The number of former Department of Justice employees calling for the resignation of Attorney General William Barr has doubled since Monday morning to more than 2,000, the group Protect Democracy says.
"Political interference in the conduct of a criminal prosecution is anathema to the Department's core mission and to its sacred obligation to ensure equal justice under the law," the group, which has attacked President Donald Trump previously, said, according to ABC News.
The former officials, who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations, criticized Barr, the country's top law enforcement officer, for overruling his own prosecutors in a case that has prompted accusations that the Trump administration is weakening the rule of law.
"We call on every DOJ employee to follow their heroic example and be prepared to report future abuses to the Inspector General, the Office of Professional Responsibility, and Congress; to refuse to carry out directives that are inconsistent with their oaths of office; to withdraw from cases that involve such directives or other misconduct; and, if necessary, to resign and report publicly — in a manner consistent with professional ethics — to the American people the reasons for their resignation," the letter said.
Also on Monday Donald Ayer, who was a former deputy attorney general under George H.W. Bush and a former U.S. attorney, wrote in an opinion piece in The Atlantic that Barr should resign. (Though Barr also served as attorney general under Bush, Ayer did not serve at the same time.)
On Tuesday, the Justice Department abandoned prosecutors' initial recommendation to give the veteran Republican operative Roger Stone seven to nine years in prison after he was found guilty in November of seven counts of lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering, prompting all four prosecutors to quit the case.
"It is unheard of for the Department's top leaders to overrule line prosecutors, who are following established policies, in order to give preferential treatment to a close associate of the President, as Attorney General Barr did in the Stone case," said the letter, published on the website Medium.
"Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of Justice's reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr. Barr to resign," the letter said.
Trump had heavily criticized the original sentencing request for Stone and the Justice Department subsequently abandoned it, instead deciding to make no formal sentencing recommendation.
Democrats blasted the department's shift in the high-profile case involving Stone, whose friendship with Trump dates back decades. Stone's trial arose from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation that detailed extensive Russian interference in the 2016 election to benefit Trump's candidacy.
Barr said on Thursday in an interview with ABC News that Trump's criticism of those involved in the Stone case "make it impossible for me to do my job."
Reuters contributed to this report.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.