It appears that William Barr is about to be held in contempt of Congress, but, this being an era in which our judiciary is now overflowing with rightwing ideologues, it is highly likely that it will take years for court battles to enforce the citation to play out, by which time he will either be out of office, or we will have comfortably settled into a dictatorship with the trappings of a Republic, much like Rome in the days of Caesar. (See my most recent post).
It occurs to me that there is a way to get some form of immediate sanction imposed on Barr. Though it is unlikely to have much legal efficacy, i.e., it will not result in his being fined or jailed, it nonetheless would have some propaganda value.
I don’t know what state issued Barr’s law license, but assuming it’s one in which the legal profession still believes in the rule of law, his license to practice law could be revoked. It seems to this now retired lawyer that a refusal to honor a lawfully issued subpoena would be sufficient grounds for disbarment. The federal courts would, or should, have no say in the matter, though I wouldn’t put it past the current federal judiciary to come up with a “just this time and this will never apply to Democrats” ruling to try to block the disbarment.
Still, something to think about. Of course if he’s licensed in someplace like Alabama the bar would probably rather give him an award.
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