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Last night I asked this question of former SDNY US Attorney @PreetBharara. It turns out he had already answered the question in his podcast he recorded earlier in the day. /1
Because it was such a comprehensive answer from someone who was the last US Attorney in the SDNY office, I thought I'd transcribe it for anyone who hasn't yet heard this week's awesome Stay Tuned podcast.
It ends with a warning for Bill Barr.
Here goes: /2
It ends with a warning for Bill Barr.
Here goes: /2
"In the line of succession, the Attorney General of the United States is at the top and he or she has authority over everything that's going on in the department ... /3
"And so, when I was the United States Attorney, we had an independent streak but if I were ever directed to do something by the Attorney General, I complied. /4
"There was never a time during my 7 1/2 years when an Attorney General said, "Do not continue an investigation of someone or something." Never happened in my experience. /5
"I can tell you that if there had been such an occasion where we thought we had a good bonafide investigation in a controversial matter and an Attorney General for not good-faith reasons told us to stop investigating, there would have been something of a crisis. /6
"I don't think I would have defied the Attorney General. In fact, I would not have. But we would have reached a moment where I either had to convince the Attorney General that our way was correct or resign from the office. /7
"And, depending on the nature of it, make myself available for Congressional testimony if I thought something corrupt or untoward or improper was happening. /8
"I understand the spirit of your question is, 'Will Bill Barr put the kabash on some good-faith proper investigation being done by the Southern District or some other office.' Anything is possible, and things I didn't think were possible have become possible in recent months. /9
🔥 "But I think that if you're Attorney General Bill Barr, or you're someone advising Attorney General Bill Barr, and you're going to do something like that, you need to proceed with EXTREME CAUTION, because *you're not the only one asking this question.* 🔥/10
🔥And there will be a lot of other folks with subpoena power and gavels asking the same question if some investigation looks like it was cut off improperly." 🔥 /11x
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