Bill Barr has a whole new problem
Turns out, the scandal involving Attorney General William Barr and the Roger Stone sentencing is just the tip of the iceberg. Barr has shut down numerous investigations into Donald Trump. Don Winslow, who has written extensively and excellently on the drug wars, tweeted recently:
I have multiple sources inside the Justice Department that tell me when Barr became Attorney General he shut down *six* separate investigations into Trump and Trump related companies and surrogates. I’m told Barr has also prevented *two new* investigations from moving forward.
This is serious. It is obstruction of justice, it is illegal, and it shows that Barr is the most corrupt attorney general that this nation has ever seen.
Former Department of Justice employees, prosecutors, officers and civil attorneys, both Republicans and Democrats, signed onto a letter en masse calling for Barr to resign. Whether he pays any attention to the demands are open to question.
Last week, the New York City Bar Association wrote a remarkable letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees in connection with the Stone sentencing, writing in part:
We write to express our deep concerns about the impartial administration of justice in connection with the prosecution of Roger Stone in federal court in Washington, D.C., and to call for immediate investigations by Congress and by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. Recent actions by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, a component of the United States Department of Justice, raise serious questions about whether the Department of Justice is making prosecutorial decisions based not on neutral principles but in order to protect President Trump’s supporters and friends. In our criminal justice system, a single standard must apply to all who are accused or convicted of violating the law — unequal treatment based on political influence is to be deplored in all cases but is especially dangerous if it emanates from the presidency.
How long Barr survives, with news coming out daily about the nefarious behavior he is engaged in, remains to be seen. But the reality is, he will be unable to be the street sweeper following the GOP elephant to clean up his own poop.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.