After a quickly cascading sequence of events, Democrats called Barr corrupt and demanded action. It began when Donald Trump metaphorically stood wringing his hands and wailing “Where’s my Roy Cohn?” At one point, Cohn worked for Trump handling all of his controversial business until he was disbarred. Then, William Barr made his case to be the president’s Roy Cohn, and he got the job.
Attorney General William Barr is a monarchist, meaning he believes that this president rules the nation single-handedly. The trouble with that is our founding fathers fought a war to free our country from the influence of a king.
It took very few moved for Donald Trump to nearly wrest the government away from its people. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stands in his Grim Reaper duds outside of the Senate and kills off any legislation the House gets to the Senate door.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo does his business farther from the limelight. Then, there is the Attorney General William Barr. Democrats say he should be impeached, but will that happen?
On Wednesday, progressive Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN) called for Barr to be impeached for not “following the rule of law.” He was speaking from the House Judiciary Committee.
The committee was holding a hearing regarding the politicization of the Justice Department (DOJ). Cohen said, according to NPR:
‘We should pursue impeachment of Bill Barr because he is reigning terror on the rule of law.’
Friday night, Attorney General William Barr released an announcement that Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) was retiring. Many wondered why do this now, given the short time Barr might be left in office?
The president’s handlers have systematically fired one watchman and woman after another throughout the government. Perhaps, the SDNY was getting too close to indicting another of the president’s friends. Former New York Mayor and current Trump fix man Rudy Giuliani was currently under investigation.
The problem was that Barr could not fire Berman. Only the president of these United States could fire him. Barr went to Trump, and the president fired Berman, but not before the head of the Southern District of New York negotiated to have his second-in-command firmly in place. Barr had wanted to install one of the president’s yes men.
By Wednesday two Justice Department (DOJ) officials, whistleblowers, came before the House Judicial Committee to testify against Barr. They alleged the DOJ had been politicized by Barr on behalf of Trump.
The Republicans sitting on the committee took a trip back to their juvenile days and began pounding on the desks and talking over the whistleblowers and even House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY)
Cohen argued in the committee that Barr should be “impeached and removed from office [because] t is questionable what he is doing.”
Surprisingly, Barr agreed to testify in late July. Democrats will have the opportunity to question him on the special treatment, including reduced or recalled sentences for Trump’s friends. They referred to presidential allies Michael Flynn and Roger Stone.
in an interview with CNN, Nadler said impeachment was “premature” given the Republican-dominated Senate:
‘I don’t think calls for his impeachment are premature any more than calls for the president’s impeachment were premature, but they are a waste of time at this point.’
Nadler put on the record that the Senate was “corrupt” for their support to acquit the president on two articles of impeachment.
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) appeared on CBS’s Face The Nation. Sunday morning. He said that Barr’s actions were political acts designed to protect this president:
‘This is one more example why, I think, Bill Barr has repeatedly demonstrated that he’s more interested in being Donald Trump’s personal lawyer than he is being the attorney for the United States of America.’
.@MarkWarner on firing of @SDNYNews Atty. Geoffrey Berman: “It’s one more example why Bill Barr repeatedly demonstrated he’s more interested in being donald trump personal lawyer than being the attorney of the United States” pic.twitter.com/je1ThwssNF
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 21, 2020
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) tweeted Saturday trying to influence the House to give the Senate a bill that would limit Barr’s reach as far as Trump was involved. She wrote:
‘This is a naked abuse of power. I’ve already called for AG William Barr to resign & for Congress to impeach him. Congress should pass my bill now to defund Barr’s authority to interfere with matters related to Trump, his family, & his campaign.’
Nadler told CNN that Barr’s role in the firing was reflective of:
‘[A] pattern of … Barr corruptly impeding all these investigations.’
Then on Wednesday, Nadler released a statement regarding two whistleblowers who had the courage to speak out about Barr’s actions. His statement was about the “purported firing of United States Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman:”
‘Last night, Attorney General Bill Barr told us that Geoffrey Berman of the SDNY had resigned—which was untrue. Today, Barr told us that the President asked him to fire Mr. Berman—which may also be untrue, given that the President says he had nothing to do with the decision. The whole thing smacks of corruption and incompetence, which is what we have come to expect from this President and his Attorney General.
‘Neither the President nor the Department of Justice have offered any explanation for Mr. Berman’s purported dismissal. We know that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is engaged in investigations aimed at President Trump’s inner circle. We know, from revelations earlier this week, that the President wanted to have ‘his own people’ in that office to help him with his personal and political needs. And we know that, time and time again, Bill Barr has reached into ongoing criminal investigations in order to protect the President from their consequences. The American people are right to be outraged. Barr may sit in the office of the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, but he clearly cares very little about the law.
‘The House Judiciary Committee will immediately open an investigation into this incident, as part of our broader investigation into Barr’s unacceptable politicization of the Department of Justice. On Wednesday, the Committee will hear from two whistleblowers who will explain why Barr’s attempt to fire Mr. Berman is part of a larger, ongoing, and wholly unacceptable pattern of conduct. If the President removes Mr. Berman, then we will take additional steps to secure his testimony as well.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham of course, defended Barr and the president for firing the US attorney. Graham’s Committee Correspondent Phil Mattingly released a tweet that read:
‘The decision by President Trump to remove Mr. Berman as acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York falls within the president’s power to appoint or remove U.S. Attorneys.’
The tweet included:
‘It is my view that any president has the ability to replace political appointees, such as U.S. Attorneys. The decision by President Trump to remove Mr. Berman as acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York falls within the president’s power to appoint or remove U.S. Attorneys.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
