Monday, following the Supreme Court granting current and former presidents limited immunity, former Attorney General Bill Barr reacted to the high court’s rulings over the past week.
On the presidential immunity ruling, the so-called Chevron doctrine and the obstruction statute as it pertained to January 6 protesters, Barr said the Supreme Court was protecting institutions and processes against the “passions of the moment.”
“Well, I think this idea of going after the Supreme [Court] — I think these opinions were bang on,” Barr said. “They were very reasonable opinions. I’m talking about the immunity opinion, the opinion on the Chevron doctrine, cutting that back. Also, the opinion the obstruction statute — making sure that that’s properly employed and isn’t used as a dragnet.”
He continued, “And I think that these were very reasonable opinions that put the law in the right place. And I’m afraid that, this anything goes, let’s do whatever we can to solve the — you know, to address the political imperative at the moment, we’re going to throw the baby out with a bathwater. We’re going to do long-term institutional damage to the United States. And I think the Supreme Court’s doing just the opposite. I think they’re protecting our institutions and the processes we have against being disfigured by the passions of the moment.”
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