Donald Trump has found his new security blanket
In recent days, when any matter comes up about anything involving “President” Donald Trump, he responds that Attorney General William Barr will deal with the matter. This has happened on several different occasions, and it is a disturbing development for many reasons.
This morning, Julian Assange was arrested in London.
Anyone who is old enough to be alive in 2016 will recall Trump stating, “WikiLeaks – I love WikiLeaks!” Trump had a poster of Assange up in his debate room at campaign headquarters. But alas, despite saying how much he loved WikiLeaks over the last few years, Trump said today that he denies any knowledge of WikiLeaks, then said that Barr would deal with the issue.
Barr is not Trump’s personal attorney. He was sworn in as the Attorney General of the United States, the chief lawyer of the federal government of the United States. But from how Trump is serving up Barr time and again, Trump does not appear to register this distinction. And Barr apparently has abandoned any sense of duty to country in accepting this role, like many around Trump who soil their reputation to do Trump’s bidding.
A few days ago, Trump implied that Barr would decide whether his tax returns would be released. Barr has no legitimate role in that demand from Congress to the Treasury Department. With respect to the Mueller Report, Trump has again noted he is not interested in it, but that Barr will handle and decide what is to be done with it.
Donald Trump is expecting and looking to Barr for protection on a personal level for all kinds of personal business and potential legal crosshairs Trump is facing. It is a disturbing trend and yet not a single Republican is calling “Barrshit” on this. This trend is not one that is a good thing for the future of our republic.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.