Thread by @renato_mariotti

THREAD: What should we make of news that Barr has assigned a team of prosecutors to review “politically sensitive” cases, like Michael Flynn’s?

1/ Today @nytimes (and others) reported that Barr has assigned prosecutors from the St. Louis U.S. Attorney’s Office and elsewhere to review “politically sensitive” cases, including Flynn’s. nytimes.com/2020/02/14/us/…

2/ This is highly unusual. While the work of federal prosecutors is routinely reviewed by supervisors, the use of prosecutors from other parts of the country to review their work after the fact is highly out of the ordinary.

It is a bigger issue than it seems at first glance.

3/ On its face, Barr’s action is hard to criticize. Most of us want the work of prosecutors to be heavily scrutinized and reviewed to ensure that they’re doing the right thing. I want that too.

But there’s more going on here.

4/ Barr is picking cases that Trump and his allies don’t like for this special review.

The DOJ prosecutes thousands of people every year. Drug dealers and bank robbers don’t get this special treatment, and that’s only part of the problem.

5/ Obviously high profile cases get more scrutiny and always have.

But what’s odd here is that DOJ is going back and reviewing a case (Flynn’s) that resulted in a conviction as well as a finding by a federal judge that Flynn’s allegations of wrongdoing had no merit.

6/ It’s the sort of case that would not ordinarily warrant this sort of careful review by a prosecutor in another office.

What message does this send to DOJ attorneys?

That if you investigate or charge Trump’s allies, you will be highly scrutinized.

7/ No one likes having someone look over their shoulder and second guess their decision making. And it’s harder to get someone to take on an assignment if they know that they are likely to be investigated and could end up hated by millions of Trump’s followers.

8/ On the flip side, DOJ put substantial resources into a criminal investigation of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe even though the evidence—which was publicly disclosed by the OIG—was obviously too weak to bring charges.

9/ This is more subtle than a Trump tirade or nasty tweet.

In Barr’s DOJ, investigations of Trump’s friends are highly scrutinized and questioned. Investigations of Trump’s perceived enemies receive more resources than they merit.

10/ This isn’t how the Justice Department is supposed to work. And despite allegations of political influence, it isn’t the Justice Department I know.

Our legal system is supposed to treat you the same, whether you’re Trump’s enemy or his friend. /end