Trump-appointed Attorney General Bill Barr, whose team intervened in the criminal cases of Trump associates including Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, apparently would like Americans to take him seriously when he proclaims himself to be some kind of defender of law and order and justice in the United States — or something. Is his commitment to justice why he obscured key facts from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation for weeks on end? During an interview that aired this weekend on CBS, Barr tried to launch a defense of law enforcement in the United States and claimed that he does not believe that the policing system is systemically racist — but he’s not credible.
Disgraceful that the FBI's top lawyer, a longtime dedicated public service, was forced to resign by AG Bill Barr's Justice Department for apparently refusing to go along with Barr's politicized attacks on the Flynn prosecution and Russia investigation.https://t.co/syBjJVTmG5
— Noah Bookbinder (@NoahBookbinder) June 1, 2020
His interview aired amidst days of ongoing nationwide protests against police brutality following the murder of a black man named George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. Asked if he believes that “there is systemic racism in law enforcement” by host Margaret Brennan, Barr said:
‘I think there’s racism in the United States still but I don’t think that the law enforcement system is systemically racist. I understand the distrust, however, of the African-American community given the history in this country. I think we have to recognize that for most of our history, our institutions were explicitly racist. Since the 1960s, I think we’ve been in a phase of reforming our institutions and making sure that they’re in sync with our laws and aren’t fighting a rearguard action to impose inequities.’
Watch below:
“I think there's racism in the United States,” AG Bill Barr tells @margbrennan.
“But I don't think that the law enforcement system is systemically racist. https://t.co/dq311AV3bv pic.twitter.com/H2W54re4tt
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 7, 2020
Again — it’s laughable for Bill Barr to suddenly act like he’s some kind of guardian of the law. His team decided to file a motion to entirely drop the government’s case against Trump adviser Michael Flynn, even though the facts of Flynn’s case have not changed — he lied to federal investigators about his communications with a then-Russian ambassador, and in so doing, he broke the law. That does not seem to have fazed Barr, however.
Attorney General Barr has actively engaged in perverting DOJ’s independence and tilting the scales of justice, already wracked with racial bias, to support Flynn and Stone — white allies of a corrupt president. https://t.co/uMU29c50io
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) June 6, 2020
Besides — Barr is wrong to suggest that the institutions of policing in the United States are not still actively biased against black Americans.
Nadler and Judiciary announce steps to counter Bill Barr's spurning of Congress, including hearings with whistleblowers, an amicus brief to keep Michael Flynn in prison, and "legislation to slash the budget of the Attorney General's personal office at DOJ by $50 million." pic.twitter.com/1CBnoTtoDv
— Michael McAuliff (@mmcauliff) June 2, 2020
In fact, black Americans still face police forces in their community who have been armed as if they’re segments of the military. The investment into these police forces has been huge while investment into growing actually supportive community infrastructure has been more minimal. In city after city, police budgets are astronomical, especially compared to city budgets for other programs.
“There is an incredible amount of investment going into black and brown communities. But it’s going into criminalizing them.” https://t.co/OQYC36SgP8 MT @brentinmock
— Prison_Health (@Prison_Health) June 4, 2020
As Jennifer Epps-Addison, who works as the co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, explained in reference to a recent report outlining demands for lowering police budgets:
‘This report is groundbreaking because we often talk about black and brown communities, and particularly low-income communities as having no investments, no resources, and being starved. What our report shows is that, in fact, there is an incredible amount of investment going into black and brown communities. But it’s going into criminalizing them.’
Barr and others in the Trump administration could be working to help correct these issues — but they’re not. Instead, they’re sticking to running around and performing political errands for the president and complaining when they get called out.
Under the direction of a corrupt president who coddles white supremacists and befriends dictators, AG Barr’s conduct threatens the lives and safety of American citizens. He must be impeached.https://t.co/uMU29c50io
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) June 7, 2020
