Former FBI Director James Comey accused President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr of damaging the Justice Department with their words and actions.
In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Comey tore into the Trump administration for what he called lying by both men, Barr's interventions in the Michael Flynn case, the forceful clearing of protesters in front of the White House in June, and other things. He argued that Trump and Barr are "leaving a legacy of damage" to the Justice Department.
"The Justice Department was damaged when the attorney general and the president lied to the American people about the work of the special counsel investigating the president," Comey wrote. "They damaged it again when the attorney general intervened in a case involving the president's friend Roger Stone to overrule the sentencing recommendation of career prosecutors.
"And they damaged it again when the attorney general tried to drop a case in which the president's ally Michael Flynn had already pleaded guilty, twice.
"And again when the attorney general marched across a smoke-filled square that he had ordered cleared of protesters exercising their rights as Americans, all so the president could stand in front of a church and hold up the Bible as a political prop."
Comey, who was fired by Trump in May 2017, then argued that the blindfold of justice "must be restored."
"We have lots of policy differences in this country, but those are for another day," Comey wrote. "Because we need a president who will reflect the core values of honesty and decency that are the lifeblood of our nation and its institutions.
"We need a president who will appoint an attorney general not because he needs a personal defense lawyer but because American justice needs a guardian.
"We need a president who has devoted his life to serving others through the rule of law.
"We need to elect Joe Biden."
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