Conservative attorneys blast Bill Barr’s ‘incorrect’ interpretation of Trump’s constitutional powers

AlterNet logoOn CNN Monday, Paul Rosenzweig and Stuart Green, a pair of conservative attorneys who are part of the Trump-critical legal group Checks and Balances, sharply criticized Attorney General William Barr, who recently argued President Donald Trump has virtually unlimited executive power at a speech to the right-wing Federalist Society.

“I want to begin with that letter, and quoting from that,” said anchor Bianna Golodryga. “You write, ‘In recent months, we have become concerned by the conduct of Attorney General William Barr. Barr rewrote history with the unsupported claim his view of presidential power was shared by the founders. Barr’s view of history, including his claim that founders shared in any respect his vision of an unchecked president and his assertion that this view was dominant until it came under attack from courts and Congress a few decades ago, has no factual basis.’ Paul, let me begin with you. Why do you believe that it has no factual basis?”

“Well, because it doesn’t,” said Rosenzweig, who previously worked for independent prosecutor Ken Starr. “The very first Congress conducted oversight investigations of President George Washington, one of the very first courts ruled that it had authority as a judicial branch to oversee the executive and direct it not to follow unconstitutional laws. To say that the assault on presidential authority is a novel thing is wrong. Plus, I mean, just to finish it all off, that’s why we fought a revolution against the unchecked authority of an executive branch.”

View the complete November 25 article by Matthew Chapman from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Lev Parnas Said He Assisted Barr’s ‘Investigation’ Of Russia Probe

In a July interview with the Ukrainian publication New-Times, Lev Parnas, a close associate of the president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, disclosed that his efforts to help Giuliani launch a disinformation campaign targeting former Vice President Joe Biden were also intended to help Attorney General Bill Barr with his investigation into the origins of the U.S. intelligence community’s investigation into Russian electoral interference in the 2016 election.

Over the years, conservative media figures — led by Fox host Sean Hannity — as well as Trump and his Republican allies, have alleged a vast, nonsensical conspiracy theory that the federal investigation into Russian electoral interference was actually an elaborate, criminal scheme to prevent Trump’s election. In May, shortly after assuming his position, Barr appointed U.S. Attorney in Connecticut John Durham to investigate the origins of the Russia investigation. Since then, Barr has reportedly taken an active role in traveling with Durham around the globe to investigate claims that are central elements of the right-wing’s conspiracy theory. Trump, too, has been pressuring foreign governments to cooperate with the probe. The probe is now reported to have evolved into a criminal inquiry, though it is unclear what potential crimes are being investigated.

In the July New-Times interview, Parnas spoke of his and Igor Fruman’s activities to support Giuliani’s investigation, such as connecting Giuliani with several corrupt, disgraced Ukrainian prosecutors. In addition to detailing their efforts to dig up dirt on Biden, Parnas also discussed his hope that their work would be instrumental in Barr’s investigation into how the Russia probe originated.

View the complete November 24 article by Julie Millican from Media Matters on the National Memo website here.

Trump’s Ukraine Scandal Is Also Attorney General Bill Barr’s Scandal

“It’s as if the department’s only job is to protect Trump. They should change their name to the Department of Cover-up”

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Bill Barr got slammed by former prosecutors and Constitutional lawyers for playing a pivotal role in President Trump’s favor during the dying days of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

He may have just done Trump another massive solid in the Ukraine whistleblower scandal, which now threatens to consume the White House.

Barr’s intimate involvement in the new scandal spilled out into public view on Wednesday, with vivid details that enraged Democratic members of Congress and left former prosecutors worrying openly about the Department of Justice’s increasingly battered reputation.

View the complete September 25 article by Greg Walters on the Vice website here.