Current Assistant US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts James Herbert broke ranks and tradition to pen letter to the editor condemning the politicization of the Department of Justice by Attorney General William Barr. The authenticity of the letter and the author was confirmed today.
NEW: Sources familiar confirm to @ABC the authenticity of this letter from current AUSA James Herbert publicly speaking out against AG Barr. "The current attorney general has brought shame on the department he purports to lead." w/ @AaronKatersky pic.twitter.com/4jzDtk7Q0r
— Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) September 25, 2020
Appearing in the Boston Globe yesterday, the letter calls out Barr for numerous unethical and unprofessional actions taken in his role as Attorney General of the United States. That position is the chief law enforcement officer, but Herbert noted that Barr acts more as a personal attorney and defender of President Trump rather than as an independent law enforcement leader.
“From his misleading summary of the Mueller Report, to his selective intervention in cases against political allies of the president, to his accusation that victims such as George Floyd are being used as mere “props” by those calling for racial justice, to his baseless claims about mail-in ballots, William Barr has done the president’s bidding at every turn,” Herbert stated.
“For 30 years I have been proud to say I work for the Department of Justice, but the current attorney general has brought shame on the department he purports to lead,” he concluded.
Barr has come under fire for many acts seen as abandoning his law enforcement role and acting as a political ally in office. His Hillsdale College speech raised flags in the legal and law enforcement communities for stating that protestors, particularly violent protesters, should be charged with sedition.
His office made up a legal concept of “anarchist jurisdictions” to threaten funding to New York City; Seattle, Washington; and Portland, Oregon. Such decisions exceed the power of the office: Attorneys General cannot unilaterally cut off Congressionally-mandated funding.