{"articles":[{"reaction_config":[{"icon":"excited","color":"#EE4950","stance":"excited"},{"icon":"happy","color":"#EDB723","stance":"happy"},{"icon":"apathetic","color":"#3AB093","stance":"apathetic"},{"icon":"sad","color":"#5ACDED","stance":"sad"},{"icon":"angry","color":"#624960","stance":"angry"}],"id":46645,"title":"Attorney General Barr to Step Down From Dept. of Justice Next Week","html_content":"

by Causes | 12.14.20

What’s the story?

President Donald Trump on Monday tweeted that Attorney General William Barr will resign from his position leading the Dept. of Justice (DOJ) effective next Wednesday, December 23rd:

“Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family... Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General. Highly respected Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General. Thank you to all!”

In his resignation letter, Barr wrote that he appreciated the opportunity to update the president on the DOJ’s review of voter fraud allegations in the 2020 elections, and added ― “it is incumbent on all levels of government, and all agencies acting within their purview, to do all we can to assure the integrity of elections and promote public confidence in their outcome.”
Barr also praised the Trump administration’s accomplishments on a wide range of issues in his resignation letter, from the coronavirus vaccine to efforts to curb illegal immigration. He also took issue with the campaign to cripple Trump’s presidency with “frenzied and baseless accusations of collusion with Russia.”
On December 1st, Barr announced that the investigation into the origins of the Russia collusion probe will continue under the supervision of Special Counsel John Durham, who had been investigating the matter in his role as a U.S. attorney. Barr tapped Durham as a special counsel on October 19th but didn’t publicly announce the appointment until after the election. Coincidentally, reports emerged Monday that Durham is expanding his investigatory team.
Barr's letter concluded, \"As discussed, I will spend the next week wrapping up a few remaining matters important to the Administration and depart on December 23rd.\"
While their parting appears to be amicable, Trump and Barr clashed in recent weeks over allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 elections, as the attorney general stated that the DOJ hasn’t uncovered evidence despite the president’s insistence to the contrary.
Additionally, Trump called Barr a “big disappointment” after a report surfaced that the attorney general was aware of the DOJ’s investigation into Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings and tax affairs that began as early as 2018 but didn’t reveal its existence publicly until after the election. It’s unclear whether Barr has appointed a special counsel in the Hunter Biden inquiry, or whether he will do so prior to his departure.
Next week will mark the conclusion of Barr’s second stint leading the DOJ. He served as attorney general for a year and a half during President George H.W. Bush’s administration and will step down after serving in the role for 22 months of the Trump administration.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: U.S. Marshals Service via Flickr / Public Domain)

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Won’t listen to slogans, chanted mantras or generally any kind of marketing spin or “rebranding” crap. I firmly believe that everyone else is entitled to their erroneous opinions. Citizen vigilance and due diligence is price we must pay to live in a thriving, functional democracy.\nI fear that our citizens are too easily swayed by politician’s pablum about “babies”, “jobs” and now, in particular, perceived “enemies”. I fear that a citizenry focused on the “here-and-now” is easily tricked by short term benefits that have negative long-term consequences. I fear that our legislators are more concerned about buffing their constituents than looking out for the long-term welfare of our country- and are way too eager to provide those short-term benefits to the “here-and-now” crowd.\nI fear that honor is generally being sacrificed/replaced by expediency. I hear politicians eloquently argue for one side of an issue and later, when it’s to their benefit, just as eloquently argue for the opposite side. OK, so they are good at arguing- but what is that they actually believe? What is it that they actually stand for? An honorable person has values that persist even when it is not convenient or expedient. An honorable person has a moral compass that stops them from doing something wrong even if it is not illegal. A foul is a foul- even if the referee doesn’t catch you.\nI fear that each of our federal governmental branches have devised or discovered shortcuts which tend to protect them from the checks and balances our founders intended.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"jimk","issue_count":4,"is_following":null,"influence_score":46950,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":1588,"following_count":85,"position_count":548,"id":"9odrQBnb","partner_id":null}],"article_comment":{"flagged":false,"id":1390363,"body":"He will go down in history as the most corrupt Attorney General in our history. The damage to our judicial branch is horrendous. I hope that he will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law for his actions to sabotage our democracy. 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