Eric Holder Dares to Call Out Barr for Sucking Up to Trump

There are a number of idioms or adages that come to mind about criticizing a person for faults that could equally apply to oneself. But, the idea that Eric Holder is accusing current attorney general William Barr for being too much of a “loyalist” to President Trump, and that Barr is putting protecting the president above the needs of the country, is laughable.

When Holder was Barack Obama’s AG, he did not hide his closeness with Obama. During a radio interview, he even called himself Obama’s “wingman.”

“I’m still enjoying what I’m doing, there’s still work to be done. I’m still the president’s wingman, so I’m there with my boy. So we’ll see,” Holder told Tom Joyner’s radio show, back in 2013.

Critics immediately seized upon Holder’s term “wingman” because the attorney general is traditionally considered a role independent of the president — even though the position is a presidential appointee.

But, none of the criticism stopped Holder from recently making the same kinds of accusations of Barr. He wrote a column for the Washington Post, in which he calls Attorney General Barr, an unfit successor due to his “nakedly partisan” actions and loyalty to President Trump.

Barr has been a favorite target of Trump critics since becoming attorney general in February, following the departure of Jeff Sessions. Barr’s detractors see him as a high-ranking enabler of the president, who may use the department to serve Trump’s personal and political interests.

His supporters, however, see Barr as a major player in determining the origins of what became the Russia investigation. The White House and Republicans in Congress say they want to know more about why the FBI decided to investigate the Trump’s 2016 campaign’s possible ties to Moscow — what Trump has often called a partisan “witch hunt.”

In the piece he penned for the Post, Holder’s criticism of Barr is wide-ranging. He points to a comment Barr made last month at a Federalist Society event, asserting that Barr made the “outlandish suggestion that Congress cannot entrust anyone but the president himself to execute the law.”

“This is a stunning declaration not merely of ideology but of loyalty: to the president and his interests,” Holder wrote. “It is also revealing of Barr’s own intent: to serve not at a careful remove from politics, as his office demands, but as an instrument of politics — under the direct ‘control’ of President Trump.”

Attorneys general, and their relationships with presidents have long been closely watched. Kris Olson, a former U.S. attorney in Oregon, wrote about the close relationships that usually hang in the balance. A president can remove his attorney general at will, but the person is “also intrinsically tied with the politics of the administration.”

Continuing in the Post, Holder wrote about his initial reluctance to go public with his criticism of Barr, but adds he is in a unique position where his voice is needed.  Saying that Barr’s actions “demand a response from someone who held the same office.”