Tom Cotton Calls Out ‘Journalists Hyperventilating’ Over AG Barr’s Speech

On CBS This Morning, host Gayle King said that AG Bill Barr made “a series of eye-opening statements” at a Hillsdale College Constitution day event last night.

In a six-part tweet, Republican Senator Tom Cotton encouraged people to read the speech, so they’ll “be better informed than the journalists hyperventilating about it on Twitter.”

The ones that caught their attention the most were that he said elected officials should decide the response to the pandemic, not scientists and that stay-at-home orders were the “greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history” other than slavery.

At a forum last night, AG William Barr says elected officials should decide the response to the pandemic, not scientists.

Barr also said stay-at-home orders were the “greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history” other than slavery.@CBS_Herridge has more. pic.twitter.com/rxY37r4O5u

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) September 17, 2020

Cotton’s tweets:

“AG Barr delivered a thoughtful speech on the importance of political accountability in the criminal-justice system at Hillsdale College, which the media is now completely distorting.”

“The AG has been accused of “attacking” career prosecutors in this speech. He wasn’t. He was making the point that DOJ is a chain-of-command institution. It cannot function with thousands of politically unaccountable line prosecutors setting their own individual policies.”

“We’ve all seen what happens when overzealous, unaccountable prosecutors use their positions to hound and harass their enemies. Just ask General Flynn. It’s the job of every prosecutor to prevent such gross miscarriages of justice.”

“Career prosecutors represent the government, they’re not running their own activist law firms. And that means they answer to the AG—and that he answers in turn to the President and the American people. ‘The buck stops at the top.'”

“There is nothing controversial about anything the AG said – FDR’s AG Robert Jackson made several similar points decades ago. What’s controversial is the media spreading complete lies about the theme and tenor of this speech.”

The AG has been accused of “attacking” career prosecutors in this speech. He wasn’t. He was making the point that DOJ is a chain-of-command institution. It cannot function with thousands of politically unaccountable line prosecutors setting their own individual policies.

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) September 17, 2020

Career prosecutors represent the government, they’re not running their own activist law firms. And that means they answer to the AG—and that he answers in turn to the President and the American people. “The buck stops at the top.”

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) September 17, 2020

Again, read the speech in full. You’ll be better informed than the journalists hyperventilating about it on Twitter:https://t.co/jx9UQV8CHP

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) September 17, 2020

From Fox News:

Attorney General William Barr accused the Black Lives Matter movement of using the issue of Black people shot by police as a tool for a larger political agenda instead of sincerely trying to help those they claim to support.

At an event hosted by Michigan’s Hillsdale College on Wednesday, Barr was asked about the relationship between the rule of law and economic prosperity. That led to a discussion of crime and Barr’s claim that while the concept of “Black lives matter” cannot be argued against, the organization using that slogan has little interest in making Black lives better.

“The rule of law is the foundation of civilization, including economic prosperity. And that’s why these so called Black Lives Matter people — now that as a proposition who can quarrel with the proposition Black lives matter — but they’re not interested in Black lives, they’re interested in props,” Barr said. “A small number of Blacks were killed by police during conflict with police, usually less than a dozen a year, who they can use as props to achieve a much broader political agenda.”

Barr contrasted that with his own position, which he said is “not only keeping people alive, but also having prosperity and flourishing in their communities.” He claimed that “most deaths in the inner city of young Black males below the age of 44 — the leading cause of death is being shot by another Black person. And that’s crime.”

Ultimately, he said, combating crime is key to improving lives.

“The left likes to talk about dealing with the root causes, but all their solutions depend on peaceful streets at the end of the day,” Barr said. “You know, education, after-school activities, all this stuff depends on peace. If your school is run by a gang it’s not going to get you anywhere. And so, as I say, the foundation of all human progress is the rule of law.”

Throughout the months of protests and violent demonstrations following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 and other incidents involving police killing or shooting Black Americans, Barr has rejected the idea that there is systemic racism plaguing the criminal justice system.

At a July House Judiciary Committee hearing, Barr said it was “understandable” that African-Americans harbored distrust toward the police, and acknowledged perceptions of bias during police encounters.

“At the same time, I think it would be an oversimplification to treat the problem as rooted in some deep-seated racism generally infecting our police departments,” he added.