ACS President Calls on All Americans to Resist Attorney General’s Efforts to Subvert Democracy and Rule of Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nancy Rodriguez media@acslaw.org

Washington, D.C.  – American Constitution Society President Russ Feingold released the following statement regarding U.S. Attorney General William Barr.

“With his statements last night at the Hillsdale College event, and his actions throughout his tenure, Attorney General William Barr has cemented his place among the very worst and most destructive Cabinet officials in U.S. history. His efforts to subvert our democracy and the rule of law must be resisted by each of us who embraces our Constitution and the values it enshrines. Today -- on Constitution Day – and every day we must resolve to defend our founding document and the hope of human flourishing it embodies against all threats, foreign and domestic.

The bill of particulars against Attorney General Barr is so long and damning that it calls to mind that against King George III in the Declaration of Independence. He has acted as President Trump’s fixer in criminal cases involving the President’s other cronies, including Roger Stone and Michael Flynn. He has launched a bizarre and unfounded ‘criminal’ investigation against government officials, with the clear intent of helping the President in the upcoming elections, leading widely respected Department of Justice officials to resign in protest. He has lied, repeatedly and outrageously, about the integrity of our election systems in general, and mail ballot systems in particular, in order to undermine our democracy and boost the political fortunes of his patron, the President.

And now, in his remarks last night, Attorney General Barr offers a vision of his office and of federal law enforcement that takes much from the darkest periods of American history and from any number of foreign police states, and nothing at all from the best traditions of this nation and the Department of Justice. By asserting and celebrating in this manner his power to intervene in all matters regarding federal law enforcement, Attorney General Barr firmly aligns himself with the very worst actors in the Department of Justice’s history, including those responsible for the Palmer Raids of the post-World War I Red Scare and the Hoover-led FBI’s vendetta against Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

And so we must resist him and the dark traditions for which he stands. You have the power to do so. Please do not shrink from this moment.

Defend democracy. If you are a lawyer, protect the rights of others to vote. If you feel comfortable doing so, serve as a poll worker so that the vote can be counted quickly and accurately. Explain the stakes of this moment to your friends and family.

The American Constitution Society can connect you with and provide you with resources regarding each of these opportunities to defend our democracy. We stand in solidarity with you and all our allies in the struggle for justice. Together, we will prevail.”

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