William Barr Doesn't Want to be Left Out of the War on Science

Donald Trump never issued the nationwide lockdown that the United States needed to minimize the damage of the novel coronavirus.  But for Attorney General William Barr, there is no situation that can’t be made worse by misusing the powers of the DOJ. Since taking over as Trump’s go-to unraveler of law, Barr has not only managed to waste an incredible amount of time destroying U.S intelligence, eroding relationships with allies, and trying to back up Trump’s numerous conspiracy theories, he has also been eking out time to threaten Black communities, killing investigations into Trump, and destroying oversight authority. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that, in the midst of a national health crisis, Barr is determined to get out his robe and scythe to hurry the process along by threatening governors over social distancing guidelines.

Barr joined right-wing radio ding-a-ling Hugh Hewitt this week to bemoan the states' shelter-in-place orders, which are meant to slow the spread of a deadly contagion. “These are very, very burdensome impingements on liberty,” said Barr.   Barr compared the stay-at-home orders to placing everyone “under house arrest.”  Barr indicated that he will review all the state rules (by which he means all the blue state rules) and find the ones that he thinks “go too far.” When these targets are located, says Barr, he will try to “jawbone the governors into rolling them back.”

But if governors decide to listen to scientists vs. Trump and Barr, the next step for Barr is that he will "side with the plaintiffs" and take the states to court. By which he means he will take the DOJ and put it at the service of people waving Confederate flags and AR-15s in state capitals.