William Barr’s Fresh Air The AG is taking flak because he’s asking questions that others won’t.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/william-barrs-fresh-air-11559510133
If you want to know why William Barr is under political attack, consider his interview last week with Jan Crawford of CBS News. It’s a humdinger, in which the Attorney General challenges the received wisdom about the investigation into Trump-Russia collusion.
Nearby we excerpt Mr. Barr’s comments about the behavior of former top FBI officials James Comey and Andrew McCabe. Note how he disagrees with President Trump’s charge of “treason.” As the AG points out, the Constitution specifically defines treason as “only in levying War against [the United States], or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.”
But note too that Mr. Barr takes seriously the bias displayed by FBI officials against Mr. Trump. And he calls out the press for a double standard in failing to be alarmed about a potential abuse of power by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in spying on an American presidential campaign.
“The fact that today people just seem to brush aside the idea that it is okay to, you know, to engage in these activities against a political campaign is stunning to me especially when the media doesn’t seem to think that it’s worth looking into,” Mr. Barr says. “They’re supposed to be the watchdogs of, you know, our civil liberties.” This is not something the press corps likes to hear about its own biases.
Ms. Crawford: “So when we talk about foreign interference versus, say, a government abuse of power, which is more troubling?”
Mr. Barr: Well, they’re both, they’re both troubling.”
Ms. Crawford: “Equally?”
Mr. Barr: “In my mind, they are, sure. I mean, republics have fallen because of Praetorian Guard mentality where government officials get very arrogant, they identify the national interest with their own political preferences and they feel that anyone who has a different opinion, you know, is somehow an enemy of the state. And, you know, there is that tendency that they know better and that, you know, they’re there to protect as guardians of the people. That can easily translate into essentially supervening the will of the majority and getting your own way as a government official.”
Mr. Barr won’t win any popularity contests in Washington with those words, but the public should be encouraged that he is looking closely at FBI actions that so many prefer to ignore.
Comments are closed.
