Partial Justice: As fears increase within the Justice Department that the law enforcement arm of the government has become President Trump’s political instrument, more than 1,100 former DOJ prosecutors and officials who served in Republican and Democratic administrations signed an open letter condemning the President and Attorney Gen. William Barr for their handling of cases of interest to President Trump. 

  Evidently at the Trump’s suggestion, Barr reversed his prosecutors’ request for a 7 to 9 year sentence for the President’s friend who was convicted of lying to the FBI and attempting to influence a witness. Stone is scheduled for sentencing this week.

  Barr has questioned the foundation of the years-long Russia investigation and said he will accept information collected by Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani about Vice President Joe Biden and corruption in Ukraine. Barr has also acted as the lawyer bolstering Trump’s claims of presidential power, helping him to beat impeachment.

  The letter from DOJ veterans said, “Each of us strongly condemns President Trump’s and Attorney General Barr’s interference in the fair administration of justice.” The letter says its signers “require Mr. Barr to resign.”

  The NY Times reports that regional attorneys general, the top lieutenants in the Justice Department, are writing memos to their staffs to keep up their morale.

Outbreak: About 340 Americans quarantined on a cruise ship in Japan have been flown back to the US, increasing the chances that the coronavirus will spread in this country. Fourteen of those brought home are infected, doubling the number of confirmed cases in the US.

  The number of new coronavirus cases has dropped to a three-week low. Today, 

the Chinese government reported 2,048 new infections — one-fifth the number of new cases a week ago — and 105 new deaths over the previous 24 hours. At least 1,775 people have died.

The Justice Files: The murder trial of real estate tycoon Robert Durst finally gets under way this week. People had the funny habit of dying when they got close to Durst, who was the subject of the HBO documentary “The Jinx.” 

  The 76 year-old Durst is accused of the 2000 shooting death of a close friend in California. Prosecutors believe he wrote the anonymous note that told California police where to find the woman’s body.

  Durst is suspected of three murders in three states. At the end of the documentary, Durst, still wearing his microphone, can be heard muttering, “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”

  In New York, jury deliberations are expected to begin in the trial of disgraced movie executive Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein is charged with five counts including rape, sexual criminal act, and predatory sexual assault, and could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.

  It’s not a slam dunk. Two of his accusers say they had consensual sex with him after he had raped them. It happens, but prosecutors rarely take a case to trial under that circumstance. 

Deadline: When Dwight Eisenhower was commander of US forces in Europe during World War II, he insisted that the troops should be informed by a newspaper that was paid for but had a voice independent from the generals. That was the Stars and Stripes.

  The paper has become semi-independent from the Pentagon over the years, but Secy. of Defense Mark Esper has decided to strip the paper of its last $15.5 million in federal funding.  Esper said the Stars and Stripes  is not a priority in the $705.4 billion Defense Department spending proposal.

  Former CBS and ABC Correspondent Jack Laurence, who covered the Vietnam War, knew Esper’s father, an Associated Press reporter. Laurence pointed out on Facebook that George Esper “stuck it out in Saigon when the North Vietnamese captured the city and continued to file.” Laurence wrote, “He would be revolted if he knew his son, Mark, was trying to kill Stars and Stripes.”

The Obit Page: Caroline Flack, a well-known television personality and former host of ITV’s “Love Island” in England, took her own life Saturday in her London home. She was 40. 

  In 2015 Flack began hosting the British dating-reality show on which the public voted off their least favorite “islanders” until one couple remained.

  She was replaced in December after being charged with assault in an episode involving her boyfriend, the tennis star Lewis Burton.

Start Your Engines: President Trump took a lap around the Daytona racetrack inside his limousine yesterday before the start of the 500. You couldn’t even see who was inside the limo. 

 Trump was Grand marshal for the annual race. He said, “NASCAR fans never forget that no matter who wins the race, what matters most is God, family and country.” 

  What also matters to him is the Republican vote in Florida. 

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