William Barr's Department of Justice Is a Rogue Agency

By Charles Pierce, Esquire

24 September 20

This is completely, howl-at-the-moon, barking nuts.

he Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives would like to speak to an assistant attorney general named Eric Driesband, as well as one Michael Carvajal, the director of the federal Bureau of Prisons, and one Donald Washington, the director of the U.S. Marshals Service. The committee has some questions covering a broad range of topics related to the civil rights division of the Department of Justice. The DOJ responded with a letter from Stephen F. Boyd, yet another assistant attorney general, in which it was explained that the three administration* officials would not be coming before the committee. It is an altogether remarkable letter and yet completely typical of this administration.

Unfortunately, when given the opportunity to obtain information from the head of the Department of Justice about precisely these matters, many Committee Members chose instead to use their allotted time to air grievances. Rather than attempt to obtain information from the Department that would assist the Committee in recommending legislation to the House, many Members of the majority devoted their time entirely towards scolding and insulting the Attorney General. These Members refused to allow the Attorney General to respond to their accusations or to answer questions asked for rhetorical effect.

As the New York Times reported, “Democrat after Democrat posed questions to Mr. Barr only to cut him off when he tried to reply, substituting their own replies for his.” See Barr Testimony: Highlights of Combative Hearings on Protests, Stone Case and More, N.Y. Times (July 28, 2020). In what can only be viewed as a coordinated effort to muzzle the Attorney General, the Members repeatedly invoked the phrase, “reclaiming my time,” which they employed more than 30 times when the Attorney General tried to respond.

All told, when the Attorney General tried to address the Committee’s questions, he was interrupted and silenced in excess of 70 times. Some Members were quite candid that they had no interest in actually hearing from the Attorney General. One Member interrupted him and admitted, “Well I don’t want you to tell your story.” Oversight of the Department of Justice, Hearing Before the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 116th Cong. (July 28, 2020). Another advised, “You will have a chance to comment after your testimony is done here today.” Despite the Attorney General appearing in person and taking questions from all Members who were present, he was denied the most basic opportunities to respond.

In short, the reply from the Executive to a perfectly legitimate request from the Legislature, a co-equal branch of government, can be summed up as:

a) Pound sand, and

b) It should pound sand because it had the audacity to pay insufficient respect to William Barr, the White House manure spreader.

This is pure, raw balls. Barr tried to filibuster his way through every answer and the Democrats on the committee refused to let him do that, and now the DOJ claims the right to deny Congress its legitimate oversight power because members of Congress tried to do what they're supposed to do. Worse, through a tortured misreading of a Supreme Court decision, the administration* is claiming the de facto right to determine what is or is not a "legitimate legislative purpose."

Yet the House’s so-called oversight “hearing” of the Attorney General did preciously little to advance any legitimate interest since the Attorney General was repeatedly denied the opportunity to provide information to the Committee. We very much regret that the Committee did not elect to engage in a meaningful, good-faith effort to obtain information and views from the Attorney General while he was present and prepared to testify. Having squandered its opportunity to conduct a meaningful oversight hearing with the Attorney General, it remains unclear how further public spectacles with other Department officials would now—a mere 14 legislative days since the Attorney General’s hearing—advance the Committee’s legitimate oversight efforts.

That's not your decision to make, Bunky. I don't care if the committee members squirted Barr with seltzer bottles the last time he appeared, you don't get to tell a congressional committee what it can and cannot question a government official about, and you don't get to blow off the committee's request for testimony from witnesses because you didn't like the decorum that prevailed when somebody else was testifying earlier.

(Here, for example, is Rep. Lucy McBath of Georgia being so dreadfully rude to poor Bill Barr, who was just trying to duck the questions like any veteran government white dude would.)

Under Barr, the Department of Justice has become a rogue agency at the beck and call of the White House. This is further illustrated by the weird-but-nonetheless-scary declaration that New York City, Portland, and Seattle should be recognized as "anarchist jurisdictions" and, as such, denied aid from the federal government. From CNN:

"When state and local leaders impede their own law enforcement officers and agencies from doing their jobs, it endangers innocent citizens who deserve to be protected, including those who are trying to peacefully assemble and protest," Attorney General William Barr said in a statement on Monday. "We cannot allow federal tax dollars to be wasted when the safety of the citizenry hangs in the balance. It is my hope that the cities identified by the Department of Justice today will reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government and start protecting their own citizens."

This is, not to put a finer point on it, completely, howl-at-the-moon, barking nuts—far more literally anarchic than anything done by a kid in the streets of Seattle. The Executive cannot unilaterally repurpose money already appropriated, no matter what magic incantation Barr comes up with out of his Conservative Book of Spells.

Moreover, there's more than a little evidence that these three cities were chosen because a) the president* has no chance of winning the states in which they're located, and b) because the local officials spurned the president's offer of shock troops. You will note that neither Kenosha nor Minneapolis are on the list, probably because the president*'s campaign thinks Wisconsin and Minnesota are still up for grabs. And, as for the second reason, it is becoming plain that the worst thing you can do to Bill Barr is laugh at his mighty sword. Why do they laugh at his mighty sword?