Barr Under Fire!
No, really! And the fire is coming from no less a non-partisan luminary of the American tradition of rule of law than ... James Clyburn?
What was Barr's great offense?
In remarks yesterday at Hillsdale College in Michigan--a liberal arts college that, OMG!, doesn't accept federal funds of any sort, not even for scholarships--Barr characterized the Covid "lockdown" as the “greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history” since slavery.
Apparently Barr was doubling down on remarks--and instructions--that he gave during the spring:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr on Monday ordered federal prosecutors across the U.S. to identify coronavirus-related restrictions from state and local governments “that could be violating the constitutional rights and civil liberties of individual citizens.”
The memo to U.S. attorneys directs the head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division and the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan to coordinate the department’s efforts to monitor state and local policies and take action if needed.
“If a state or local ordinance crosses the line from an appropriate exercise of authority to stop the spread of COVID-19 into an overbearing infringement of constitutional and statutory protections, the Department of Justice may have an obligation to address that overreach in federal court.”
This comes shortly after Barr directed US Attorneys to consider sedition charges against violent demonstrators who also claim to be attempting to overthrow the lawful government of these United States. Those directions to US Attorneys, by the way, appear to have been in the context of the establishment of the CHOP/CHAZ in Seattle with the connivance or cooperation of local elected officials.