If only we would’ve listened to civil rights and criminal defense attorney Jimmy Lohman. The alleged former bullying victim of Attorney General William Barr called corruption on Barr nearly three decades before he interfered politically in the sentencing of Donald Trump associate Roger Stone. Lohman pointed out Barr’s propensity for self-serving decision-making Nov. 18, 1991, in a Florida Flambeau op-ed entitled "What William Barr isn't telling his questioners." The article was published days after confirmation hearings began for Barr to be appointed as U.S. attorney general on President George H.W. Bush’s nomination.
In the article, Lohman wrote: "Barr was a sick and sadistic kid. He's come a long way from terrorizing seventh graders just because they wore racial equality buttons. Now he gets in front of cameras and says things like 'I am committed to the aggressive protection of civil rights and a Justice Department under my leadership will not tolerate discrimination.'"
But even before Lohman got into listing the career-related atrocities Barr committed, he listed questions like charges on an indictment regarding everything from Barr’s choice of organizations to defend to his stance in investigating a Bank of Credit and Commerce International scandal Price Waterhouse described as "probably one of the most complex deceptions in banking history."
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"Why did he try to squelch the Justice Department's Investigation of the BCCI scandal,” Lohman asked in the article. “Does it have anything to do with the fact that his 250-lawyer formal law firm represents one of the defendants? Does Barr's passion for 'law and order' depend on the race and social standing of the alleged law breaker?
“Why did he find it necessary to file a government brief on behalf of Operation Rescue, another group of law violators who disrupt abortion clinics and harass clinic patients," Lohman added. He pointed out that while Barr was quick to brag about knowing "what it is like" to have his constitutional right obstructed, as evidenced only by student protesters blocking the entrance to one of his class buildings, the then prospective U.S. attorney general actually "hates the Constitution unless it is being used to shield millionaire defendants." Sounding familiar yet? It gets better.
Lohman called Barr, who at the time was being praised as “refreshingly candid,” a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He eased in a comparison between bringing to light Lohman’s questionable judgment and Anita Hill, the former clerk of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who bravely brought claims of sexual harassment before lawmakers during Thomas' confirmation hearings. "I guess there is a little Anita Hill in all of us—especially those who have been victimized by a power abuser who is on the verge of acquiring an ungodly amount of power," Lohman wrote. "I'll tell you—it is a terrifying proposition." We are living the horror.
Rep. Maxine Waters said in an MSNBC interview Barr has been protecting the president even before he was appointed, writing a memorandum “basically saying the president can do whatever he wants to do.” "This attorney general has been shameless and brazen in the way that he has protected the president, in the way that he’s not served the American people," Waters said. "He is not the president's personal attorney. He's the people's attorney, but you would never know that judging from all the things that he has done."
Lohman wrote: "Barr joined the CIA when Bush was director. He has slithered up through the ranks, a loyal pet of current White House counsel C. Boyden Gray, stroking where needed, backing off where needed, being 'candid' where needed … It's just the same old sour wine in a newer bottle."
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