Not many of us know what the Attorney General (AG) actually does.  (Yet, the are pretty sure that Attorney General Bill Barr is playing fast and loose with the rules.)

To consider the proper function of the AG, we need to go back to 1934.  When FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) became president and the US was still in the Great Depression. And, it was clear (at least to FDR) that the government wasn’t working well.  Which meant that a whole bunch of reorganizations were effected.  (By the way, one of the best references I found to explain these facts was in an article penned by Arthur H. Garrison in the Albany Law Journal.)

The Communications Act.  The Revenue Act.  The Securities Exchange Act.  The State Department.  The Judiciary.  The Justice Department.   Yes, this was the time that FDR was considering to stuff the Supreme Court to get the decisions he wanted.  But, that’s not the subject of today’s discussion.

Back in 1789 (The Judiciary Act) established the Office of Attorney General(AG). Then, it was a part-time office (and the first AG was told by President Washington as he was appointed that it might perhaps help him grow his own private practice). It wasn’t until 1934 that the Justice Department was formed and the AG’s position was codified.

As part of the same act, a new office was created, the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC).  Up until that time, the AG (as defined in the Judiciary Act of 1789) was to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court of the United States and to proffer advice and opinion on the questions of law to the President (and to the heads of the Executive Offices of the USA).

The OLC took over that responsibility of proffering advice and opinion to the President- that function  was codified into law in 1934. In other words, the OLC became the “President’s” lawyer.  No longer was that within the province of  the AG, whose function it is to maintain the law of the land.

Yet, the OLC does more than that.  In particular, it develops a plethora of “secret” opinions.  Ones we never hear about until we question what the hell the government is really doing. Don’t believe it?  Consider these two exemplary opinions (as in terribly bad, but actually emblematic of what the OLC does).

The first ‘finding’ was  the “torture memos” that were written to justify the Bush desire to torture our enemies.  Oh, wait.  We called that “enhanced interrogation techniques”.  At least if they were not performed on you- because at that moment, you knew damned well these memos were clearly affording the use of torture- the practice we (and the rest of the civilized world) outlawed in 1948 with the passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Another one?  The fact that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted for crimes. On the 24th of September 1973, Robert Dixon issued the memo claiming that sitting Presidents can’t be prosecuted.  Yup- that’s where that BS idea arose.  The president’s lawyers wrote the memos that declare that it is illegal to prosecute their client for crimes.  You can bet that Al Capone would have liked to write such laws- that murder and mayhem were acceptable if effected by a crime boss or that crime bosses can’t be prosecuted for tax fraud.  Nope- Dixon and the OLC reserved those criminal passes for the US President alone.

(Note that Ken Starr solicited a memo from Robert Rotunda of the Illinois College of Law on 13 May 1988 to develop reasoning to invalidate the Dixon ‘finding;.  And, Rotunda did so find.  Presidents can be indicted.  Of course, no one acted on this.)

Which brings up AG Bill Barr.  Who has decided that the separation of powers between the OLC and the AG need no longer be observed.  No, that’s stated in too soft a tone.  AG Barr believes that he can issue orders to do whatever TheDonald wants.  (Thankfully, even Barr hasn’t declared that we need to put bleach into our bodies to ward off COVID-19.  At least not that we’ve heard publicly.)

But, let’s consider just some of the things Barr has done his year.

Barr ordered federal police (US Park Police) and the military to use chemical weapons and physical force against peaceful demonstrators in Washington DC.  (Just so you know, Barr lied that the demonstrators were throwing rocks- or that chemical weapons were used. [I told you he was TheDonald’s lawyer- he even lies like TheDonald.]  All the video and witnesses proved the contrary.  There is an ongoing investigation into the Park Police actions. )

Plus, Barr ordered the hazing of those demonstrators by Huey helicopters, which swooped down low (despite being in ‘downtown’ DC) to force the protesters to hit the street due to the excessive downdraft of the helicopter blade action.

Who overruled the assigned prosecutors to drop the prosecution of disgraced, perjurious Michael Flynn.  (Thankfully, the judge in this case was not so willing to forgive these acts.  Now, we have to hope that the FULL Court of Appeals overrules the two mental giants who overstepped their authority.)

Who waited until late last Friday night (i.e., slow news time, hoping it would simply pass without public notice, as many a Friday night massacre has been effected by our government) that the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York (Geoffrey Berman) had “stepped down”.  Oops- no.  Berman did NOT step down.  And, would not step down until he was assured that Deputy Attorney Strauss  would serve until the highly unqualified SEC attorney that AG BArr likes (because he will be a toady)  can pass muster.

(In case you didn’t know why this was “necessary”- the Southern District of New York (covering New York City and Long Island, one of the best and heretofore most independent districts in the USA) is preparing an indictment of Rudy Giuliani (ironically, he himself is a former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York), among other Trump accomplices.  The other reason?  Barr was ticked off that Berman didn’t agree that demonstrators, mostly wearing masks, OUTSIDE, was not equivalent to folks INSIDE a church for an hour or two without masks.  And, Berman wouldn’t sign on to the letter admonishing [the incompetent]  Bill De Blasio for not allowing church attendance, while not stopping demonstrators.)

Yes.  Subjugation of justice.  That’s exactly the kind of actions one expects from the US’ Attorney General.

 

[inplayer id=”104059″]