In the last few days, Attorney General Barr has had his Justice Department prosecutors do a shocking thing. Even though Michael Flynn had pled guilty to lying to the FBI (and admitted he broke the law by not registering as a lobbyist while lobbying for Turkey), Barr had his prosecutors ask the judge in Flynn's case to allow them to drop the charges against Flynn.This was an extremely unusual act. The case was over, and the only thing left was for the judge to announce Flynn's sentence. And the action casts doubt on the Trump administration's respect for the rule of law (and the Constitution).
It makes to clear that, not only Trump, but also his buddies in the administration are above the law. They can break the law and they'll suffer no consequences, because Barr (on orders from Trump) will cover for their criminality.
Here is what Barack Obama had to say in a call to former members of his administration:
“The news over the last 24 hours I think has been somewhat downplayed — about the Justice Department dropping charges against Michael Flynn.”
“And the fact that there is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free. That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic — not just institutional norms — but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk. And when you start moving in those directions, it can accelerate pretty quickly as we’ve seen in other places.”
“So I am hoping that all of you feel the same sense of urgency that I do. Whenever I campaign, I’ve always said, ‘Ah, this is the most important election.’ Especially obviously when I was on the ballot, that always feels like it's the most important election. This one — I’m not on the ballot — but I am pretty darn invested. We got to make this happen.”
“This election that’s coming up on every level is so important because what we’re going to be battling is not just a particular individual or a political party. What we’re fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy — that has become a stronger impulse in American life. And by the way, we’re seeing that internationally as well. It’s part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anemic and spotty. It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset — of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ — when that mindset is operationalized in our government. That’s why, I, by the way, am going to be spending as much time as necessary and campaigning as hard as I can for Joe Biden.”
