And then there was Barr’s recent speech before the Federalist Society. Barr’s comments on Article II of the Constitution expressed views that he has held for decades and are legitimate even if not held by everyone. But he acted imprudently when he engaged in a highly partisan attack on “the Left” for “waging a scorched earth, no-holds-barred war of ‘Resistance’ against this administration,” for its “systematic shredding of norms and the undermining of the rule of law,” for using “any means necessary to gain momentary advantage … regardless of collateral consequences and the systemic implications,” and for waging a “progressive holy war.”

Regardless of the truth of these statements, the attorney general of the United States—the person charged with ensuring that the department does its work (in Barr’s words) “with integrity”—should not be slinging partisan mud. And he especially should not be doing so when the president has for more than three years soiled the department with unprecedented attacks and interventions. Such rhetoric from the attorney general, especially in the Trump presidency, makes it impossible for at least half the country to have faith in any of Barr’s decisions, especially controversial ones related to investigations of the president’s friends or enemies.

Finally, Barr exercised poor leadership in his handling of the Stone sentencing recommendation. There is a powerful argument that Barr and not the career prosecutors made the better call on the sentence Stone deserved. Since the judge has the final call in any event, it is hard to see what Barr achieved by his high-profile change of recommendation. In any event, Barr and his subordinates failed to ensure that the matter was settled before the filing, and then they misunderstood the optics of intervention in light of the political context and Trump’s history of inappropriate meddling.