“The Constitution compels the president, among other things, to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Trump has described that document as “like a foreign language,” so let’s explain that this clause does not give him the authority to run the Justice Dept. like a goon squad at one of his failed casinos. In any ordinary Justice Department, a president publicly calling for leniency toward a close personal ally would set off alarm bells. An aspiring autocrat is only as powerful as his enablers, and Trump hit the jackpot in Mr. Barr.The departure of four respected prosecutors under these circumstances should worry all Americans, as Congress abdicates its responsibility to act as a check on the executive and Trump packs the Justice Department with loyalists like Mr. Barr, upholding the law, and not to helping a president abuse his office.”
At www.nytimes.com
