#More media lies about Donald Trump and Bill Barr debunked

Insisting that President Donald Trump had politicized the Department of Justice was a regular part of the media assault on him, yet a host of recent developments proves it was all in the press’ fevered, hyperpartisan imagination.

The big one, of course, is the Interior Department inspector general report on the Lafayette Park incident: The IG thoroughly vindicated Trump and then-Attorney General Bill Barr, saying the federal Park Police had decided all on their own last June to clear protesters out of the area to install fencing after several nights of violence and vandalism. It was indeed sheer coincidence that Trump went to the area later that day for a photo op.

Then and since, outlets from CNN and MSNBC to The New York Times and Washington Post repeatedly reported as fact the claim that Trump had demanded the protesters be cleared out of his way.

Some headline samples: “Officers fire tear gas on peaceful protesters to clear the way for Trump’s photo op” (Vox); “Analysis: How the clearing of Lafayette Square made the White House look a bit more like the Kremlin” (Washington Post); “The day police charged a peaceful protest for Trump’s photo-op” (CNN). Heck, a Washington Post “fact checker” is still trying to insist the IG’s report doesn’t really debunk the months of misreporting.

But that’s not the only Trump vindication. President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice is standing with the Trump DOJ on a couple of high-profile controversies. It’s gone to court to continue blocking access to internal government documents relating to the Trump International Hotel in DC and to keep secret most of a memo sent to then-AG Barr arguing that Trump should be cleared of obstruction-of-justice charges after the Mueller report refused to take a position on the issue.

Such internal documents are normally kept confidential for a host of reasons, but conspiracy theorists claimed Team Trump was covering up proof of the president’s evil. Kudos to Attorney General Merrick Garland for sticking with his promise to not play politics.

The fact is that Barr was never a slavish Trump operative as the liberal press imagined, just a top-notch lawyer doing his job. Most of the media owe him (and Trump) a long list of apologies, but instead you can bet they’ll just move on to another set of baseless accusations.