Attacking the rule of law

Like a retreating army, President Trump and the Justice Department led by Attorney General William Barr have been laying waste to the rule of law as the election advances toward them. Whether it is the execution of an exit strategy or the groundwork for a second term, the toll is staggering.

Trump dismissed five inspectors general, all of whom were either critical of the administration or doing their duties to actively investigate alleged misconduct. His former national security adviser John Bolton has clearly accused the president of seeking some assistance from China to win the election. But with the collective outrage rendered numb from countless scandals and the mounting national crises, his relentless obstruction of justice and several efforts to undermine democracy barely register.

With few paying much attention, Barr is flourishing in his execution of an exit strategy for Trump. Without any apparent sense of ethical obligation, Barr has harmed the independent reputation for the Justice Department. Any notion that the Justice Department must defend the interests of the United States without fear or favor are nakedly exposed. This president, his administration, and his attorney general will allow those interests of Trump to supersede or contradict the interests of the United States.

One need only recall the last few months to see a pattern. There was the politically motivated dismissal of the charges against Michael Flynn after the former national security adviser pleaded guilty to those charges. The move was not long after the equally politically motivated interference in the sentencing for Roger Stone. The Justice Department embarrassingly overruled the line prosecutors in an effort to secure a much more lenient sentence for the consultant and campaign adviser of the president.

Those inexplicable legal maneuvers gave rise to this new deep skepticism surrounding the even more embarrassingly botched