Attorney General William Barr (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Safe bet the New York City Bar won’t be inviting Attorney General Bill Barr to the next Young Lawyers Happy Hour event. In fact, he’s pretty much persona non grata for the foreseeable future since the organization just published an open letter telling the Attorney General to GET THE F*** OUT OF TOWN. Well, they phrased it somewhat more diplomatically, calling for him recuse himself from any “Ukraine-related issues.” And if not, “he should resign or, failing that, be subject to sanctions, including possible removal, by Congress.”
Alrighty then!
Citing the president’s infamous July 25 call with President Volodymyr Zelensky when Trump promised twice to have Attorney General Barr coordinate the Ukrainian investigation of Joe Biden, the NYC Bar says, “Mr. Barr was obligated to recuse himself from any involvement in DOJ’s review of either the whistleblower complaint or the substance of the President’s actions once the President offered Mr. Barr’s services to President Zelensky.”
Barr’s name also came up in the Whistleblower Complaint, and yet the AG failed to recuse from the criminal referral to the Office of Legal Counsel, which buried it after a cursory investigation and refused to turn it over to Congress in accordance with the law. In fact, Barr was aware of the substance of the allegations weeks earlier, since the whistleblower tried to make an informal complaint through the general counsel at his agency, but Barr and his deputy John Demers decided that a criminal referral didn’t count unless it was in writing.
More recently, the Attorney General has been gallivanting all over Europe trying to gin up evidence for Trump’s crackpot theory that the entire intelligence community is lying about Russians hacking the DNC, and somehow the DNC server was spirited away to Ukraine. (Yes, this theory relies on murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich being the “real” leaker, and yes, they actually believe this horsesh*t.) And just last week, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney took to the podium to confess on national television that congressionally allocated funds for Ukraine were being held up to ensure that country’s compliance with that DOJ probe — a clear quid pro quo.
So, yeah, Barr’s up to his jowls in it. And by failing to live up to his basic professional obligations — including 28 CFR 45.2, 5 CFR 2635.502, and the U.S. Attorney’s Manual 3-2.170 — the Attorney General sets a lousy example, both for young lawyers sitting for the MPRE and for the thousands of lawyers under him at the Justice Department.
Because respect for law is central to our nation’s governance, the Attorney General of the United States bears a special responsibility to see that our laws are justly administered for the benefit of the American people. The Attorney General is, and must be seen as, the representative of the nation in advising the President and other federal officers and must demonstrate an unquestioned commitment to compliance with law by all who exercise the powers of government.
Even Jeff Sessions, who was too stupid and racist to win judicial confirmation from his own party — look it up! — understood his ethical obligation to recuse from an investigation in which he was likely to be a fact witness. And when you’re being compared unfavorably to a guy who said in open hearing, “I am not insensitive to blacks,” it’s probably time to turn off Fox News and do some serious thinking.
But serious thinking isn’t really Bill Barr’s thing. He’s far too busy at the moment planning his Christmas party at the Trump Hotel in D.C.
Your move, D.C. Bar!
Attorney General Barr Should Recuse Himself from Department of Justice Review of Ukraine Matter [NYC Bar]
New York City Bar Calls for US AG William Barr’s Recusal in Ukraine Matter [Law.com]