Former Atty. Gen. Bill Barr , 72, condemned the politicization of the Department of Justice and FBI, saying politics has infiltrated every field, with government agencies no exception.. “There is nothing that’s happening at the Department or Bureau that isn’t happening at every other institution in the country,” Barr said, highlighting other places like medicine, science and media, all allowing politics to get in the way. But nowhere is politics more dangerous than in the nation’s prestigious intel and law enforcement agencies. Barr was asked to review the DOJ and FBI’s role in launching investigations into Trump and the 2016 campaign. When it comes to administering “Equal Justice” under the 14th Amendment, there’s a big difference between politics in medicine and with the DOJ, FBI or National Security Agency [NSA]. Trump and his 2016 campaign was subject to political interference.
Barr tries to whitewash what happened to Trump during his 2016 campaign and four years in office. Democrats and the press prevented him from conducting U.S. foreign policy, accusing him of Russian collusion. When it comes to science and medicine, it’s easy to see how politics affected research into the origin of the deadly novel coronavirus that killed over 1 million Americans, over 6.5 million worldwide. Republicans mostly agree with former President Donald Trump that the virus was produced in a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Democrats and the press pushed the theory that the virus originated naturally in a seafood market. Why would Democrats believe the natural occurrence theory pushed by Dr. Anthony Fauci while Republicans think the virus leaked from a lab? Barr is right that politics have no place interfering in scientific research or conclusions.
When it comes to former President Donald Trump, why did Democrats and the press insist for his four years in office that he conspired with the Russia Federation? Democrats and the press had no evidence to support that idea. Yet 67-year-old former CIA Director John Brennan and 62-year-old FBI Director James Comey believed Trump had contacts with the Russians. Brennan and Comey based their conclusions on former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s paid opposition research AKA the Steele dossier. Hillary’s dossier was filled with fabrications about Trump’s ties wit the Russian government. Yet Brennan and Comey used the Steele dossier as probable cause to launch a counterintelligence investigation into Trump and his 2016 campaign. Comey and Brennan were committed to seeing Hillary win the 2016 presidential election as were other Obama White House officials.
So, when it comes to politics infiltrating the DOJ, FBI, CIA and National Security Agency [NSA], they all engaged in a concerted effort to defeat Trump’s 2016 campaign. Once Trump won the presidency, the same bureaucracies worked in overdrive to get Trump removed from office. Barr asked former U.S. Atty. John Durham (R-Conn.) to find out who started the counterintelligence operation into Trump and 2016 campaign. In the three years since Durham was appointed by Barr, he couldn’t go up the chain to investigate former DOJ Director Loretta Lynch or NSA Adviser Susan Rice. Barr complains about politics infiltrating the DOJ and FBI but has done nothing to stop the FBI or CIA from being used by upper brass to attack political candidates. When it comes to Trump prosecution by the Manhattan DA, it look like the decision to charge was based on political considerations.
Bragg’s charges against former President Donald Trump were previously rejected by former Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. Bragg decided to go ahead with the case, believing it was in the interest of justice, whether or not he won in court. Vance didn’t think the case was strong enough before filing charges. Bragg thinks his case was bolstered by testimony and evidence given by former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen. Cohen was convicted of multiple felonies in 2018, largely for income tax evasion, bank and wire fraud, illegally selling taxicab medallions and violating federal campaign finance laws pay Stormy Daniels, Trump alleged mistress, hush money before the 2016 election. Most prosecutors think that if they used an impeachable witness like Cohen, it makes it more difficult to win. Yet Bragg, for largely political reasons, went ahead with charging Trump.
Barr said Bragg’s prosecution of Trump could boomerang on Democrats if it turns out to be a political case. “It’s a disgrace if it turn out to be what we think it is,” Barr said. “Politically, it could be damaging I think to the Republican Party simply because it’s a no-lose situation for the Democrats,” feeding the public with more propaganda. “Legally for what I understand it’s a pathetically weak case,” Barr said, noting how Bragg used Cohen as his star witness. Whatever the arcane legal issues argued by Bragg, it still looks like a political prosecution by the Manhattan DA’s office. It doesn’t help that Bragg makes no bones of being a partisan Democrat in bringing charges against Trump. If Trump’s defense team shows Bragg coordinated in any way with the Democrat Party, the case will likely get tossed. Barr thinks the case fall into the category of another political abuse of criminal justice.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
