The Fall of the DOJ

After the worst week in the history of an independent Justice Department since Watergate, on Tuesday, Donald Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of 11 grifters, white-collar criminals, and liars. Declaring himself “the chief law enforcement officer of the country” (he isn’t), the president continued to tweet at the federal judge who will sentence his buddy, Roger Stone, on Thursday, even though his own Attorney General William Barr has said that Trump tweeting about ongoing criminal investigations and cases make it “impossible for me to do my job.” On Tuesday night, Barr leaked to the press that he is contemplating quitting the DOJ if Trump continues to insert himself publicly into ongoing matters of federal criminal law enforcement. This would be a shame for Barr, since both he and Trump seek to create a banana republic in the United States—the only difference is that Barr wants it to have the vestigial trappings of a constitutional democracy and the president’s outbursts keep getting in his way.