August 13, 2020

Dear Congressman:

The House must immediately commence impeachment proceedings against William Barr.  Barr has abused his power: he has committed perjury and obstruction of justice.

A month after Barr became Attorney General, Special Counsel Robert Mueller sent him a 400-page report of his two-year investigation into the 2016 Russian cyberattack. In under two days, Barr sent Congress a misleading four-page letter summarizing the report and informing you of his decision not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice. Barr had already decided not to charge Trump nine months before he saw Mueller's evidence, and later admitted he hadn't even looked at that evidence when he wrote the letter. 

After Barr released his letter, Mueller wrote Barr objecting to his failure to "capture the context, nature, and substance" of the report. Two weeks later, Barr testified before Congress that he didn't know whether Mueller supported his conclusions or not. Barr committed perjury - either intentionally or because he is completely incompetent. 

A month later, Barr released a censored version of Mueller's Report to the public. The New Republic reported that "The attorney general's take on the Mueller report goes through contortions to avoid charging the president with a crime" and that "Barr performed a remarkable gimmick that allowed him to not only break promises he made during his confirmation process, but also gloss over the crimes that Trump is suspected of committing... In giving Trump the all-clear on obstruction charges, Barr appears not to have considered whether Trump obstructed the actual crime in question. He instead considered whether the president obstructed a different crime. This is the legal sleight of hand that has allowed Barr to proclaim that Trump will not be charged." 

Last June, Buzzfeed obtained an uncensored version of the Mueller Report through the Freedom of Information Act. It turns out that Barr's redactions were meant to cover-up Trump's obstruction of justice, prevent Trump from being indicted, and weaken the criminal case against Trump aide Roger Stone.  Barr's actions were not those of a law enforcement officer -- they were those of Trump's defense attorney. The Attorney General's job is to uphold the law, not protect government officials who obstruct justice, and Barr has made a mockery of his position.  Barr himself obstructed justice to protect Trump.  Had Barr served in the Obama Administration and engaged in a cover-up to protect Obama from prosecution, the Republican-controlled House wouldn't have hesitated to impeach him.

Earlier this year, Barr intervened in Stone's sentencing, urging the four prosecutors on the case to shorten Stone's recommended sentence. The four Justice Department lawyers resigned rather than comply. After Barr intervened, Stone was sentenced to three years in prison; the original prosecutors had recommended nine. Trump later commuted Stone's sentence so his aide wouldn't have to go to prison at all.  This was blatant corruption: Barr abused the power of his office to protect his boss' friend.  Had Barr served in the Obama Administration and used his power to reduce the sentence of one of Obama's aides, the Republican-controlled House would have impeached him for it.

Over 2,000 former Justice Department officials have called on Barr to resign. They wrote:

"...It is unheard of for the Department's top leaders to overrule line prosecutors, who are following established policies, in order to give preferential treatment to a close associate of the President, as Attorney General Barr did in the Stone case. It is even more outrageous for the Attorney General to intervene as he did here after the President publicly condemned the sentencing recommendation that line prosecutors had already filed in court.
"Such behavior is a grave threat to the fair administration of justice. In this nation, we are all equal before the law. A person should not be given special treatment in a criminal prosecution because they are a close political ally of the President. Governments that use the enormous power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and reward their allies are not constitutional republics; they are autocracies."

Barr committed perjury again in his July 2020 testimony before Congress. Barr claimed he had no idea Trump had said publicly (on several occasions) that he would reward Stone if Stone kept quiet. That couldn't possibly be true. Some of Trump's statements were in the Mueller Report, including the parts Barr personally redacted.

Last May, Barr intervened in the prosecution of another Trump aide, Michael Flynn. In a shocking move, Barr dropped the charges against a defendant who had already pleaded guilty. The Atlantic wrote: "The whole process is stunning: Flynn was accused of committing several crimes, admitted to one to try to get himself off easy, agreed to cooperate, reneged on the deal, and is now free, having escaped punishment for both the crime to which he confessed and those on which he avoided prosecution."

If Barr had served in the Obama Administration and had dropped criminal charges against a friend of Obama's -- charges that the friend had confessed to -- Congress would have impeached Barr immediately. As The Atlantic wrote, "under Barr, there are two separate systems of justice, one for the president's friends, and one for everyone else." As a result of Barr's action, "the lead prosecutor has quit the case, and the government's filing was so unpersuasive that no career prosecutor was willing to sign it."

Barr also set up a procedure where the Justice Department would examine leads sent over by Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani and Trump have spent months promoting bogus conspiracy theories about presidential candidate Joe Biden. That is a blatant abuse of power.  The Justice Department is supposed to uphold the law, not harass and defame Trump's political opponents.

Last June, Barr fired Geoffrey S. Berman, a federal attorney in New York.  Berman was investigating Giuliani's failure to register as a lobbyist for a foreign government. This was another blatantly corrupt move: Barr personally and publically intervened to fire the attorney investigating possible wrongdoing by Trump's lawyer.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote: "If a president can punish enemies and reward friends through the administration of justice, there can be no justice. Justice requires impartial and equal treatment under the law. Partiality or inequality in deciding whom to prosecute and how to punish invites tyranny."

Congressman Jerry Nadler told CNN that impeaching Barr was "a waste of time" because the Republican-controlled Senate would never convict him "no matter what the evidence."  Nadler is right that the Republicans may not convict Barr, but he's wrong to say it would be a waste of time. First, Barr is not Trump.  Second, a vote to acquit Barr would force every Senator who voted "not guilty" to tell their constituents that they think it's acceptable for the Attorney General to use the mechanism of justice to persecute the innocent and protect the guilty.  If someone has committed a crime, whether they belong to the same political party as the President should have no bearing on whether they are investigated, prosecuted, or the length of their sentence.  Barr has used his power to protect Republicans and attack Democrats. You must hold him accountable for his abuses.

Congressman, Barr has abused the power of his office.  He committed perjury and obstructed justice to shield members of his political party who have committed crimes -- namely, Donald Trump, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, and perhaps Rudy Giuliani.  Had Eric Holder or Janet Reno done this, the House would not have hesitated to impeach them.  The House must stop enabling Barr's corruption and act on its Constitutional duty to impeach government officials who commit high crimes.  You and your colleagues must investigate, hold hearings, and expose Barr's corruption.  Giuliani and Barr are trying to find a way to steal the election by bringing frivolous charges against Joe Biden.  Congressional action against Barr can't wait until after the election.  Barr must be impeached, and he must be impeached now.

Yours Sincerely,

C. Colvin