Former DOJ officials call on Attorney General Barr to resign
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[February 17, 2020]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than
1,000 former U.S. Justice Department officials on Sunday called for
Attorney General William Barr to resign over his handling of the trial
of a longtime adviser of President Donald Trump.
The former officials, who served under both Republican and Democratic
administrations, criticized Barr, the country's top law enforcement
officer, for overruling his own prosecutors in a case that has prompted
accusations that the Trump administration is weakening the rule of law.
On Tuesday, the Justice Department abandoned prosecutors' initial
recommendation to give the veteran Republican operative Roger Stone
seven to nine years in prison after he was found guilty in November of
seven counts of lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering,
prompting all four prosecutors to quit the case.
"It is unheard of for the Department's top leaders to overrule line
prosecutors, who are following established policies, in order to give
preferential treatment to a close associate of the President, as
Attorney General Barr did in the Stone case," said the letter, published
on the website Medium.
"Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of
Justice's reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr. Barr
to resign," the letter said.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
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U.S. Attorney General William Barr arrives prior to U.S. President
Donald Trump's statement about his acquittal on impeachment charges
by the U.S. Senate in the East Room of the White House in
Washington, U.S., February 6, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Trump had heavily
criticized the original sentencing request for Stone and the Justice
Department subsequently abandoned it, instead deciding to make no
formal sentencing recommendation.
Democrats blasted the department's shift in the high-profile case
involving Stone, whose friendship with Trump dates back decades.
Stone's trial arose from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's
investigation that detailed extensive Russian interference in the
2016 election to benefit Trump's candidacy.
Barr said on Thursday in an interview with broadcaster ABC that
Trump's criticism of those involved in the Stone case "make it
impossible for me to do my job."
(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu;
Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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