William Barr, in full William Pelham Barr, (born May 23, 1950, New York City), American lawyer and government official who served as attorney general of the United States during the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Shrub (1991-93) and Donald Trump (2019-20). Barr was the 2nd individual in United States history to serve two times as attorney general (the first was John J. Crittenden).
Bush administration and private practice
Barr went to Columbia University in New York City, earning a bachelor’s degree in government in 1971 and a master’s degree in Chinese studies in 1973. He worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1973 to 1977, first as an analyst and afterwards in the legal department. He simultaneously went to George Washington University in Washington, D.C., from which he got a lot degree in 1977. After being admitted to the bar, he joined the Washington, D.C., law office Shaw, Pittman, Potts and Trowbridge.
From 1982 to 1983 Barr worked on the Domestic Policy Council during U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan’s first term in office. He became a partner in his law firm in 1985.
In March 2017 federal agents raided the headquarters of the manufacturing giant Caterpillar as a part of an investigation into the company’s offshore profit handling and tax sheltering practices. After fourteen days Caterpillar retained Barr, who had gotten back to Kirkland and Ellis as of counsel specifically “to take a fresh look at Caterpillar’s disputes with the government.”
Attorney general for the Trump administration
In June 2018 Barr, a private citizen with no formal connections to the U.S. government, an unsolicited 19-page memo to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. In it Barr disparaged Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He was especially focused on the chance of Mueller chasing after an obstruction of justice case against Pres. Donald Trump Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey. Barr argued that the firing of Comey was a “facially-lawful” exercise of “Executive discretion” and that obstruction will not apply only if Trump had already been found guilty of an underlying crime Such arguments were advanced by many Trump allies as well as by advocates of increased presidential authority.
A visible rift between Barr and Trump started to show up following the November 2020 presidential election. Trump claimed, without giving proof, that Joe Biden’s victory was invalid because of widespread fraud. Barr, in an unusual break with the president, publicly stated that the Justice Department had found no proof to support those charges.
On December 14, 2020, Barr announced that he would resign as attorney general, effective December 23. In One Damn Thing After Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General (2022), Barr defended his tenure in the Trump administration and criticized the president. He notably claimed that “surrounded himself with…whack jobs” subsequent to losing the election and cautioned against a second Trump presidency.
