Rogue's Gallery
The following is a brief history of the Attorneys General who served under Republican Presidents from Richard Nixon to the present. It is intended as background for a post that I intend to write next about the Bush-Barr attempt to criminally charge political opponents, which seems to be underway. It's quite a rogues' gallery.
I want to say that I examined the records of Democratic Attorneys General back to the beginning of the twentieth century, and found no comparable disgraces, other than the possible case of J. Howard McGrath, who served under Truman, and resigned rather than cooperate with a demand from a special prosecutor in an investigation that in the end resulted in no charges or indictments.
This list leaves out a few acting Attorneys General who served for very short periods after the death or resignation of others, at least one for as little as one day.
Anyway, here is the list:
NIXON
Elliot Richardson- Quit rather than break the law for Nixon.
Richard Kleindienst- Convicted of perjury.
John Mitchell- Convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Served 19 moths in prison before Republicans found an excuse to let him out
.
Robert Bork (acting)- notorious right wing hatchet man who was rejected for a seat on the Supreme Court.
William Saxbe- appointed by Nixon after Nixon's criminality became clear. Managed to keep himself clean through the remainder of Nixon's term.
FORD
Edward Levi- survived Ford's term with his reputation intact. Quite a contrast to normal Republican behavior. For transparency, I must note that Levi was my mother's adviser when she attended the University of Chicago law school.
REAGAN
William French Smith- Managed to survive his time in the job unscathed.
Edwin Meese- resigned as a result of scandal. Prior to his resignation, several top Justice Department officials resigned in protest of what they and others viewed as improper acts by the Attorney General.
Dick Thornburgh- Managed to make it through Reagan and into Bush 1's term unscathed. Has the distinction of having been successfully sued by Karl Rove.
BUSH 1
William Barr- reponsible for the pre-conviction pardoning of the Iran-Contra criminals, bringing an end to efforts to punish a massive act of treason committed by the President of the United States. We'll be hearing more about him in my next post, as you might expect.
BUSH 2
John Ashcroft- Hardcore right winger who is most notorious for approving the use of torture during the Iraq war. He has served on the board of Blackwater, been a member of the Federalist society and taught at Pat Robertson's phony college; a trifecta of conservative hideousness.
Alberto Gonzales: Strongly supported torture, fired a number of US attorneys for refusing to go along with Bush's plans to persecute political enemies, supported doing away with the Constitutional right to habeas corpus, supported warrantless surveilance, and the right of the President to declare anyone an "enemy combatant," thereby denying them a right to a civilian trial. Finally forced to resign for general incompetence and piggishness.
Michael Mukasey- Yes, you read that right. I hardly need to go into an explanation of what a slime he is.
DONALD TRUMP
Jeff Sessions- Racist lickspittle, just not enough of a racist lickspittle
Matthew Whittaker- Right wing talk show host and former white collar criminal, brought in because he was enough of a lickspittle to satisfy Trump. There was no question of him ever being confirmed, even in the crazed Republican Senate.
William Barr- And here we are, perhaps the biggest criminal of them all.
Quite a record, huh? I count 15 names. Of the 15, one, Elliot Richardson quit rather than participate in Presidential criminality, four managed to make it through their terms without disgracing themselves, and the remaining 11, or 73% revealed themselves to be right wing tools at best, or out and out criminals.
By contrast, there have been 18 Attorneys General appointed by Democrats going back to 1900. Even if you accept the unproven allegations against McGrath, the count is seventeen honorable ones to one dishonored. That is a 5% record of malfeasance, compared to that 73% Republican one.
I want to say that I examined the records of Democratic Attorneys General back to the beginning of the twentieth century, and found no comparable disgraces, other than the possible case of J. Howard McGrath, who served under Truman, and resigned rather than cooperate with a demand from a special prosecutor in an investigation that in the end resulted in no charges or indictments.
This list leaves out a few acting Attorneys General who served for very short periods after the death or resignation of others, at least one for as little as one day.
Anyway, here is the list:
NIXON
Elliot Richardson- Quit rather than break the law for Nixon.
Richard Kleindienst- Convicted of perjury.
John Mitchell- Convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Served 19 moths in prison before Republicans found an excuse to let him out
.
Robert Bork (acting)- notorious right wing hatchet man who was rejected for a seat on the Supreme Court.
William Saxbe- appointed by Nixon after Nixon's criminality became clear. Managed to keep himself clean through the remainder of Nixon's term.
FORD
Edward Levi- survived Ford's term with his reputation intact. Quite a contrast to normal Republican behavior. For transparency, I must note that Levi was my mother's adviser when she attended the University of Chicago law school.
REAGAN
William French Smith- Managed to survive his time in the job unscathed.
Edwin Meese- resigned as a result of scandal. Prior to his resignation, several top Justice Department officials resigned in protest of what they and others viewed as improper acts by the Attorney General.
Dick Thornburgh- Managed to make it through Reagan and into Bush 1's term unscathed. Has the distinction of having been successfully sued by Karl Rove.
BUSH 1
William Barr- reponsible for the pre-conviction pardoning of the Iran-Contra criminals, bringing an end to efforts to punish a massive act of treason committed by the President of the United States. We'll be hearing more about him in my next post, as you might expect.
BUSH 2
John Ashcroft- Hardcore right winger who is most notorious for approving the use of torture during the Iraq war. He has served on the board of Blackwater, been a member of the Federalist society and taught at Pat Robertson's phony college; a trifecta of conservative hideousness.
Alberto Gonzales: Strongly supported torture, fired a number of US attorneys for refusing to go along with Bush's plans to persecute political enemies, supported doing away with the Constitutional right to habeas corpus, supported warrantless surveilance, and the right of the President to declare anyone an "enemy combatant," thereby denying them a right to a civilian trial. Finally forced to resign for general incompetence and piggishness.
Michael Mukasey- Yes, you read that right. I hardly need to go into an explanation of what a slime he is.
DONALD TRUMP
Jeff Sessions- Racist lickspittle, just not enough of a racist lickspittle
Matthew Whittaker- Right wing talk show host and former white collar criminal, brought in because he was enough of a lickspittle to satisfy Trump. There was no question of him ever being confirmed, even in the crazed Republican Senate.
William Barr- And here we are, perhaps the biggest criminal of them all.
Quite a record, huh? I count 15 names. Of the 15, one, Elliot Richardson quit rather than participate in Presidential criminality, four managed to make it through their terms without disgracing themselves, and the remaining 11, or 73% revealed themselves to be right wing tools at best, or out and out criminals.
By contrast, there have been 18 Attorneys General appointed by Democrats going back to 1900. Even if you accept the unproven allegations against McGrath, the count is seventeen honorable ones to one dishonored. That is a 5% record of malfeasance, compared to that 73% Republican one.
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