Eric Holder argues in op-ed that William Barr is 'unfit' to be attorney general

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

published 12 December 2019

Former Attorney General Eric Holder is "reluctant to publicly criticize my successors," he wrote in a Washington Post op-ed Wednesday night, but the current attorney general, William Barr, "has made a series of public statements and taken actions that are so plainly ideological, so nakedly partisan, and so deeply inappropriate for America’s chief law enforcement official that they demand a response from someone who held the same office."

Among Barr's troubling statement, Holder writes, were his "ode to essentially unbridled executive power" in a Federalist Society speech, his evidence-free attacks on the FBI and Justice Department inspector general, and his "stunning declaration not merely of ideology but of loyalty: to the president and his interests." In fact, Holder said, "to me, his attempts to vilify the president's critics sounded more like the tactics of an unscrupulous criminal defense lawyer than a U.S. attorney general."

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The American people deserve an attorney general who serves their interests, leads the Justice Department with integrity, and can be entrusted to pursue the facts and the law, even — and especially — when they are politically inconvenient and inconsistent with the personal interests of the president who appointed him. William Barr has proved he is incapable of serving as such an attorney general. He is unfit to lead the Justice Department. [Eric Holder, The Washington Post]

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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