The media has gone after William Barr from day one. The moment he was nominated for Attorney General you had Democrats coming out of the woodwork demanding that he recuse himself from investigations and the media happily parroted the narrative that Barr was a partisan loyalist dedicated to Trump and not the rule of law. None of their smears stopped him from getting confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Of course, that didn’t stop the Democrats. Once Barr got work at the Justice Department, we saw Democrats continue their smear campaign. When the Mueller report failed to prove their conspiracy theory of Russian collusion, they actually blamed Barr, accusing him of being a “partisan” who was “handpicked” by Trump to protect him. They made the absurd allegation that Barr misled the public about the contents of the Mueller report—something Mueller himself refuted. They’ve also falsely accused Barr of perjury, and have called for his impeachment.
There has always been a common theme in the Democrats’ attacks on Barr. I noted last year that Democrats repeatedly accused Barr of doing for Trump exactly what Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch did for Obama.
That method of attack took a hilarious turn Friday when Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post had the nerve to accuse AG Barr of “playing the role” of Trump’s “wingman.”
“Since taking office a year ago, the attorney general has energetically inhabited the role of presidential wingman,” Marcus wrote. “Including pre-spinning the special counsel’s report to Trump’s benefit.”
Presidential “wingman”? Where have I heard that before?
Oh right, it was Eric Holder who literally referred to himself Obama’s wingman back in 2013 during an interview on the Tom Joyner radio show. He made the comment while dismissing 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 wingman, so I’m there with my boy.”
Holder unapologetically announced his loyalty to Obama, not the rule of law, but the Washington Post never called him out on it, or even referenced Holder’s “wingman” comment in this attack piece on Barr, even though you can bet Marcus’s choice of words most certainly came from Holder.
Marcus’s lack of mention of Holder and his partisan loyalty to Obama is stunning. Holder’s tenure at the Justice Department was perhaps the most controversial in history, beginning with his decision not to prosecute New Black Panther Party members over voter intimidation during the 2008 election. In order to protect Obama, Eric Holder launched bogus investigations into administration corruption and obstructed dozens more, including the investigations of Fast and Furious, the Iran ransom scandal, and Benghazi. Holder’s obstruction and stonewalling was so extensive that 47 (out of 73) inspectors general wrote a letter to Congress informing them of the systemic obstruction. Holder also funneled billions of dollars to left-wing groups in a huge slush fund scheme.
But Barr is a presidential wingman?
Give me a break.
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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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