John, with so much going on, from the coronavirus to the Presidential primary, it’s easy to lose track even if you’re paying attention!
But we can’t let the out-of-control news cycle or Trump’s distraction tactics allow us to forget the blatant corruption of the Justice Department under Attorney General Bill Barr.
Barr most recently came under fire for intervening in the sentencing of Trump's longtime advisor and confidante, Roger Stone, but Barr has been a loyal soldier for Trump's attack on the rule of law for much longer.
When Trump says he has the “legal right” to meddle in cases handled by the Justice Department, he’s wrong. If a president can punish enemies and reward friends through the administration of justice, there can be no justice.
Justice requires impartial and equal treatment under the law. Partiality or inequality in deciding whom to prosecute and how to punish is tyranny. Plain and simple. As a lapdog for President Trump, Attorney General Barr isn’t impartial or independent, he’s the definition of the problem.
More than 1,100 former US Department of Justice officials have signed an open letter calling for Attorney General Bill Barr to resign, driving enough pressure on the DOJ that Barr himself spoke out telling Trump his tweets make it “impossible to do my job.” For days, there’s been leaks that Barr is considering quitting.
Now’s the time to amp up the pressure again and join the call to action. Add your name to my joint petition with Democracy for America calling on Attorney General to resign right now >>
A half-century ago I witnessed the near dissolution of justice under President Nixon. I served in the Justice Department when a bipartisan Congress resolved that what had occurred would never happen again.
Except, it is happening again. What occurred under Nixon is happening right now, before our very eyes.
Like Nixon, Trump has usurped the independence of the Department of Justice for his own ends.
But unlike Nixon, Trump won’t resign.
He has too many enablers – not just a shameful Attorney General but also shameless congressional Republicans – who place a lower priority on justice than on satisfying the most vindictive and paranoid occupant of the White House in modern American history.
But Barr might resign – if we raise our collective voices loud enough.
Join 1,100 former Justice Department officials, me and thousands of other DFA members and demand Attorney General Barr resign immediately.
Add your name to our petition now.
For the sake of our democracy, thank you for taking action today.
Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor
Co-founder, Inequality Media
