Attorney General William Barr has reignited accusations he has spent his time heading the Justice Department dismantling and discrediting special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, injecting Trump-friendly political considerations into criminal case decisions, Politico reports. In February, Barr watered down a sentencing recommendation in another high-profile Mueller case: Roger Stone. The move rattled the department — four prosecutors quit the case and one left government — while the president cheered Barr. On Thursday, Barr again stepped into a Mueller case on behalf of a Trump ally, dropping the case against Michael Flynn. Once again, the lead prosecutor quit the case instead of going along with Barr’s decision.
Justice Department officials were exasperated and disheartened. For many within DOJ, it was another day that fueled the view the president’s supporters were winning favors unavailable to other defendants. Barr insisted Thursday night that he was not dragging politics into his decisions, suggesting the real bias at work was against Flynn. “I want to make sure that we restore confidence in the system. There’s only one standard of justice,” Barr told CBS News. “It’s sad that nowadays these partisan feelings are so strong that people have lost any sense of justice.” Asked if he was doing Trump’s bidding, Barr said: “I’m doing the law’s bidding.” The proclamation rang hollow to DOJ employees. “There seems to be a different set of rules for political appointees,” said one longtime official, who called Barr’s move another signal to career officials that their work could be readily upended for political reasons. “It’s more demoralizing than anything else,” the official said. “This moment represents the full collapse of an apolitical Justice Department. An astonishing assault on the rule of law and in a functional DOJ it would prompt mass resignation,” said former intelligence lawyer Susan Hennessey.