Of all the biased hot takes to come from the media during the impeachment process, none lacked any sense of self-awareness more than the panel discussion that took place Thursday morning on CNN. Responding to former Attorney General Eric Holder's anti-William Barr op-ed in the Washington Post, the panel eagerly agreed with Holder, while conveniently ignoring Holder's own history and how he would have been treated if their own standards applied to him.
Jeffrey Toobin was the first on Holder's op-ed, arguing that he broke the "informal nonaggression pact" because, "things are different now and you know this is not a personal thing and it really is about a vision of the constitution that Attorney General Barr has about executive authority that is so different from even Republican attorneys general in the past that Holder felt he had to speak out."
In a sense Toobin is right, things are different now. What's different is that a Republican is president. Using Holder and Toobin's own logic, both Eric Holder and Barack Obama should have been impeached for obstructing Congress when they failed to turn over documents related to Operation Fast and Furious.
Instead of calling out Holder for his obvious hypocrisy, Gloria Borger took the opportunity to pretend that in the midst of the IG report on Crossfire Hurricane that everything was on the up and up at the FBI, "But he also makes the point he thinks that Barr is effectively lying for partisan reasons." She added, "and so Holder is saying, he ought to leave or he ought to be taken out of office" again failing to note that Holder and Obama, using their own logic, should have been impeached.
David Gregory also failed to call out Holder, "You know, President Trump, when he was complaining about Jeff Sessions says Barack Obama, President Obama, he had Eric Holder who looked after him, that was his perception. What Holder is saying, no, there should be some distance that an attorney general has from an administration even though you’re named by the president, that there's some independence by the Justice Department, by the FBI." It wasn't a perception, Holder called himself, "the president's wingman."
Here is a transcript for the December 12 show:
CNN
CNN Impeachment Coverage
8:25 AM ET
WOLF BLITZER: On this day Eric Holder, Jeffrey, let me get your reaction to this, writes a scathing op-ed in the Washington Post “William Barr is unfit to be Attorney General of the United States.”
JEFFREY TOOBIN: It's very unusual for one attorney general to criticize the incumbent. There is sort of this informal nonaggression pact that's been honored over -- you know, many, many years. Attorney General Holder decided to change that tradition because things are different now and you know this is not a personal thing and it really is about a vision of the constitution that Attorney General Barr has about executive authority that is so different from even Republican attorneys general in the past that Holder felt he had to speak out and the second article of impeachment, the obstruction of congress, really gets to this dispute because it's really about whether the attorney general -- whether the executive branch has to respond in really any way to the other branches. That's what this is – debate is about.
BLITZER: I'll read the last sentence, Gloria, “William Barr has proved he is incapable of serving as attorney general. He is unfit to lead the Justice Department.”
GLORIA BORGER: Which means that Holder thinks he should be removed from office, period. And that is kind of stunning to have a former attorney general say that about a current attorney general. But he also makes the point he thinks that Barr is effectively lying for partisan reasons. He says that “the partisan talking points he uses bear no resemblance to the fact his own department has uncovered” and what he's saying you have an attorney general who is saying “don't listen to the people who work for me. Don't listen to the people in the FBI. They're wrong. Don't listen to the inspector general's conclusions. I disagree with those. And by the way, my hand-picked person will soon come out with another report which will say what I want him to say” and so Holder is saying, he ought to leave or he ought to be taken out of office.
DAVID GREGORY: It’s a question of distance too, from the administration. You know, President Trump, when he was complaining about Jeff Sessions says Barack Obama, President Obama, he had Eric Holder who looked after him, that was his perception. What Holder is saying, no, there should be some distance that an attorney general has from an administration even though you’re named by the president, that there's some independence by the Justice Department, by the FBI, the FBI director has a ten-year term to be above partisan politics. But in this case, you have Barr who has certainly positioned himself as a partisan and a protector and an enforcer of his view of executive power as Jeffrey talked about.
