Tag: Barr as corrupt as Trump

Barr signals DOJ support for lockdown protesters

The Hill logoWhen Attorney General William Barr this week directed U.S. prosecutors to safeguard civil liberties amid state-level pandemic orders, he signaled Justice Department support for lockdown protesters by highlighting religious and economic rights.

In a two-page memo, the nation’s top cop gave the clearest indication yet of the kind of battles federal prosecutors are likely to focus on. In doing so, Barr suggested the Department of Justice (DOJ) might back church groups and those seeking a swifter economic reopening while staying on the sidelines of fights over new limits on abortion and voting access.

“It’s extremely likely that the DOJ will play favorites,” said Lindsay Wiley, a law professor at American University. “I think it’s accurate to assume that DOJ will not intervene in a neutral way, but will instead intervene on behalf of plaintiffs asserting rights the administration favors.” Continue reading.

Top Democrats Urge Justice Dept Inspector General To Probe Barr

Two top Democrats are urging the Justice Department’s internal watchdogs to investigate slanderous remarks made by Attorney General William Barr about the intelligence community official who elevated the whistleblower complaint regarding Donald Trump.

Appearing on Fox News on April 9, Barr said Trump had done “the right thing” when he fired former intelligence investigator general Michael Atkinson, suggesting that Atkinson had exceeded his mandate as IG by exploring “anything” and then reporting it back to Congress. But in a letter to two Justice Department officials, the Democratic chairs of the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees said Barr had “blatantly mischaracterized” Atkinson’s conduct.

“Mr. Barr’s remarks followed the President’s admission on April 4 that he fired Mr. Atkinson in retaliation for Mr. Atkinson’s handling—in accordance with the law—of the whistleblower complaint,” Reps. Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler wrote. “Mr. Barr’s misleading remarks appear to have been aimed at justifying the President’s retaliatory decision to fire Mr. Atkinson.” Continue reading.

Constitutional law professor: Bill Barr’s ‘tenure’ as attorney general has been ‘far worse than I expected’

AlterNet logoDuring Attorney General William Barr’s Senate confirmation hearing in February 2019, Neil Kinkopf (a professor of constitutional law at Georgia State University) urged senators to reject President Donald Trump’s nominee. And a year later, in an article for Just Security, Kinkopf asserts that Barr’s “tenure” as U.S. attorney general has turned out to be “far worse than I expected.”

Barr was confirmed, 54-45, along largely partisan lines. Only one Republican in the Senate, Kentucky’s Rand Paul, voted against Barr’s confirmation — and only three Senate Democrats voted in his favor: West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema and Alabama’s Doug Jones.

During his testimony, Kinkopf stressed that he was troubled by Barr’s expansive approach to the U.S. government’s executive branch. Kinkopf testified, “Public confidence in the rule of law depends on there being an attorney general who will not allow the president to do whatever he wants with the Justice Department. William Barr’s views of presidential power are so radically mistaken that he is simply the wrong man at the wrong time to be attorney general of the United States.”

Congress set for clash over surveillance reforms

The Hill logoCongress is gearing up for a high-profile fight over reauthorizing a handful of controversial surveillance programs months before the 2020 elections.

After punting late last year to give themselves more time to negotiate, lawmakers now have 15 working days to figure out whether and how to reauthorize expiring provisions of the USA Freedom Act by the March 15 deadline.

The policy battle comes as tensions are already running high in Washington after a weeks-long fight emanating from the Justice Department — which will also be at the center of the surveillance discussion — and with the November elections injecting a higher dose of politics into any discussion involving Congress and President Trump.