Marshals' Law, and Trump's Abuse of Power

I. Marshals' Law
In fiscal year 2018, the U.S. Marshals "held nearly 240,000 people facing federal criminal charges." "The Marshals run the vast pretrial detention system without owning or operating any jails. Instead, the agency houses its detainees in about 1,100 jails and private facilities around the country." "About two-thirds of all prosecutions between October 2018 and April 2019, were related to immigration crimes, including many of the people swept up in Trump's 'zero tolerance' border policy." [1]

Between June 2016 and June 2019, data shows that 158 people died while in Marshals' detention, and hundreds more died in the preceding five years. "Suicide took the lives of at least 47 of the 158 detainees who died in the three-year period for which we have records. But the Marshals appear to have done little to ensure that the county jails they contract with implementing stringent suicide prevention measures" [are followed]. Of the 250 annual audits that Seth Freed Wessler's team analyzed, at least 10 (some at the same facilities), indicate potential medical [problems] ; 45 show extraordinary numbers of prisoner assaults -- in one case, 869 in a single facility.  In California's Fresno County Jail, in a single year, at least 11 cases show noncompliance with mandated rape-prevention policies; and also show attempted suicide rates of nearly 1 in every 20 detainees. But there appear to be no consequences. "In one facility, a Marshals' inspector  noted there had not been a single  suicide attempt in 2018, while a separate federal report noted there had been dozens of attempts."

II. From Russia to Ukraine
"Trump compounded Barr's distortions by publicly and endlessly repeating that the [Mueller] report found 'no collusion, no obstructions' " "It's appropriate to note, as well, that in the Ukrainian chapter, Trump has done Putin's bidding, to the extent that he can, going so far as to embrace a discredited conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 campaign.' " "Trump wants no part of conflict with Putin, but the aid package tied his hands." [2]

"Trump is currently surrounded by people like Barr and Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, who are willing to debase their offices to indulge Trump's abuse of power." "One way of looking at Trump's evolution from candidate to President, from Mueller's time to Schiff''s, is that his abuses are accelerating, with each unpunished act serving as a license for more."

ADDENDUM: * The Washington "Post" editorial board as accused Trump of trying to extort the Ukrainian government.

Footnotes:
[1] Seth Freed Wessler, "Marshals' Law," Mother Jones, November/December 2019.

[2] Jeffrey Toobin, "From Russia to Ukraine," The New Yorker, October 14, 2019.