Attorney General Barr defends Trump, assails 'Resistance' in fiery speech to conservative lawyers

[groundloop]

Source: ABC News

Attorney General Bill Barr on Friday delivered one of his most effusive defenses to date of his expansive views on executive power, in a speech where he accused Democrats who've sought to thwart President Donald Trump's agenda of "using every tool and maneuver to sabotage" the administration.

"In waging a scorched-earth, no-holds-barred war of Resistance against this administration, it is the Left that is engaged in a systematic shredding of norms and undermining the rule of law," Barr said in a speech to conservative lawyers at the Federalist Society's convention in Washington.

Barr went into detail as he assailed the self-described "Resistance" to Trump, accusing them of adopting "dangerous" and "incendiary" language by implying the sitting government is illegitimate.

"This is a very dangerous and indeed incendiary notion to import into the politics of a Democratic republic," Barr said. "The fact is, that, yes, while the president has certainly thrown out the traditional beltway playbook and punctilio, he was upfront about what he was going to do and the people decided that he was going to serve as president."

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/attorney-general-barr-defends-trump-assails-resistance-fiery/story?id=67057256&cid=clicksource_4380645_null_hero_hed

[underpants]

1. punctilio

I learned something today.

[PatSeg]

36. Same here

I had to go look it up.

For a smart man, he sure does and says some stupid stuff. What on earth did he sell his soul for?

[Aquaria]

43. He's not all that smart

Evil in his cunning, but smart? Doubtful.

Punctilio is legalese jargon that any law firm mailroom clerk can pick up if they have their ears open.

[PatSeg]

47. True

Though I still think he's too smart to be involved with someone as dumb, incompetent, and corrupt as Donald Trump. Its not like he was part of government already and had to adapt to Trump, he auditioned for the job.

[TomSlick]

49. What this country needs is more punctilious behavior.

Following the rules is a good thing.

[empedocles]

2. barr veru annoyed at all those 'subpoenas', courts, the rule of law.

[still_one]

3. No Barr, you are the dangerous one, should be charged with obstructing justice

[Lonestarblue]

25. Should be impeached for dereliction of duty to act as the people's attorney.

And for wasting taxpayers’ dollars chasing conspiracy theories around the world.

[tulipsandroses]

29. Exactly right. Somehow these assholes forget that they are on our dime. Not Trump's

Though I suspect that they are getting paid by others as well- whether that's big business or foreign nations so its to their benefit to keep the orange clown in office for more financial gain. Fucking traitors.

[underpants]

4. Uh...the Constitution?

knee-jerk tendency [among Democrats and the media] to see the legislative and judicial branches as the good guys, protecting the people from a rapacious, would-be autocrat."

"I don't deny that Congress has some implied authority," Barr said,

[Stallion]

28. I Can't Believe an Attorney General Said Congress Has Implied Authority

Congress has defined Impeachment authority-surely in a room full of attorneys a couple raised their eyebrows


Article I, Section 2, Clause 5 provides:
The House of Representatives ... shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Article I, Section 3, Clauses 6 and 7 provides:
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States; but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

[underpants]

30. And first in order

For a reason.

[Calista241]

35. From listening to the speech

I don't think he was talking about impeachment when those lines came up. He was in the middle of bitching about onerous oversight, FOIA requests, and the number of forced cloture votes on everything in the Senate.

[Aquaria]

44. Why I said he's cunning, but doubtful that he's smart.

Because any smart person would know what nonsense he's spewing about implied Congressional authority.

For crying out loud, Article I powers are covered extensively in most pre-law or poli-sci courses. You don't even have to go to law school for that.

[atreides1]

51. Here's the reality

Barr only has to smarter then Trump's base...especially when that base consists of millions of whites who long for the "good old days"!

[PatSeg]

37. "Implied"???

Gee, so much for co-equal branches of government. I guess the Constitution is just a "piece of paper".

[dewsgirl]

5. His Opus Del ass, is the dangerous one.

[DBoon]

21. a cult supported and nurtured by Francisco Franco

nt

[MarcA]

40. Agreed. They falsely accuse others of being what they themselves are. n/t

[dewsgirl]

41. There is a whole lot of that going around ATM.

[BootinUp]

6. These people freak me tf out. Nt

[groundloop]

9. Yep.... they belong in Colonial England

[llmart]

7. Well, no, numnuts...

the people actually decided they wanted Hillary.

He should be up next for impeachment, after Pence that is.

[groundloop]

13. Exactly..... 3 MILLION more votes, just fucked over by an archaic system

In depth studies have shown that the electoral college has a built in bias of between 0.5 and 1 percent in favor of the repubs. The electoral college, quite obviously, gives more weight to a voter in a small state than to a voter in a populous state. Also, never forget that it was instituted in order to appease slave states. It needs to go.

[llmart]

15. I agree wholeheartedly that the electoral college is outdated.

We need to abolish it when we take control of all branches of government.

[Aquaria]

45. That bias could change, and fast

If Texas and/or Arizona goes blue, the advantage will tilt to the Dems.

Hard.

[C_U_L8R]

8. Barr has lost his rudder, if he ever had one.

Clearly, he has no idea of right or wrong... much less what's illegal. Resign you fool.

[FiveGoodMen]

48. Of course he can tell right from wrong

Wrong is everything he wants to do and right is everything he wants to prevent.

