'Morale is at a low point' under Bill Barr as career attorneys flee Justice Dept: ex-federal prosecutor
Appearing on MSNBC with host Ayman Mohyeldin, former prosecutor Glenn Kirschner relayed that morale is at an extremely low point at the Department of Justice under Attorney General William Barr with some longtime employees not only fleeing the department but also continuing working for the government.
Discussing a letter that has been signed by over 1,100 ex-Justice Department calling for Barr to either resign or be dismissed, Kirschner didn't disclose if he was one of the signees, but agreed wholeheartedly with their conclusions.
"Let me get your thoughts as a former DOJ official yourself," Mohyeldin began. "Would you be willing to add your name to the letter -- I apologize, I haven't gone through the 1,100 names but do you agree with the sentiments expressed it?"
"I agree with the sentiments and that Bill Barr must resign if we are to preserve the integrity of the Department of Justice and restore the public's confidence in the Department of Justice," he replied. "You know, when you look at what Bill Barr has done, a quick recap: he has disqualified himself as an honest broker of the law and it started with his confirmation hearing when asked if the White House or the president had directed that he should own investigations into anybody."
"At first he pretended to struggle with the word suggested and then he said, ''I don't know,'" he recalled. "I'm sorry that's not a perjury-proof answer. If you do know, and you say you don't know, that is perjury -- it's false statement to Congress."
Asked what the atmosphere is like at the DOJ under Barr, Kirschner said it could hardly be worse.
'I think morale is at a low point," he replied. I was at the department for 24 of my 30 years as a federal prosecutor and I have countless friends and former colleagues who are there and they are not so quietly talking about not -- not publicly mind you -- but they are talking about how, you know, they may be called upon one day to work a particular case and then, if somebody doesn't like the outcome, if they have followed the facts to a just result and it happens to not comport with one of President Trump's friends or acolytes or associates and what the president and Bill Barr thinks should happen, they could see themselves on the chopping block."
'They could see themselves the subject of an angry berating presidential tweet and then, you know, they and their family could actually literally be in harm's way," he continued. "We have seen what happened to the whistle-blower, we have seen what happened to the four career apolitical prosecutors who followed a perfect sentencing memo in the [Roger] Stone case, saying the guidelines call for seven to nine years."
"John Kravis, a former colleague of mine in the Homicide section had to actually not only withdraw from the case but resign from the federal government," he revealed. "The Department of Justice is being dismantled by the president and by Barr."
Watch below: