Of all the false narratives spun by President Trump’s opponents in Congress, the press, and the academy, and there are many, perhaps the most nonsensical is that Attorney General William Barr has acted as Trump’s legal “henchman,” using the instruments of the Justice Department to go after Trump’s opponents and to protect Trump’s friends.
The charge is absurd and fundamentally at odds with the basic facts.
For starters, Barr’s DOJ has not indicted a single so-called Trump enemy. Despite loud and continuous public pressure (including from Trump himself) to indict James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and many others, Barr has not done so.
Which political figure has, in fact, been indicted under Barr’s DOJ? Just one: Trump’s former campaign chairman and senior adviser Steve Bannon.
But wait, what about Roger Stone and Michael Flynn? Barr’s critics charge that he gave these two Trump associates improper special treatment in their criminal cases.
It is true that Barr did intervene in these matters. But he did nothing improper. Barr did not terminate the Stone prosecution; he called it “righteous.” Instead, Barr’s DOJ rescinded a nine-year prison recommendation for Stone, a first-time nonviolent offender. The judge in the case agreed that nine years was far too long, sentencing the 68-year-old Stone instead to 40 months.
And Flynn? Barr dropped the prosecution of Trump’s former national security adviser in light of established irregularities relating to the investigation and on the recommendation of a senior DOJ prosecutor.
In other words, Barr showed leniency toward these two men. He did so with legitimate bases and well within his authority as the attorney general.
This is hardly the work of a henchman.
Finally, perhaps the worst thing Barr did in the eyes of his critics was issue a letter in March 2019 characterizing, or, they say, mischaracterizing the Mueller report. The uproar surrounding this letter was enormous. But Barr was providing his own summary of a complicated investigation subject to multiple interpretations. He voluntarily released the full report just weeks later.
Think about this for a moment. According to his critics, issuing a letter characterizing a report shortly before voluntarily releasing the entire thing was a scandalous impropriety, establishing Barr as Trump’s henchmen. Again, this is nonsense.
Barr became attorney general in the middle of a political hurricane. Trump was under criminal investigation for allegedly conspiring with Vladimir Putin. Several of his associates were under indictment, and Trump was calling for prosecutions of his political opponents. Barr’s acts of leniency and restraint turned down the temperature in a healthy and positive way.
For Trump’s opponents, the real problem with Barr is that he has treated Trump like a duly elected president, appropriately advancing the interests of the administration while not crossing any improper lines. The narrative that he has been Trump’s henchman, going after Trump’s enemies and protecting his friends, violently conflicts with the basic facts. It is, quite simply, absurd.
William Cooper is an attorney in California.
