LEFT-CENTER BIAS FACTUAL REPORTING: HIGH
- Barr insists he has absolute authority to overrule career staff
- The AG has intervened in cases involving Trump allies
- Criticizes the “criminalization of politics,” and the media speculation on whether his actions constituted a crime
NPR/WNYC:
Barr Blasts His Own Prosecutors: ‘All Power Is Vested In The Attorney General’
Attorney General Bill Barr blasted his own Justice Department prosecutors as a “permanent bureaucracy” that all too often abuse their power to go after high-profile targets in a process he likened to “headhunting.”
In remarks Wednesday to a largely conservative audience celebrating Constitution Day at Hillsdale College, the leader of the Justice Department asserted that he’s the one who should make the big calls in cases of national interest.
LEFT-CENTER BIAS FACTUAL REPORTING: VERY HIGH
Oregon Public Broadcasting:
Barr blasts his own prosecutors: ‘All power is vested in the attorney general’
The attorney general saved most of his ire for his own Justice Department ranks. At one point, he likened junior prosecutors to children in preschool.
“Letting the most junior members set the agenda might be a good philosophy for a Montessori preschool, but it’s no way to run a federal agency,“ Barr said.
NOT AVAILABLE FACTUAL REPORTING: NOT AVAILABLE
Anchorage Daily News:
Attorney General Barr issues blistering critique of his own Justice Department
Though Barr did not cite any particular cases, his remarks seemed to defend his recent intervention in two prosecutions of Trump’s allies. In the case against the president’s longtime friend Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying to lawmakers as they probed Russian interference in the 2016 election, Barr overruled the sentencing recommendation offered by career prosecutors shortly after Trump tweeted his dismay about the matter. All four quit the case, with two later claiming they felt the move was politically driven and inappropriate.
In the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his dealings with a Russian diplomat before Trump was sworn into office, Barr’s Justice Department moved to drop the charges altogether and again drew criticism for inappropriate, political intervention. A judge is now weighing the department’s request.
Barr has previously defended both moves.
LEFT-CENTER BIAS FACTUAL REPORTING: HIGH