Barr's Lawbreaking: A Case For Impeachment

William Barr, the former US Attorney General, has been accused of breaking laws and ethical guidelines during his time in office. Barr served as Attorney General under President George H.W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and again under President Donald Trump from 2019 to 2020. Barr was a loyal supporter of Trump and was accused of using his position to protect Trump from scrutiny and prosecution.

Barr's actions as Attorney General included intervening in the cases of Trump's associates, such as Michael Flynn and Roger Stone, and making misleading statements about the Mueller report, which investigated ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Barr also authorised an investigation into voter fraud in the 2020 election, despite a lack of evidence, and used force against peaceful protestors to enable a photo op for Trump.

Barr's actions led to widespread criticism and calls for his resignation, including from former FBI director James Comey, who accused Barr of 'damaging' the Justice Department.

Barr's involvement in the Mueller investigation

Barr was nominated to be the next Attorney General on December 7, 2018, by President Donald Trump, to succeed Jeff Sessions. Barr was confirmed as attorney general on February 14, 2019, by a 54–45 near-party-line vote.

Barr had already been critical of the Mueller investigation before Trump announced his intent to nominate him for Attorney General. In June 2018, Barr sent an unsolicited 19-page memo to the Department of Justice and White House attorneys, asserting that Mueller's investigation of President Trump for obstruction was "legally insupportable" and "fatally misconceived". Barr also discussed the memo with some of Trump's attorneys.

On March 22, 2019, Mueller concluded his special counsel investigation and gave the final report to Barr. Even before seeing the Mueller report, Barr had already decided to clear Trump of obstruction. To this end, he tasked the Office of Legal Counsel with writing a memo that would provide a pretextual justification for this decision. Barr submitted a four-page letter to Congress on March 24, 2019, mischaracterizing the Mueller report. Barr then left this mischaracterization as the only information available for almost a month before he finally released the full report to Congress and the public.

Mueller himself sent a letter to Barr on March 27, protesting Barr's characterization of the report and urging him to release the summaries contained in the report itself. Barr refused to release the summaries. Barr's March 24 letter, combined with his almost month-long delay in publicly releasing the report, allowed Trump to falsely claim that the Mueller report exonerated him on charges of "collusion" and obstruction of justice.

In fact, the report did not exonerate Trump on "collusion" at all. It did not even deal with the subject but only dealt with the issues of conspiracy and coordination. While Mueller did not find sufficient evidence to charge these matters, the investigation found multiple links between Trump Campaign officials and individuals tied to the Russian government, including links that were lied about. The report also explicitly did not exonerate President Trump on obstruction of justice. The report found 10 instances where President Donald Trump's conduct raised issues of possible obstruction of justice.

Barr's alleged interference in the removal of Geoffrey Berman

On June 19, 2020, Attorney General William Barr announced that Geoffrey Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), was stepping down from his position. Barr also stated that President Trump intended to nominate Jay Clayton to replace Berman and that Craig Carpenito, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, would serve as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the SDNY. This decision was met with criticism as Berman's office was actively investigating several people and companies associated with President Trump and the Trump Organization.

Berman, who was appointed by the federal judges of the Southern District of New York, stated that he had not resigned and would only step down if the President appointed a successor who was confirmed by the Senate. The next day, Barr informed Berman that Trump had fired him at Barr's request. Barr did not give a reason for Berman's firing.

Berman's removal raised concerns about political interference and prompted the New York City Bar Association to call for Congress to examine Barr's motives closely. They believed that Barr's actions suggested a pattern of conduct that undermined public confidence in the Department of Justice's role in enforcing the rule of law. Berman's removal was also seen as sacrificing the independence of the Department of Justice to protect Trump and his allies.

Barr's alleged voter fraud claims

William Barr's Alleged Voter Fraud Claims

In the lead-up to the 2020 election, then-Attorney General William Barr supported Donald Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud. Barr's assertions were in line with his long-held belief in the unitary executive theory, which holds that the President has broad executive powers. Barr's comments contradicted the Justice Department's findings and drew criticism from Trump's attorneys, who claimed that there had not been any investigation into the president's complaints.

Barr's allegations of voter fraud included the notion that mail-in voting was especially vulnerable to fraud during the coronavirus pandemic, as Americans feared going to the polls. He also asserted that foreign adversaries could flood the country with counterfeit ballots to disrupt the election, a claim that experts deemed to be nearly impossible. Barr further stated that mail-in voting meant "we're back in the business of selling and buying votes" and that there was a risk of "outright coercion" and bribery of postal workers.

Barr's claims were widely discredited, and he was accused of attempting to please Trump and of lacking credibility. Senior American intelligence officials stated that there was no evidence that any foreign powers intended to manipulate mail-in voting. The Department of Homeland Security also issued a bulletin warning that Russia was promoting false claims of mail-in voting leading to widespread fraud.

Despite his initial support for Trump's allegations, Barr later stated that the Justice Department had not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 election. This announcement angered Trump, who had expected Barr to support his claims. Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and his political campaign issued a statement claiming that there had not been any semblance of an investigation into the president's complaints.

Barr's comments on voter fraud were part of a broader pattern of controversial actions during his tenure as Attorney General, including his interventions in the cases of Trump associates, his order to resume federal executions, and allegations of political interference.

Barr's alleged involvement in the Roger Stone case

In February 2020, William Barr interfered in the prosecution of Roger Stone, a former advisor and close friend of President Donald Trump. Barr's interference came at the behest of President Trump and was against the objections of career Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors, who quit the case in protest.

Initially, four career prosecutors recommended that Stone serve a jail term of between seven and nine years. However, after Trump tweeted that the sentencing recommendation was a "horrible and very unfair situation", the DOJ filed a revised sentencing memorandum, recommending a lighter sentence. The next day, all four prosecutors withdrew from the case, with one resigning from the DOJ entirely.

Barr affirmed that he had made the decision to change the sentencing memo, but noted that Trump's tweets and public comments made it impossible for him to do his job. Barr's comments were seen as a rare departure from his usual unwavering support of the president.

Days later, a bipartisan group of more than 2,000 former DOJ employees signed a letter calling for Barr's resignation, while the Federal Judges Association of over a thousand federal jurists called an emergency meeting to discuss their concerns about the intervention of Trump and Justice Department officials in politically sensitive cases.

In response to the controversy, Barr said: "I think it's time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases."

Barr's alleged involvement in the Michael Flynn case

William Barr, the former US Attorney General, was accused of interfering in the case of Michael Flynn, who served as National Security Advisor during the first 22 days of the Trump administration. Flynn was convicted of lying about conversations with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak.

Flynn pleaded guilty to the charges in 2017, but later sought to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming government vindictiveness and breach of the plea agreement. In February 2020, Barr declared that there would be a review of Flynn's case, and appointed Jeffrey Jensen, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, to conduct it. Jensen recommended dropping the charges, and Barr agreed.

On May 7, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion to dismiss the case against Flynn, stating that his misrepresentations to the FBI were not "material" because the FBI was not carrying out a legitimate investigation. This was despite the fact that Flynn's calls with Kislyak were monitored by US intelligence, providing a record of the conversation.

The decision to drop the charges was highly unusual, as it came after Flynn had already pleaded guilty twice, and the trial judge had rejected his claims of unethical conduct by the government. Prominent Democrats, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, called for Barr to resign, accusing him of making the decision in Trump's interest. Barr denied that Trump had influenced him, stating that he was "doing the law's bidding".

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