In a move that represents a massive threat to the institutional and operational integrity of America’s intelligence agencies, Donald Trump has granted Attorney General William Barr sweeping powers to conduct investigations into those agencies and release intelligence documents. This includes forcing agencies to release documents that have been judged to represent a threat to national security.
Trump’s order allows Barr to review both processes and documents at 16 agencies, then to select documents and force their reveal. It’s an order that gives Barr the ability to create a carefully curated set of declassified documents containing only those that support the idea that the agencies began the Russia investigation out of political motives, while discarding any information that doesn’t fit that narrative. And it’s absolutely no coincidence that the announcement of Barr’s new position as starshy politruk comes immediately after Trump had declared that the Department of Justice and FBI had committed treason in opening the investigation.
As The New York Times reports, Trump has ordered the CIA and 15 other intelligence agencies to surrender to Barr’s review, and has granted Barr the unique authority to unilaterally declassify any document he chooses. Documents that could reveal sources still in place, or secret techniques, or technical abilities not yet revealed are all fair game for Barr’s new and unprecedented authority.
Barr has already demonstrated that he knows the game he is playing by using the word “spying” to describe lawfully authorized surveillance. And Barr has suggested in congressional testimony that agencies acted improperly, and that more “spying” occurred, even though he presented no evidence to support these claims. Barr has his own very special prosecutor, in the form of U.S. attorney John Durham, already engaged in a review of government actions. But now Barr has the authority to open the door for his operative at any agency, turning over every stone to find what Trump wants.
Imagine a Barr report in which the only things made available are declassified texts or emails making it appear that agency officials were prejudiced against Trump, with everything else remaining neatly classified. It won’t be imaginary for long.
The authority that Trump has given Barr is genuinely extraordinary. He has the unchecked ability to look into any area, at any agency, and to release what he wants—and only what he wants. That’s not an investigation or a “witch hunt”—it’s another step toward a purge.
The Times reports that Barr has already been asking about foreign assets that the CIA has in place in Russia. This is information that could cost the lives of those involved, and threatens the ability of the United States to gather intelligence. The agency keeps the identities of assets in place as its most closely held secret—and that’s where Barr has gone immediately after gaining this new authority.
The power Donald Trump has given to William Barr may seem like just another step in his “investigate the investigators” strategy: another layer on top of the already underway inspector general’s investigation, and the investigation already launched under Durham. It may even seem like just a distraction designed to take attention away from the temper tantrum in which Trump declared the nation’s business was on hold until all investigations into his actions ended.
But this is a genuinely extraordinary move, one that threatens to shatter the integrity and effectiveness of the entire intelligence community.
It’s also a move that cements Barr’s position. He’s not the nation’s top law enforcement officer. He’s the nation’s top political officer.