Thread by @wrongformat

1) Hit Job: Ayer is a prima dona who has been nursing a grievance since 1990. Consider his record:

"(Attorney General) Thornburgh's aides said Mr. Ayer was a poor choice for deputy and that he could not be trusted with the wide authority he sought." New York Times (5/21/90)

2) " ... that guy (Ayer) self-destructed in six months." William Barr, describing Ayer's brief tenure as Deputy Attorney General, in a Univ of Virginia Miller Center Oral History of the George H. W. Bush Administration. Barr succeeded Richard Thornburgh as Attorney General.

3) " ... Ayer basically came at it as you would expect someone from the Solicitor General’s office to come at it: No feeling for how to run an organization, no feeling for how to deal with people. He took very rigid—unnecessarily rigid—positions on things," Barr said.

4) "He (Ayer) was too concerned about his prerogative, that he be given the prerogative of the office—rather than earning the prerogative—in everyday give-and-take of discussion and dealing with others & so forth. He had a tin ear, he had no political sense, he did stupid things.

5) "I thought Thornburgh was actually too patient with (Ayer), and to hang on as long as he did was clearly a mistake from day one ... During the Panama matter—or leading up to those matters, where there was stuff going on—Thornburgh had me dealing with it and reporting to him.

6) "Ayer arrived on the scene and started trying to take over ... in a confrontational way. Thornburgh told him, "It’s none of your damn business. Barr’s handling that." (Ayer) felt irritated by this, a slight somehow. They just didn’t hit it off. After a few months he was gone."

@threadreaderapp unroll 1) Hit Job: Ayer