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Expect the Attorney General to Open an Investigation into Biden
William Barr has repeatedly used the Justice Department to defend the president: the next step is to attack the president’s rivals.
William Barr was ultimately confirmed to his position as attorney general by a party line vote. Three Democrats defected to vote alongside Republicans, likely because, having been Bush Sr.’s attorney general, Barr was seen as a trustworthy establishment figure. And one Republican, Rand Paul, voted against his confirmation for his stance on privacy issues. The rest of the Democrats in the Senate were wary of Barr because of a memo he wrote to former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who had appointed Robert Mueller to his position as Special Counsel. That memo argued that Mueller didn’t have a legal basis for charging Trump with obstruction of justice for his firing of the former FBI Director, James Comey. Specifically, he argued that it would infringe on the powers of the presidency to do so. This was seen by many as Barr signaling to Trump that if hired he would work to protect the President from the Russia investigation. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had been unwilling to do this, having recused himself from the investigation, earning him the President’s explicit and public disapproval.
