Bill Barr: A Corrupt and Dangerous Attorney General by Robert Covington Jr.
Typically, when we think of Donald Trump, some keywords immediately come to mind: Reckless, lawless, corrupt, and dangerous. The gravity of this reality has reached a breaking point with the announcement from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi that she’s given her official support to move forward with an impeachment inquiry. And unfortunately for America, these same keywords can be ascribed to the current Attorney General, Bill Barr.
Ironically, this isn’t Bill Barr’s first rodeo as Attorney General. Barr was Attorney General from 1991–1993 under G.H.W Bush’s administration, and his most distinguishable and consequential acts as Attorney General was Barr’s involvement in the cover up and pardoning of criminal acts related to the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan and Bush presidencies. His successful push for pardons was rooted in his desire not to hold American officials accountable for their wrongdoing. Well known New York Times columnist William Safire at the time, appropriately called Barr, “Cover up General Barr” for his reprehensible actions as leader of the Department of Justice.
Bill Barr told us what kind of lawyer and man he was back then. His acts were firmly rooted in a fundamental disregard for accountability. He shamelessly abused the public trust and sanctioned corrupt power. In the end, Barr revealed that his view of self and sense of duty was more aligned with the nefarious co-conspirators than the oath of justice that he swore to uphold.
Bill Barr’s deplorable character, propensity to support white collar crooked behavior and cover ups, and his dangerous view of presidential power laid the foundation for him to inevitably partner up with Donald Trump, the most corrupt, compromised president in American history. Bill Barr ultimately returned to government because he felt the need to rescue Donald Trump’s presidency as best he could. Barr knew that his guilt free immorality and unethical conduct would be attractive to Trump. And Barr’s audition for the position of Attorney General was an unsolicited memo criticizing the Robert Mueller investigation as an inappropriate exercise in trying to constrain executive power. It worked. Barr became Attorney General once again.
Predictably, since Barr’s return as America’s top lawyer, he has enabled Trump’s worst instincts, cruelty, and gross abuse of power. Barr has supported Trump’s conspiracy theories about being a target of the United States government. Barr has ignored the widespread concern regarding Jared Kushner’s and Ivanka Trump’s security clearances. Barr has done nothing to address Trump’s daily constitutional violations of the Emoluments clause. In fact, Barr has gone on to flaunt his complicity in the abuse of presidential power by spending his own money at one of Trump’s hotels.
Barr has turned the Department of Justice into the Department of Corruption. Barr was presented with a criminal summary called the Robert Mueller report and decided not to indict this corrupt president. To make matters worse, he purposely lied and misrepresented the facts contained in the Mueller report to the American people. Barr’s calculated act of deceit confused the public and emboldened a lawless president.
Bill Barr has supported Trump’s racist border wall and his justice department is involved in a lawsuit to take healthcare away from 30 million Americans. Barr has done almost nothing to stop Trump’s torture and inhumane abuse of families in detention centers. Barr’s justice department has argued in court that the president is literally above the law and cannot be prosecuted for anything.
In another desperate attempt to cover up and protect this lawless president, Barr improperly involved the Justice Department in the explosive whistleblower allegation that President Trump attempted to bribe and extort Ukraine’s newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
These decisions, along with many others that are not enumerated here, speaks to the threat that Bill Barr poses to America. Bill Barr is not an impartial, objective or neutral actor on behalf of the rule of law and justice. Barr has become the most dangerous lawyer in America because he’s decided to protect the most dangerous president in our lifetime.
Bill Barr is all in on Trump’s assault on our country until he has no other choice to do otherwise. And let’s be clear, Bill Barr does not care how history judges him. He told us so in his CBS interview when asked about his legacy: His dismissive response was “everybody dies.” This is true and it reveals the focused nature of the here and now that drives his actions.
Attorney General Bill Barr and Trump’s mutual arrangement of infamy is a willful act of betrayal against the United States of America. These two men will forever be linked to each other for being some of the worst Americans that this country has ever produced in public life. And yes Bill Barr, that will be your legacy.
Follow me on twitter: @robcovingtonjr
