Ex-Obama Attorney General Eric Holder says William Barr is 'unfit to lead the Justice Department'

WASHINGTON – Former Attorney General Eric Holder sharply criticized current Attorney General William Barr for comments he said were "deeply inappropriate for America's chief law enforcement official" and said he was "unfit to lead the Justice Department."

Holder, a Democrat who served as former President Barack Obama's attorney general from 2009 to 2015, said in a Washington Post op-ed published Wednesday night that almost "since the moment he took office," Barr's "words and actions have been fundamentally inconsistent with his duty to the Constitution. Which is why I now fear that his conduct – running political interference for an increasingly lawless president – will wreak lasting damage."

The former attorney general said he was "reluctant to publicly criticize my successors" but "Barr has made a series of public statements and taken actions that are so plainly ideological, so nakedly partisan and so deeply inappropriate for America’s chief law enforcement official that they demand a response from someone who held the same office."

As an example, Holder pointed to remarks Barr made Nov. 15 at a convention organized by the conservative Federalist Society where the attorney general defended presidential power, which he said had "become smothered by the encroachments of the other branches" of government.

Holder described Barr's speech as "an ode to essentially unbridled executive power" and he said Barr's "attempts to vilify the president's critics sounded more like the tactics of an unscrupulous criminal defense lawyer than a U.S. attorney general."

He also cited Barr's "bizarre threat" at a Justice Department ceremony honoring police officers earlier this month where he said Americans need to show "the respect and support that law enforcement deserves" and "if communities don't give that support and respect, they might find themselves without the police protection they need."

"No one who understands – let alone truly respects – the impartial administration of justice or the role of law enforcement could ever say such a thing. It is antithetical to the most basic tenets of equality and justice, and it undermines the need for understanding between law enforcement and certain communities and flies in the face of everything the Justice Department stands for," Holder wrote.

Holder did not mention Barr's recent comments disagreeing with the conclusions of the Justice Department's inspector general, who found the investigation into Russian election interference and possible collusion with the Trump campaign was not motivated by politics.

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Conservatives on social media delivered fiery responses to Holder's op-ed, pointing to his own close relationship with the president he served and an interview in which he once described himself as Obama's "wingman."

They also cited the 2012 House vote to hold him in contempt for his refusal to give a congressional committee documents related to its probe of a gun-smuggling investigation that allowed illegally purchased firearms to cross the Mexican border where they ended up in the hands of drug cartel members.

"As Attorney General, Eric Holder was Obama’s self-proclaimed 'wingman.' Holder lied to Congress. He obstructed Congress over Fast&Furious scandal & later lost in court. 17 Democrats helped make him the 1st AG held in contempt of Congress," tweeted Matt Wolking, the Trump campaign's deputy communications director.

"Holder criticizing Barr is laughable," Wolking said.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: William Barr 'unfit' to serve as attorney general, Eric Holder says