William Barr To Step Down As Attorney General Before Christmas

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Attorney General William Barr after a speech to the International Association of Chiefs of Police Officer Safety and Wellness Symposium on Feb. 27 in Miami.





Brynn Anderson/AP



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Brynn Anderson/AP



Law
House Dems Say They’re Looking Into Political Influence At Justice Department

That was one reason why members of Congress viewed Barr — a prominent establishment Republican who had been attorney general once before under President George H.W. Bush — as a reassuring choice.

Republicans and Democrats alike had hopes that Barr could bring leadership and a steady hand to the department, which had found itself in the middle of Washington’s brutal partisan battles since the 2016 election.

By and large, Barr leaves a department still enjoying strong support from Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina repeatedly made clear their strong support for him.

Barr’s reputation on the other side of the aisle, however, is in tatters.

The rollout

Democrats, after their initial cautious optimism, quickly soured on Barr.

That began with his handling of the rollout of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Mueller’s report documented numerous contacts between Trump associates and Russians, but said the facts gathered did not establish that there was a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. And Mueller’s team did not draw a conclusion on whether the president obstructed justice.



Politics
Barr Has Considered Resigning Over Trump’s Remarks

Barr, however, did: He said there was no evidence of obstruction, effectively clearing the president of any wrongdoing at a time before the report was published.

Democrats accused Barr of baking in the «no collusion, no obstruction narrative before anyone else had a chance to see Mueller’s report.

Democrats were not alone in their criticism.

In March 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton called Barr’s handling of the Mueller report «distorted and «misleading. Walton, a George W. Bush appointee who was presiding over a lawsuit seeking redacted portions of the Mueller report, said Barr’s actions raised questions about the attorney general’s credibility.

The Mueller report was just the beginning for Barr’s critics.

Democrats bristled over Barr’s statement that he believed the Trump campaign was «spied on during the 2016 race, and his decision to appoint a veteran prosecutor, John Durham, to investigate the origins of the Russia probe.

All of that happened within the first few months of Barr’s tenure, dissolving any benefit of the doubt Democrats—and many observers in the legal community—had given him.





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President Donald Trump greeted Attorney General William Barr before Trump signed an executive order creating a commission to study law enforcement and justice on Oct. 28, 2019.





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Charles Rex Arbogast/AP



Politics
Attorney General Barr Issues New Rules For Politically Sensitive Investigations

In an interview with ABC News a few days later, Barr said the president’s tweets were making it «impossible for him to his job. He urged the president to stop publicly discussing the department’s work.

The president did not heed Barr’s advice. In the days that followed, Barr told people around him that he was considering quitting.

The two worked together through the tumultuous summer months, but the relationship unraveled after Trump’s election loss to Joe Biden.

The president refused to acknowledge his defeat, and he and his campaign pushed baseless claims that the vote had been stolen.

Nearly a month after the election, Barr told The Associated Press the Justice Department had found no evidence so far of any widespread fraud that would change the outcome of the election.

The remarks outraged Trump, who fired back that Barr «hasn’t done anything and «hasn’t looked for voter fraud. Asked whether he still had confidence in his attorney general, the president replied: «Ask me that in a number of weeks from now.