Barr Goes All-In on Trump Campaign Themes Weeks Before Election

  • Attorney general plays unconventional role for the president
  • He says his job is ‘political in a good and necessary sense’
William Barr, left, listens as Donald Trump speaks during a visit to Mary D. Bradford High School in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sept. 1.Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
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Attorney General William Barr has become one of Donald Trump’s most potent sources of campaign ammunition and political cover less than 50 days before the president faces voters, a most unconventional role for the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

Adding to critics’ concern that he’s cast aside the notion of Justice Department independence, Barr has hurled himself and his agency into the middle of the most controversial issues that Trump and his campaign see as vital to winning re-election on Nov. 3.