Campaign Action
Last Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had this to say about Attorney General William Barr's efforts to protect Donald Trump: "He's gone rogue."
That was before the blockbuster revelations Monday that Barr was soliciting foreign intelligence officials to discredit U.S. intelligence that had found Russian interference in the 2016 election.
It was before the other blockbuster revelation that it was Barr who urged Trump to call the Australian prime minister to help his effort to "gather information for a Justice Department inquiry that Mr. Trump hopes will discredit the Mueller investigation."
The attorney general of the United States is attempting to discredit an investigation by the former FBI director of the United States, Robert Mueller, and thus trying to discredit Mueller himself. Not just Mueller, as Democratic Rep. David Cicilline tweets: "Every single American should be outraged that the Attorney General—who is responsible for overseeing the FBI—is working with foreign governments to smear the brave men and women of the FBI."
Now that's, in Pelosi's words, going rogue. It's also as severe a threat to the Constitution as Trump is. He's not just protecting Trump; Barr is instigating Trump's lawlessness. He's using the awesome power he has as the nation's chief law enforcement officer to bring his own institution down. To protect Russia. To protect Putin. To protect Trump.
Congress can't impeach Trump and leave Barr—the brains orchestrating this immense travesty being conducted to keep Trump in office—untouched.