Joyce White Vance: How Bill Barr can still be held accountable for undermining the DOJ

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Joyce Alene
@JoyceWhiteVance
New from me - there are ways to hold Bill Barr to account if the memo Judge Jackson has ordered DOJ to release by 5/17 establishes misconduct. I explain what they are in this piece for @MSNBC .

Opinion | How Bill Barr can still be held accountable for undermining the DOJ
There are four possibilities for holding an attorney general accountable if evidence suggests he did abuse his office to protect a president.
msnbc.com
2:10 PM · May 7, 2021

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/judge-amy-berman-jackson-s-barr-rebuke-opens-door-doj-n1266692

Good government requires transparency. It’s why we have a free press, enshrined in the First Amendment. It’s why Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.”

And it’s why U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s 35-page opinion in Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. U.S. Department of Justice is so important. In a move that drew only passing attention at the time, CREW filed a Freedom of Information Act request in April 2019 seeking guidance documents the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel provided to newly confirmed Attorney General William Barr in connection with Robert Mueller’s investigation. CREW filed its request after Barr told Congress he’d concluded, in consultation with OLC and other DOJ lawyers, that then-President Donald Trump should not be indicted.

Accountability for a Cabinet secretary should come at the hands of the president who appoints them: losing their position. The problem here is that the former president wasn't looking for honesty and public service from his appointees, but for loyalty. He expected Barr to help him stay in power. That’s the role Barr played throughout his tenure as attorney general, and that’s why it’s important to learn the truth. Jackson has opened the door to that possibility.

The FOIA request ended up in litigation. DOJ and CREW both filed briefs in October 2020, while Barr was still attorney general. This week, Jackson ordered the DOJ to turn over a document to CREW that remained in dispute. And from her opinion, the document sounds like a zinger.

*snip*

[MyOwnPeace]

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