On Wednesday, around 1,300 former Department of Justice (DOJ) officials published a letter to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz. In it they called for an investigation into Attorney General William Barr’s response to street protests. “In particular, we are disturbed by Attorney General Barr’s possible role in ordering law enforcement personnel to suppress a peaceful domestic protest in Lafayette Square on June 1, 2020, for the purpose of enabling President Trump to walk across the street from the White House and stage a photo op at St. John’s Church, a politically motivated event in which Attorney General Barr participated.”
That event has been well covered, but what exactly happened and how much lying has subsequently taken place by officials—including brazen lying by Barr himself—lends itself to the old adage: Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Barr’s generally unsurprising stance has been that there are no systemic problems in the country’s law enforcement departments. However, the actions taken presumably by Barr and others he has control over run counter to his stated belief.
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Trump’s photo op—which included hundreds of peaceful protesters being gassed, flash-bang grenades being thrown, and rubber bullets being shot by police—is the most transparent piece of fascism theater this country has seen in recent years. It resulted in injuries to innocent citizens and clergy. But the letter calls on the inspector general to investigate Barr’s “deployment of federal law enforcement officers throughout the country, and especially within the District of Columbia, to participate in quelling lawful First Amendment activity.”
This is not the first time that hundreds of former DOJ officials have banded together and asked for an investigation into Barr’s performance in the country’s top law enforcement position. Within less than four months since assuming the position, calls for Barr’s resignation have come from thousands of former DOJ lawyers, and hundreds of others have questioned the legality of Barr’s many positions on protecting our country’s very corrupt president.