Center for American Progress

RELEASE: Justice Department Loses Integrity, Independence Under William Barr, CAP Column Says
Press Release

RELEASE: Justice Department Loses Integrity, Independence Under William Barr, CAP Column Says

Washington, D.C. — The Justice Department is losing its independence and integrity during the coronavirus pandemic, with dangerous implications for what the administration may be willing to do in the months to come, according to a new column from the Center for American Progress.

Attorney General William Barr has become an active accomplice in the Trump administration’s efforts to politicize the department, the column says. And despite the vulnerable state of the country, Barr appears to be ramping up the partisan nature of the department.

“Barr’s recent actions demonstrate his loyalty and adherence to the president’s personal interests as well as his brazenness while furthering those interests,” said Maggie Jo Buchanan, director of Legal Progress at CAP. “There is little to indicate that he will be protect ordinary people over the interests of the Trump administration.”

From his decision to drop criminal charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn to his support for far-right conservative activists protesting public health orders, Barr is turning the Justice Department into a political arm of the White House, the column says.

Read the column: “Attorney General Bill Barr is Willing to Destroy the Rule of Law for the Trump Administration” by Maggie Jo Buchanan.

For more information, or to talk to an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected], or 202-478-6327.