William Barr: Early Look
Read our letter of opposition to William Barr.
President Trump announced that he intends to nominate William Barr to be attorney general. Barr served as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush from 1991-1993. Since then, he has been a telecommunications executive and board member, as well as in private legal practice.
Barr Will Not Be Independent Of President Trump Or Restrain Trump’s Attacks On The Rule Of Law
Threat To The Mueller Investigation
Barr authored a
controversial memo attacking part of the Mueller investigation. In June 2018, Barr sent the Department of
Justice a lengthy memo arguing that
Mueller shouldn’t be able to investigate Trump for obstruction of justice. The
memo, which Barr reportedly shared
with the White House as well, raises serious concerns that Barr thinks Trump
should be above the law.
Barr has already been asked to defend
President Trump in the Mueller investigation. President Trump repeatedly criticized Attorney
General Jeff Sessions for failing to rein in Special Counsel Robert Mueller,
and clearly a priority for the president is appointing an individual to lead
the Justice Department who will protect him from investigations. President
Trump has reportedly asked Barr in the past whether he would serve as Trump’s
personal defense attorney and
has inquired whether Barr, like Sessions, would recuse himself from
the Mueller investigation.
Barr is already on record minimizing the
seriousness of allegations surrounding Trump and Russia. In reference to a supposed Clinton uranium
scandal that gained traction in right-wing conspiracy circles,
it was reported that “Mr. Barr said he sees more
basis for investigating the uranium deal than any supposed collusion between
Mr. Trump and Russia.”
Barr is highly skeptical of independent
investigations. When he was Attorney
General, Barr reportedly considered firing Lawrence Walsh, then the independent counsel investigating the
Iran- Contra scandal. Bob Woodward reported Barr as saying in 1992
“I’ve had an itchy finger” in the context of his stating that he had been
thinking about firing Walsh for the previous 18 months. Barr has also said, “Frankly,
I don’t think prosecutors should be independent.” Barr criticized the independent counsel
statute in effect at the time, including the
Supreme Court decision that upheld the statute.
Barr played a key role in controversial
Iran-Contra pardons. After
an independent prosecutor was appointed to investigate the Iran-Contra scandal,
President George H.W. Bush pardoned several members of his administration in a
move that the independent prosecutor assailed as a
cover-up. Reporting at the time indicated that Barr played a key role in the
controversial pardons.
Barr would likely be skeptical of Congress’s
power to protect Mueller. In a 1989 Office of Legal Counsel memo, Barr called on the president to resist
“congressional incursions” into the president’s appointment power and advocated
“vigorous opposition” to limitations on the president’s power to remove
officials, which would be precisely the issue should Trump try to fire Mueller.
Loyalty Will Lie With Trump
Barr supported Trump’s
decision to fire James Comey. Trump has insisted on personal loyalty from law enforcement
officials. When Comey would not pledge his personal loyalty to the President,
Trump fired him. Barr authored a May 12, 2017 op-ed titled “Trump
made the right call on Comey.”
Barr heavily criticized Sally Yates’s decision
to follow the Constitution rather than succumb to President Trump’s
agenda. When Yates directed
Department of Justice lawyers not to defend the original discriminatory Muslim
Ban (which was struck down by multiple courts), Barr heavily criticized Yates’s
decision. Barr authored a February 1, 2017 op-ed where he
argued that “[h]er action was unprecedented and must go down as a serious abuse
of office.”
Barr sees nothing wrong with the president
calling for an investigation of his political opponents and believes that
Hillary Clinton should be investigated. When Trump pressured the Department of Justice to open an
investigation into Hillary Clinton, Barr said, “There is nothing
inherently wrong about a president calling for an investigation.” In another
interview, Barr said, “I don’t think all
this stuff about throwing [Clinton] in jail or jumping to the conclusion that
she should be prosecuted is appropriate . . . but I do think that there are
things that should be investigated that haven’t been investigated.”
Expansive Views Of Executive Power
Barr pushed back on
congressional efforts to ban torture. During President George W. Bush’s administration, Barr testified, “This
administration says they’re not going to engage in torture, but they will
engage in coercive interrogation, and I’m not sure if it would be helpful for
Congress to try to figure out what exactly constitutes torture and what’s
coercion under the circumstances.”
Barr believed President
Trump could legally issue his first Muslim Ban. In fact, the ban was struck down by
multiple courts, and the Trump Administration itself ultimately revised the
ban.
Barr reportedly played a role in approving a bulk
data collection program. He also supported immunity
for tech companies that helped violate Americans’ civil liberties.
Barr Will Roll Back Civil Rights
Troubling Views On Immigration
As AG, Barr focused on
aggressive immigration enforcement. He later argued that “[o]ne
of the biggest problems we have with immigration . . . is the abuse of the
asylum laws.” During Barr’s tenure, the George H.W. Bush administration also
attempted to prevent Haitian asylum-seekers from reaching U.S. shores. After the
Rodney King riots in LA, Barr stated in a 1992
interview that “The problem of immigration enforcement–making sure we have a
fair set of rules and then enforce them–I think that’s certainly relevant to
the problems we’re seeing in Los Angeles.”
Opposes Reproductive Rights
Barr has called
for overturning the
landmark decision protecting a woman’s right to abortion care. Barr stated, “I believe Roe v.
Wade should be overruled.”
Problematic Views On LGBTQ Rights
Barr has spoken disparagingly of
LGBTQ Americans and has fought LGBTQ equality. He has expressed his view that “[v]enereal
disease is the price that we pay for sexual licentiousness.” While at DOJ,
Barr reportedly led the effort to
maintain a policy preventing HIV-positive
non- citizens from entering the country. Barr was also reportedly a proponent of
keeping HIV-positive Haitians housed at Guantanamo Bay, even though they
were approved for asylum in the U.S. In 2018,
Barr praised Jeff Sessions’s decision to rescind guidance
protecting transgender Americans.
Legacy Of Overincarceration
Barr served as
attorney general during the so-called War on Drugs, which disproportionately
impacted communities of color. Notably, he wrote a report
titled “The Case for More Incarceration.” In a 1992 speech, Barr said, “The choice is
clear. More prison space or more crime.” He also opposed the
bipartisan Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 and applauded Jeff
Sessions’s decision to revert to harsh charging policies.
Barr Supports The Wealthy And Powerful Over All Americans
Attacked Critical Consumer Protections
Barr has opposed a
free and open internet. As general counsel for Verizon, Barr, who received over $10
million from Verizon in 2009, opposed net neutrality.
Barr advocated for TimeWarner’s merger with
AT&T. The Justice
Department he is nominated to head said the merger would harm consumers.
Barr opposed critical
protections for investors. He attacked legislation Congress put in place after the Enron
and WorldCom scandals.
Signed A Brief Opposing The Affordable Care Act
In his capacity as a former attorney general, Barr signed a brief challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Had he been successful, health care for millions would have been jeopardized.