Member-only story
Bill Barr, the President, and our Descent into Hell
The current situation is strange. The AG is telling the president to not tweet about his department. Yet, the actions of the president are consistent with what Attorney General Bill Barr believes in, even if he protests too much. This is an imperial presidency with no limits. What Barr describes as the rights for the president are those of either a dictator or an absolute king. Ergo, if the ruler wants to give an opinion in a case before the courts, that is his right. It’s so bad that President Donald Trump now believes he is the chief law enforcement officer in the country. He is not. That is the AG.
AG Barr now is protesting this. He does not like the tweets from the president. He may be bothered That the president went public with his desires. It will make his job on behalf of Trump harder. But AG Barr believes the president is correct.
He does not mind that the president wants to use the Department of Justice for his own ends. An imperial president should have all available to him. And here lies the problem. The project the Founders worked on did not have a king. This was a model with a strict balance of powers, and a system of justice where no one was above the law. This is also a justice system where the wheels are not used to favor those who the president likes, and to pursue enemies of the state.