Judges in Chicago, Minneapolis and Washington, DC, have tried to hold the Trump administration accountable for questionable actions inside and outside of court over the past year, but their efforts have been repeatedly stymied through the appeals process, stonewalling and other tactics.
But the federal bench in Rhode Island is taking a fresh approach, naming a special counsel last week to investigate a senior Justice Department attorney’s alleged misconduct in an immigration case.
Legal experts tell CNN the move appears designed to insulate the process from the kind of fierce opposition other federal courts have faced when attempting to gather basic information about possible missteps by the government or ensure compliance with court orders.
“It’s really all about accountability. The judges are going to try their darndest to hold everyone involved in these cases accountable. And the first line of accountability is the lawyers,” said former federal Judge William Smith, who, until January, presided over cases in The Ocean State. “It’s just extremely frustrating for the judges to have to deal with this.”
“It’s not common,” Smith, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said of the special counsel appointment. “But it’s certainly something that the court has the authority to do.”
