump and his supporters in attacking the FBI's Russia investigation.

The move is a stunning reversal for one of the signature cases brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. It comes even though prosecutors for the last three years had maintained that Flynn had lied to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in a January 2017 interview. Flynn himself admitted as much, and became a key cooperator for Mueller as he investigated ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.

In court documents being filed Thursday, the Justice Department said it is dropping the case “after a considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case, including newly discovered and disclosed information.” The documents were obtained by The Associated Press.

More...

U.S. President Donald Trump’s pause in holding White House coronavirus briefings only lasted the weekend as officials said he would participate in one on Monday to update Americans on new testing guidelines.

Trump’s advisers have been arguing that the sessions, held nearly every day for more than a month, had begun to show him in an unfavorable light, particularly after a Thursday news conference at which he asked his health experts whether disinfectants that kill the virus on surfaces might be a used in patients as a treatment.

Some Republicans fear Trump is doing his re-election prospects more harm than good with sessions that often turn into harangues against reporters, and have watched his job approval numbers drop at a time when they should be gaining steam.

TVNL Comment:  The Egomaniac in Chief could not stay away from the cameras for long.  Go for it, Donald, and tell us about another magical cure for COVID-19.

More...