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William Barr

For other people named William Barr, see William Barr (disambiguation).
"Bill Barr" redirects here. Not to be confused with Bill Burr or William Baer (lawyer).

William Barr
Official portrait, 2019
77th and 85th United States Attorney General
In office
February 14, 2019 – December 23, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
Deputy
Preceded by
Succeeded byMerrick Garland
In office
November 26, 1991 – January 20, 1993
Acting: August 16, 1991 – November 26, 1991
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
DeputyGeorge J. Terwilliger III
Preceded byDick Thornburgh
Succeeded byJanet Reno
25th United States Deputy Attorney General
In office
May 26, 1990 – November 26, 1991
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byDonald B. Ayer
Succeeded byGeorge J. Terwilliger III
United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel
In office
January 20, 1989 – May 26, 1990
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byDouglas Kmiec
Succeeded byJ. Michael Luttig
Personal details
Born
William Pelham Barr

(1950-05-23) May 23, 1950 (age 74)
New York City, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Christine Moynihan
​
(m. 1973)​
Children3
Parents
RelativesStephen Barr (brother)
EducationColumbia University (BA, MA)
George Washington University (JD)
Signature
William Barr's voice
William Barr speaks at a press conference on the George Floyd protests
Recorded June 5, 2020

William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as United States attorney general in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and again in the administration of President Donald Trump from 2019 to 2020.

Born and raised in New York City, Barr was educated at the Horace Mann School, Columbia University, and George Washington University Law School. From 1971 to 1977, Barr was employed by the Central Intelligence Agency. He then served as a law clerk to judge Malcolm Richard Wilkey of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In the 1980s, Barr worked for the law firm Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge, with one year's work in the White House of the Ronald Reagan administration dealing with legal policies. Before becoming attorney general in 1991, Barr held numerous other posts within the Department of Justice, including leading the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) and serving as deputy attorney general. From 1994 to 2008, Barr did corporate legal work for GTE and its successor company Verizon Communications, which made him a multimillionaire. From 2009 to 2018, Barr served on the board of directors for Time Warner.

Barr is a longtime proponent of the unitary executive theory of nearly unfettered presidential authority over the executive branch of the U.S. government.[1][2][3] In 1989, Barr, as the head of the OLC, justified the U.S. invasion of Panama to arrest Manuel Noriega. As deputy attorney general, Barr authorized an FBI operation in 1991 which freed hostages at the Talladega federal prison. An influential advocate for tougher criminal justice policies, Barr as attorney general in 1992 authored the report The Case for More Incarceration, where he argued for an increase in the United States incarceration rate.[4] Under Barr's advice, President George H. W. Bush in 1992 pardoned six officials involved in the Iran–Contra affair.

Barr became attorney general for the second time in 2019. During his term, he received criticism from many for his handling of several challenges, including his letter on the Mueller report, interventions in the convictions and sentences of former advisors to President Trump, Roger Stone and Michael Flynn,[5][6] his order of the federal government to resume federal executions after 17 years,[7][8] and allegations of political interference in the removal of Geoffrey Berman from his Southern District of New York attorney position in a matter pertaining to the indictment of Turkish bank Halkbank, a bank with close personal ties to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[9][10] On December 1, 2020, Barr stated FBI and Justice Department investigations found no evidence of irregularities that would have changed the outcome of the presidential election.[11] Barr is the second person to ever serve two non-consecutive terms as U.S. Attorney General, after John J. Crittenden.

  1. ^ Savage, Charlie (January 14, 2019). "Trump Says He Alone Can Do It. His Attorney General Nominee Usually Agrees". The New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hamburger-2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Johnson, Eliana (May 1, 2019). "The real reason Bill Barr is defending Trump". Politico. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tonry-2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference cbsnews-may-18-2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference bloomberg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Mystal, Elie (July 17, 2020). "The Trump Administration Is on a Capital Punishment Killing Spree". The Nation. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference personally ordered was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Weiser was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Lipton, Eric; Weiser, Benjamin (October 29, 2020). "Turkish Bank Case Showed Erdogan's Influence With Trump". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  11. ^

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