AG William Barr’s Ex-Boss Calls Him ‘Un-American,’ Says He Must Resign

In an op-ed for The Atlantic, the former supervisor of Attorney General William Barr, Donald Ayer, calls for his resignation. Ayer, who was the deputy attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, presided over Barr when he headed the department’s Office of Legal Counsel in 1989 and 1990.

According to Ayer, Barr has conducted himself less like an attorney general who serves the public and more as “the president’s personal advocate.” He pointed to Barr’s comments on the controversial FBI investigation into Donald Trump‘s 2016 presidential campaign, which he likened to “spying,” as well as the president’s mention of Barr along with Rudy Giuliani in the July 25 phone call that sparked the impeachment probe.

But Ayer believes that the worst move Barr has made is his recent decision to intervene in the cases of Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, which Ayer believes is disrespectful to the career attorneys of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“The fundamental problem is that he does not believe in the central tenet of our system of government — that no person is above the law,” Ayer writes, calling the above examples of Barr’s conduct “symptoms” of his alleged unfitness for office as opposed to “causes.”

“Indeed, given our national faith and trust in a rule of law no one can subvert, it is not too strong to say that Bill Barr is un-American. And now, from his perch as attorney general, he is in the midst of a root-and-branch attack on the core principles that have guided our justice system, and especially our Department of Justice, since the 1970s.”

At the end of his piece, Ayer calls for Barr to resign and pushes for a “public uprising” demanding such action, with impeachment the second possibility should he refuse to do so.

Let me be clear: William Barr never should have been confirmed as Attorney General in the first place. I voted no on his confirmation because Barr has always been more interested in serving President Trump than our country. pic.twitter.com/oXoTkU0eQF

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 13, 2020

Ayer is not the only one that believes Barr’s conduct is troubling. According to TIME, more than 1,100 former DOJ officials are calling for Barr’s resignation via an open letter that was published on Sunday. The call comes after the reversal of Stone’s original sentencing decision following Barr’s intervention in the case, which pushed the four DOJ prosecutors who recommended the initial sentence to quit the case.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, Barr’s performance in Trump’s DOJ was also slammed by Independent Justin Amash, a former Republican who has been critical of the current administration. Amash noted Barr’s alleged endorsement of executive supremacy, the surveillance state, and? — echoing Ayer? — his tendency to approach his role as a “political operative.”