Posted on 12/18/2019 7:49:21 AM PST by billorites
Person of the Year is high praise indeed. TIME has given the honor to the teenage climate activist, Greta Thunberg, for beginning a global movement by skipping school.
Perhaps more gallingly, TIME named the public servants as their guardians of the year. In particular, Marie Yovanovitch, Bill Taylor, Fiona Hill, and Alex Vindmanfour of the bureaucrats who testified against President Trump in the impeachment hearingsas individuals who had the courage to follow the law.
While these four might have followed the law by testifying under subpoena, the broad-based effort to impeach President Trump based on a phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky is disgraceful, and against the spirit of the Constitution. Using the whistleblower statutesand other underhanded meansto undermine the Presidents foreign policy authority is something to be criticized, not praised. Moreover, those who testified against the President were endlessly lauded by the Democrats and the mainstream media, one doubts that these witnesses really put that much on the line.
We at Human Events feel this honor should be bestowed on a man who has actually worked to preserve the rule of law in the face of overwhelming political and media pressure. Hes a man who returned to public service to preserve our Constitution, knowing full well that he would be attacked relentlessly as a result.
That man is Attorney General William Pelham Barr. WIlliam Barr.
BARR, INTO THE FRAY
Almost immediately upon taking charge at the Department of Justice, Barr put an end to the Mueller investigation. Barr was sworn in on February 14th, 2019; the Mueller investigation ended on March 22nd. There were reports that some prosecutors on Muellers team were keen to continue the probe, and prosecute a number of other officials. Barrs actions stopped that.
Barr, the experienced operator, saw right through Muellers ploy.
Barr also brought an end to any further investigation of the obstruction charges against President Trump. In June 2018, while in private practice at Kirkland and Ellis, Barr wrote a lengthy memo explaining the flaws in primary theory that Mueller and his team were using to investigate President Trump for obstruction of justice. Now, with Barr installed as attorney general, his views became the Department of Justices views; as subordinates, Mueller and his team had to abide by those views.
Mueller and his team tried one last, desperate maneuver to get the obstruction charges in front of Congress. Instead of trying to argue that President Trump be indicted for obstruction of justice (which Barr, as Attorney General, could have easily shot down), Mueller declined to make a charging decision, and hoped that Democrats in Congress would get the hint and impeach Trump on obstruction.
Here, too, Barrs actions were decisive. When Mueller gave him his report, Barr did not immediately release it to the public (which would have been irresponsible, as the report required careful redactions). Instead, Barr released a summary memo of the Report, which included an affirmative finding on the obstructionnamely, that there was insufficient evidence to indict the President.
In the battle of framing, who gets there first usually wins, especially if they have the law on their side. Mueller and his team were trying to do an end run around the law, and create a public perception that the President had obstructed justice, all while avoiding Barrs cogent legal objections to their theory.
Barr, the experienced operator, saw right through Muellers ploy. Donald Trump.
SAVING THE PRESIDENCY
As discussed in one of the very first articles published in the re-launched Human Events, Robert Muellers novel theory of obstruction of justice could have led to an indefinite investigation, where any action that President Trump tookeven criticizing the investigationcould have been construed as obstruction of justice. An indefinite special counsel investigation would have hamstrung President Trump as long as he was in office.
Barr stopped that. Muellers creative investigators like Andrew Weissmann found themselves out of government. Barrs actions put an end to the DOJ rebellion against the elected President of the United States, and returned the department to its rightful position as subordinate to President Trump and the White House.
But Barr didnt just get the DOJ back in order; he also defanged Muellers report. Democrats tried to complain that Barrs summary memo was unfair, but those complaints fell upon deaf ears. Everything that Barr asserted about Muellers report was scrupulously accurate. It was not Barr, but Mueller himself, that was trying to to an end run around the law by not making a finding on obstruction. Barr sniffed out the ploy, and exercised his lawful authority as Attorney General to affirmatively find no obstruction.
As a result, Democrats desperately tried to revive the Russia theory and the Mueller investigation by having Mueller testify at a public hearing. If Barr had not acted, perhaps the Democrats would have proceeded on the basis of the report alone. But because Barr was so effective, Democrats thought they needed to get Mueller to speak for himself.
The problem for Democrats was that Mueller wasnt in command of his report; he lacked clarity on the details. The Mueller hearing was an epic failure, a failure catalyzed by Bill Barrs actions.
