Heart & Soul Conversation #36……Fear and Balance

A wide range of former lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, as well as ex-White House officials who served in Donald Trump's first administration, have signed on to a open-letter criticizing him over his retribution campaign.

Coming on the heels of the president ordering his Department of Justice to investigate two former officials, Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs, who served under him during his first stint on the Oval Office, the letter alleges he has put the country on the path to "a dangerous escalation in the abuse of presidential power: weaponizing federal agencies to carry out personalized retribution against named individuals."

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Notable among the signatories in the letter that likened the president to a “royal despot,” is Ty Cobb who previously served as Trump's personal lawyer.

According to a report from the NY Times, "Mr. Trump’s executive orders also revoked the security clearances of people and institutions affiliated with Mr. Krebs and Mr. Taylor, and called for investigations into their government tenures. The letter, signed by more than 200 people, criticized those actions as part of a 'profoundly unconstitutional break' with precedent."

In the letter, which can be viewed here, they explained, "the President’s actions not only evoke some of the worst moments in our history; they go even further. For a president to personally and publicly direct the levers of the federal government against publicly named citizens for political reasons sets a new and perilous precedent in our republic."

You can read more from the NY Times here.

President Donald Trump defended his administration following reports that White House officials may have tipped off Wall Street executives about a possible upcoming trade deal with India, The Washington Post reported.

Trump made the comments Friday while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, where he admitted it was impossible for him to know for certain, given the thousands of people who work for him.

“I can commit to myself, that’s all I can commit,” Trump said. “You know, I have thousands of people that work for me, but I can’t imagine anybody doing that.”

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He added: “I have very honorable people, that I can say.”

Trump was en route Friday afternoon to join other world leaders in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis.