We know what Democrats are guilty of by what they accuse Republicans of doing. We’ve all heard that axiom (or some variation of it) before, yet every time it happens it’s no less shocking that they think they can get away with it. And right now that axiom is proving itself true once again with their targeting of Attorney General William Barr.
Congressional Democrats are clearly aware that the American people do not favor impeachment of President Trump. Even a CNN poll shows that 59 percent of the public oppose impeachment—and that’s a left-leaning poll. While impeaching Trump is, for the moment, off the table because there are no legitimate grounds to do so, the Democratic Party has set its sights on Attorney General Barr. When Democrats didn’t like the findings of the Mueller report, they accused Barr of being a “partisan” who was “handpicked” by Trump to protect him. They now claim Barr’s four-page memo summarizing the conclusions of the report was misleading—which it wasn’t, and that Barr perjured himself during previous testimony to Congress—which he didn’t. Naturally, partisan Democrats are now calling for his impeachment, and presidential candidates are also fundraising by attacking him as well.
As absurd as the claims are that Barr is acting like Trump’s personal lawyer to protect him, it’s difficult not to see that Democrats are making it their business to accuse William Barr of being everything Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch were for Barack Obama.
Neither Holder nor Lynch should have been confirmed as U.S. attorney general in the first place given their radical pasts. In 1970, Eric Holder was the leader of a black separatist group at Columbia University called the Student Afro-American Society (SAAS). As part of the group, Holder participated in a five-day armed takeover of an abandoned ROTC office on the Columbia University campus. He was also a hardcore left-wing partisan who disparaged conservatives and, as deputy attorney general under Bill Clinton, played a major role in the pardoning of Weather Underground terrorists.
Holder’s radical past set the tone for his tenure at the Justice Department, which was defined by politics, not blind justice. One of the earliest scandals of the Obama presidency was Holder’s decision not to prosecute New Black Panther Party members over voter intimidation during the 2008 election. Holder was also behind the stonewalling of many investigations, which prompted 47 (out of 73) inspectors general to write a letter to Congress informing them of the systemic obstruction. Holder clearly saw his job as Obama’s protector and refused to cooperate with congressional investigations, resulting in his being held in contempt of Congress. Holder also funneled billions of dollars to left-wing groups in a huge slush fund scheme. Holder’s politicization of the Department of Justice is undeniable. During a 2013 interview on the Tom Joyner radio show, he dismissed a question about him possibly leaving the administration. “I’m still enjoying what I’m doing, there’s still work to be done. I’m still the president’s wing-man, so I’m there with my boy.” Holder was clearly proud of his unwavering allegiance to Obama, not the rule of law—and wasn’t afraid to say so.
Does anyone recall Democrats accusing Holder of being a partisan handpicked by Obama to protect him? You won’t because they never did.
When it finally came time to pick Holder’s replacement, Obama picked Loretta Lynch, who’d also had a long record of radical and racialist views, and it was clear from her testimony that she was going to continue to lead the DOJ the way Eric Holder did—and she came through. As attorney general, Lynch considered using the Department of Justice to prosecute “climate change deniers,” and sued North Carolina over HB2, the so-called “bathroom bill”. Of course, her partisan accolades really shined in her role of protecting Hillary Clinton, Obama’s heir apparent to the presidency. According to former FBI Director James Comey, AG Lynch directed him to call the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server a “matter” and not an “investigation” in order to match the Clinton campaign’s language. According to emails from Democrat operative that were leaked to the New York Times, Lynch “would keep the Clinton investigation from going too far.”
And then there’s the whole spying on Trump thing.
After eight years of Obama’s cronies politicizing and weaponizing the Justice Department, it took Attorney General Jeff Sessions to de-politicize the Justice Department. Similarly, Attorney General Barr has shown more transparency than the Obama Justice Department ever did. But Democrats aren’t happy that the Mueller report didn’t tell them what they wanted. Because of this, they are targeting Barr in order to undermine President Trump, and they’re doing so by accusing Barr of being everything that Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch were for Barack Obama.
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Matt Margolis is the author of The Scandalous Presidency of Barack Obama and the bestselling The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. His new book, Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy, will be published in July 2019. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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