Former Attorney General William Barr was one of the media’s favorite Trump administration villains. They described him as a “ruthless, relentless political hack and thug,” “the most dangerous member of the Trump administration,” and a “danger to democracy.” But it turns out Barr was one of the only senior administration officials willing to stand up to Trump and tell him the truth.
Barr departed the administration in December after it became clear Trump’s priorities had changed. The president wanted Barr to support his claims of widespread voter fraud, and he wanted the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, President-elect Joe Biden’s son. Barr refused to do both, publicly stating that his agency had not found proof of widespread voter fraud and resisting efforts to publicize the DOJ’s investigation into Hunter Biden.
Far from being Trump’s lackey, Barr took his job and its commitment to the rule of law seriously — even when Trump did not. When Trump began pressuring Barr to investigate allegations being made by Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell about voting irregularities, Barr put his foot down, according to a recent report by Axios. He told Trump directly that his election fantasies were “bulls—” and warned the president that Giuliani and Powell were “clownish.”
Barr was right, of course, but few of Trump’s close advisers had been willing to confront the president directly. Barr was, because he believed that his duty was to the law first and foremost and to the executive second.
But that’s not the way the media portrayed Barr. Our political talking heads accused Barr of “weaponizing law enforcement,” despite the fact that he resisted efforts to mobilize troops and send them to Portland when rioters overtook the city last summer. They said Barr was “interfering in the election,” even though he deliberately withheld information from the public about the DOJ’s investigation into Hunter Biden in order to shield the DOJ from accusations of partisanship. The media claimed Barr was “turning America into a dictatorship,” when it turns out it was Barr who refused to allow Trump to use the DOJ as a weapon in his fight to overturn the results of the presidential election.
Barr deserves an apology. He has been subjected to repeated lies and character assassinations, all because the media wanted to frame anyone and everyone associated with Trump as a monster. But now it turns out that Barr was one of the only people standing between Trump and his worst impulses. Unsurprisingly, the media have nothing more to say.
