U.S. ethics groups say Barr uses DOJ as political tool, call for his impeachment

https://news.yahoo.com/u-ethics-groups-barr-uses-231830868.html

Mark Hosenball
,Reuters•October 12, 2020

Two private groups focused on U.S. government ethics on Monday accused Attorney General William Barr of misusing his office to support President Donald Trump's political goals and called on the House of Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against him.

The University of Pennsylvania's Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law and Washington-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said Barr could not be trusted to represent the work of his department accurately and that there were problems with the truthfulness of Barr's public statements.

•••••

The groups in a 267-page research paper alleged that Barr's "authoritarian worldview limits the degree to which ... (he) regards himself as bound by the rule of law and makes him see himself as entitled to ignore the laws, ethics and historical practices" at the Justice Department.

The paper highlighted several Barr actions, including what it described as his intentional mischaracterization of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election as well as Barr's move to assign U.S. Attorney John Durham to conduct his own investigation of the Mueller probe.

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball, additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia Osterman)