Corruption, Complicity, and The Department of Injustice
One of the fundamental components of a modern constitutional democracy is an independent judicial and legal system. An independent judicial and legal system ensures that laws are applied fairly and equally without undue political influence or constraint by powerful individuals, groups, organizations, or government officials. The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is specifically charged with enforcing the law and ensuring fair and impartial justice. The established independence of the DOJ and the rule of law was threatened by President Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
After being confirmed by the Senate as the U.S. Attorney General in February 2019, Barr egregiously interfered with the legal and criminal proceedings of Trump allies including Michael Flynn and Roger Stone. Michael Flynn plead guilty to lying to the FBI and Roger Stone was convicted by a jury of obstruction, lying to Congress, and witness tampering.
Barr, with Trump’s approval, also fired Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY). Berman’s office investigated several of Trump’s associates including Michael Cohen, Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas, and Igor Fruman. Trump himself appears to be referenced as an unindicated co-conspirator in violating campaign finance laws in SDNY legal documents. Additionally, Trump and Barr attempted to run interference (reportedly at the behest of Turkish President Erdogan) with the legal issues surrounding Halkbank, a state-owned Turkish bank, which was charged by the SDNY with money laundering and sanctions offenses. Apparently, neither Trump nor Barr were concerned about criminal activity by political allies. Perhaps Trump, as an unindicted co-conspirator in campaign finance crimes, was interested in replacing Berman with a loyalist to lead the SDNY to avoid potential criminal indictment.
In December 2019, the House of Representatives passed two articles of impeachment (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress) against President Trump for the unethical and illegal attempt to pressure a foreign government (Ukraine) to investigate a political challenger to assist in his reelection prospects while illegally detaining monies appropriated by Congress for Ukraine’s military defense against Russia. It was clear that the Republican-held Senate was not interested in objectively examining the articles of impeachment. Before the impeachment trial, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell publicly admitted that he was “not an impartial juror.” Senator Lindsey Graham also publicly stated that he was “not trying to pretend to be a fair juror.” Ironically, each Senator at the beginning of the impeachment trial was required to affirm an oath that they will “do impartial justice.” The Republican-led Senate voted to acquit President Trump on both articles of impeachment in early February 2020. Unsurprisingly, John Bolton, former National Security Advisor in the Trump administration, also claimed that Trump requested reelection assistance from China President Xi Jinping. As such, Trump seemed to have a pattern of welcoming and/or soliciting foreign influence in United States elections.
The Mueller Report, publicly released in redacted form by the DOJ in April 2019, confirmed the obvious truth of Russian interference in the 2016 election to help Trump win. Barr held a press conference in a blatant attempt to control the public narrative of the Report and mitigate the legal and political fallout for Trump. Barr also sent a four-page summary of Mueller’s Report to Congress, which was released to the public. Robert Mueller, the author of the Report, wrote an official letter to Barr stating that his (Barr’s) summary “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this Office’s work and conclusions.”
It appears that Barr cared very little about his reputation. When Barr was asked about his legacy with the Trump administration, he included in his reply, “I am at the end of my career.” and “Everyone dies.” Doesn’t Barr’s noble and altruistic response bring a tear to your eye?
Despite these unsettling breaches of legal and democratic standards, Republican Senators and House Representatives were unable to muster the moral or political courage to take appropriate action. It had been reported on a number of occasions that behind closed doors, many Republican elected officials often lament the behavior and communications of Trump. They were clearly intimidated by Trump; you could almost smell their fear. Now that the national nightmare of Trump’s presidency is over, the fallout from his administration will not be easily erased. As American citizens, we should not let any elected official forget their cowardice or the violation of their oath of office by their silence and inaction in the face of Trump’s offenses on our democracy.
The actions by Trump and Barr are not trivial matters. Basing legal and criminal matters on alliances, political calculations, or personal gain is unconscionable. The rule of law was clearly compromised under the Trump administration as any objective observer can discover.
Article Updated December 28, 2020