[Lonestarblue]

10. Did the people really decide that Trump would be president?

Or was it a combination of Russia and Republican cheating through, at the very least, voter suppression and dirty tricks like closing voting locations near minority neighborhoods or relocating voting locations far from residences and public transportation? Trump did not win. He was put into office. And I’m really tired of Republicans claiming that impeachment and removal of Trump would overthrow an election. That is sheer nonsense because we would still have a Republican, odious Pence, as president.

[PatSeg]

38. Yep

I think Putin would disagree with Bill on that one.

[DFW]

11. The only kind of "Democratic Republic" Barr and Trump seem to admire

That seems to be the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or the defunct German Democratic Republic (DDR, or East Germany, as we used to call it).

[FM123]

12. I guess when there's smoke they give fiery speeches.

Hey Barr, did you know that when trump asked you to come on board to keep him warm that part of the deal was to set yourself on fire? Burn baby burn...

[beachbumbob]

14. Pelosi had opportunity earlier to impeach this lying SOB

and make GOP have to defend the partisan use of a govt agency, which of course. will make much easier for the next democratic president to do the same

[in2herbs]

16. This may read like an extreme post, but IMO, the only way we can get the Federalist Society

to become a thing of the past is to affect its future and we could do that by crippling the money inherited by the children of these current members. If there is no financial gain to being a member, there is no social gain to being a member, and when there's no social gain it will die, along with the old farts who are present members.

[Botany]

17. Barr, "by implying the sitting government is illegitimate."

It is Bill it is and you know that too but you are keeping the information that Trump was
installed by Russia hidden by keeping the Mueller Report under wraps.

[Anon-C]

18. We should take him and the Fascist Society at their word.

Link to tweet

?s=20

[dalton99a]

19. Barr is a full-blown fascist bootlicker

who belongs in prison

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. If it wasn't clear before, even cultists can see he is tRump's lawyer, not the PEOPLE'S lawyer

But they aren't looking. It was a busy Friday and many Americans were watching hearings.

[bluestarone]

22. WE are at war with our OWN government!

End of story.

[SunSeeker]

23. The people chose Hillary by 3 million votes, Barr evil fuck. Trump IS illegitimate.

[cstanleytech]

24. Barr really needs to be disbarred. nt

[oregonjen]

26. Was this speech the outcome of a heated meeting between Trump and Barr?

Wasn’t it reported that Trump and Barr had a meeting the other day? Trump must be feeling trapped in a corner and forced Barr to get out and make a speech defending him.

[Zambero]

27. Resistance? Barr's euphemism for the First Amendment

By nature, authoritarians abhor freedoms of speech, assembly, and expression, unless it happens to parrot their own brand of propaganda.

[Nitram]

31. Barr its the Anti-Attorney General. He should be impeached.

[Evolve Dammit]

32. "... the Left that is engaged in a systematic shredding of norms and undermining the rule of law,"

That's hysterical. GOP is about as rabid and corrupt as the day is long. Piss off Barr.

[B Stieg]

33. Well, now we know why tRump and Barr had a tussle on Thursday.

Baby tRump is getting unhappy!!!

[MBS]

34. Very disturbing- and dangerous.

But not just because of his explicit attempt to destroy our democratic foundations and the rule of law. Also not just because his "analysis" represents a Twilight-Zon/Alice-in-Wonderland distortion of reality.
Even more disturbing was the support of the Federalist Society crowd:

Barr earned cheers from the crowd as he repeatedly excoriated, and at times mocked, critics of the "unitary executive" theory, embraced by Barr and others in conservative legal circles who argue for fewer restraints to a president's exercise of his executive power.

And these are the guys who are hand-picking judges for MF45.

[trof]

39. the people decided that he was going to serve as president." BULL. SHIT.

The electoral college put him in, not 'the people'.
'The people' elected Hillary Clinton.

[Aquaria]

42. What ca-ca

"In waging a scorched-earth, no-holds-barred war of Resistance against this administration, it is the Left that is engaged in a systematic shredding of norms and undermining the rule of law," Barr said in a speech to conservative lawyers at the Federalist Society's convention in Washington.

Give one example that isn't dishonest and/or complete delusion, you treasonous fat toad.

Barr went into detail as he assailed the self-described "Resistance" to Trump, accusing them of adopting "dangerous" and "incendiary" language by implying the sitting government is illegitimate.

This is a very dangerous and indeed incendiary notion to import into the politics of a Democratic republic," Barr said.

Oh, look in the mirror, you bloated anal polyp. You conservaXXX have been outright hating government and using far more incendiary language about liberals and minorities for over five decades now--and far than any resistance person ever has.

"The fact is, that, yes, while the president has certainly thrown out the traditional beltway playbook and punctilio, he was upfront about what he was going to do and the people decided that he was going to serve as president."

No, the people didn't decide that; the Electoral College did, lying traitor jerk.

[BlueIdaho]

46. Fuck Him

That piece of shit will go down in history as the worst, most corrupt, most extra-legal son of a bitch to draw a federal salary. He can’t walk into the light soon enough.

[ck4829]

50. Ha

[Docreed2003]

52. Lmao

The dude just came right out said "People knew what they were getting when they voted for Trump". So because he was obviously a narcissistic, self aggrandizing, fraud, we shouldn't expect anything else! And yet holding Trump accountable is somehow undermining the "rule of law". SMDH