..."arbitrary", "fundamentally flawed", and "raised doubts about the integrity of Department prosecution decisions."
Those are the words of the Inspector General to the Department of Justice.
The same can be said today. Barr has not only exhibited gross ethical violations, he has also committed fraud in issuing the 4 page letter. In some ways, Barr, with the help of Trump, is hiding from the truth that is his actions and his actions alone.
It isn't as though the country hasn't been through these issues before, it is that this time Trump is using Congressional oversight as political rhetoric. The fact the Congress is dealing with a hostile and criminal Attorney General is the real problem. Barr is obstructing justice. If one recalls the US Attorney issue didn't play well for "W" in the long run, however, it was mostly invisible to the American people when he ran again in 2004. The actions of his administration came to the attention of the American people after the election.
To note, this time there is more than poor judgment and ethics at play; Barr has knowingly committed fraud. There is a lot of reasons for Barr and Trump, who considers Barr his best toy of all times, to refuse cooperation. Secretary Munchkin is more of the same.
This is all harassing behavior by the Trump White House. Even Sanders is stating the FBI are criminals. They might be from their point of view, but, from the terms of the law, the FBI are not criminals. It is noteworthy to realize it wasn't until the current FBI Director made testimony to Congress that Trump launched into a rant about criminality. Sanders is simply parroting the president.
It is reported that in a recent event Barr and Speaker Pelosi were in the same room and Barr made the comment she didn't bring her handcuffs. That is more of the harassing behavior typical of this White House. We have not only witnessed it on a regular basis in reports in the media, but, it was a driving force by Trump and Guiliani in attempts to obstruct justice with open threats to Michael Cohen. The threats coming from a sitting president and his attorney carried a great deal of weight to Michael Cohen that resulted in he and his family fearing for their lives.
Harassment, in both the case of Cohen and the case of the Congressional investigation, has only one common perpetrator in both cases, Donald J. Trump, Sr. So, it is very easy to claim behavior by Trump's cabinet is directed by the president and no one else.
The movement to impeachment has to be thought through to be successful. The Chief Justice will be presiding over the impeachment and he is an unknown in this issue. Roberts is currently leading a revolution against precedent from the Chief Justice's office. It is a divided court. Roberts doesn't even try to bring the court together. Most of his radical movement to destroying precedent is coming down to a permanent 5-4 vote. I think it is imprudent to not realize the actions by Roberts and his divided court is in the balance of the impeachment decision. Where precedent is reassuring, there is no way of knowing what precedent Roberts will destroy next.
The criminality of Barr and Trump need to be reinforced with the American people. The American people know the sting of corruption in their own lives. They know they are oppressed for reasons beyond their control. They will understand the issues with Trump and balance the outcomes. I think it is a mistake to continue to allow Trump to harass the Congress as if he is above the law. He is not. However, he is an obstructionist that has no respect for the US Constitution.
I think fines in significant amounts for Contempt of Congress is in order. They get their paychecks because Congress issues them in a budget. I think the collection of outstanding fines of the Executive Branch will be welcome by the American people in the next Congressional budget. Americans don't like deadbeats and that is exactly what Trump and his illicit cabinet members are. Trump is a notorious deadbeat from his earliest business dealings. Why would Congress expect anything any different?
One other thing. As Congress issues fines to the Executive Branch, the American people are mostly ignorant to the radical nature of the current majority in the Supreme Court. Where it can be a campaign issue for the Democrats, they should point it out. Independents, as a rule, don't like unfairness. It is why the "law and order" rhetoric plays so well for Republicans, regardless of their lawlessness. It is important for the average American to realize the extent a conservative court is eliminating longstanding precedent that has served the people well.