WIlliam Barr.
MORE TO DO IN 2020
Thats not to say that Attorney General Barrs tenure has been an unmitigated success. The IG report revealed that at least one FBI official, Kevin Clinesmith, actively doctored evidence in order to keep the FISA investigation going. He has not been prosecuted; neither has Andrew McCabe, who was fired from the FBI over eighteen months ago for lacking candor under oath.
AG Barrs actions were elegant and decisive; they ended the Mueller investigation and ensured that wobbly Republicans would ultimately continue to support the President.
The DOJ has brought a slew of prosecutions against former Trump associates for false statementsGeorge Papadopoulos, Michael Flynn, and Roger Stone, just to name a few. These prosecutions began before Barr entered office, but it is still his responsibility to ensure that the law is consistently applied in this area. If Trump campaign associates faced prosecution for false statements to the FBI, the officials investigating them must also face prosecution if they made false statements to the IG or to the FISA court.
The time to do all this is running short. We are less than a year away from the 2020 election; President Trumps victory is not guaranteed. A DOJ supervised by a President Biden or a President Warren would have little interest in prosecuting past FBI misconduct. John Durham, Barrs handpicked AG, has a reputation for being deliberate; that said, he must finish his work early this year, so these prosecutions happen. Ultimately, the responsibility making sure that happens falls on AG Barr.
IN DEFENSE OF EXECUTIVE POWER
AG Barrs actions were elegant and decisive; they ended the Mueller investigation and ensured that wobbly Republicans would ultimately continue to support the President.
In doing so, AG Barr not only defended President Trump and the results of the 2016 election. He did something more; he defended the separation of powers and the rule of law. The executive branch is not a subordinate branch of government; it is co-equal . By standing up for President Trumps right to fire James Comeyhis subordinateBarr was defending the concept that any President has the right to fire his direct subordinates, no matter how much of a media storm they can create.
That principle matters. An executive who cannot fire his subordinates is impotent; the notion would be unthinkable in the private sector. President Trump, like all Presidents, has a duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. He cannot do that if he cannot fire those who, in his judgment, are not up to standard.
Moreover, Attorney General Barr did not have to take this job; hes almost seventy years old, and coming up to the end of a long, prestigious career in the law. He first served as Attorney General almost thirty years ago, in the first Bush administration. But instead of staying out of the public light, enjoying his retirement and his grandchildren, Barr felt the pull of duty: to defend the executive branch and the Constitution from an overreaching Congress.
In that regard, his actions were more righteous than any other person in government this year.
Thats why Attorney General William Barr is Human Events Man of the Year.
Sure would be nice if hed indict someone.
L
He has an “exclusive interview” with Martha McCallum tonight on The Story.
Unless it’s preempted by impeachment vote and/or Trump’s Battle Creek rally...
I dunno — just read another article that informed me that a ‘learned’ former AF described Barr as ‘nakedly partisan’, and unfit to hold office.
Who you gonna believe? (insert eyeroll here...)
-10
It only stands to reason. The man’s legal analytical abilities are second to none. Couple that with a mind that captures and holds facts like a vacuum cleaner and the DS doesn’t have a prayer. The fireworks is just about to begin.
Real nice to read his honor going to William Barr. A great attorney general in the making, and a frank and honest man besides.
I agree with this article. Barr is the right man at the right time. I hope he has time to finish what needs to be done. As the author points out, if Trump isn’t reelected, all of this will just go away. There needs to be a punishment phase.
The Democrats have tried to run out the clock, and they have nearly succeeded. That’s what Mueller and impeachment are all about.
Just remember indictments are one thing - convictions are another !
in there in the district of criminals the giant swamp were pretty much any venues going to allow any Democrat any level of complete and utter corruption and malfeasance
I believe that Durham is slowly turning people and , being the smart politician that our great and wonderful president Donald J Trump is , hes going to wait until mid summer late summer early fall to start all the fireworks
We shall see my fellow Freepers we shall see
. . . so it was only 5 weeks from Barrs inauguration to the publication of the Mueller Report. Sure seemed like longer than that, didnt it!At the time I wondered why Mueller came out with a report prematurely (as in, before 2020 in the heat of the campaign). Article says Barr called the question.
At least he is not Sessions..?
If Barr should be Man of the Year, it would be in 2021.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.