The attorney general straddled multiple lines in discussing things that could have an impact on the election.
Attorney General William Barr justified President Donald Trump’s suggestion of deploying federal agents to polling places, arguing the Justice Department has historically sent agents to enforce civil rights.
Speaking with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday, Barr said he hadn’t heard any requests from the White House to deploy federal agents to voting sites, but he wouldn’t rule out the possibility “if there was a specific investigative danger.” He added that federal agents had been sent in the past to “enforce civil rights” and “to make sure that people were not being harassed and there was no suppression of vote against African Americans” in the past.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 allowed the attorney general to send federal observers to ensure there was no voter suppression and also that eligible Black voters were being registered without hindrance. But those observers have a mission drastically different from the federal law enforcement Trump proposed sending to polling places. Continue reading.