During a recent interview, former AG Bill Barr said that the Deep State does exist, and it’s real. Barr told host Margaret Hoover that the Deep State does exist and they use their positions to try to force people to do what they are told. Hmm. Was Barr told by the Deep State not to investigate voter fraud, and to cover it up? There has to be a reason for him to fail to do his job.
Barr referred back to his first stint as QAG under George W. Bush in a reply to Hoover.
Barr said:
“He was CIA director for one year and that institution is now named after him. When you drive by it in Langley, it’s the George H.W. Bush Center. And he was highly regarded because he basically trusted people in the agency. He didn’t separate himself from them and, you know, bash them and so forth. Now, I have to say that it was a different age. Things have, you know, evolved.”
“So, you know, I wouldn’t take what he said to say, ‘Well, gee, you know, the people who were saying there’s a Deep State today are, you know, are wrong,’ right?
There is a deep state.”
“I am critical of the Deep State and believe it exists. The way I would define the deep state is an increased willingness by more and more government civil servants to pursue political objectives, rather than stand up for the values of the institution they’re a part of. They are not neutral. They’re not politically neutral. But on the other side of the ledger, okay, is that I think there’s an exaggeration of its pervasiveness. It’s bad. It does pervert government. But I still think the vast majority of civil servants try to do an honest job and try to check their politics at the door.”
TRANSCRIPT:
MARGARET HOOVER: You worked under George H.W. Bush when he was CIA director as well, when you were still at the CIA. And you write, “He was easily accessible and he trusted CIA professionals, unless they gave him reason not to. I learned a lot watching him lift up a dispirited organization.” Talk more about what you learned from Bush’s leadership.
BILL BARR: Well, exactly that. He was CIA director for one year and that institution is now named after him. When you drive by it in Langley, it’s the George H.W. Bush Center. And he was highly regarded because he basically trusted people in the agency. He didn’t separate himself from them and, you know, bash them and so forth. Now I have to say that it was a different age. Things have, you know, evolved. So, you know, I wouldn’t take what he said to say, ‘Well, gee, you know, the people who were saying there’s a Deep State today are, you know, are wrong,’ right? There is a deep state.
HOOVER: That’s where I– You read my mind. That’s where I’m going. So given that you’ve worked with career professionals, you have had a long career of interfacing with civil servants who have made their life in the government, I think you’re actually particularly well-suited to comment about the state of the Deep State—whether it exists, how it exists, what it looks like—to put some nuance and some texture around it for me.
BARR: Well, I think the people who attack the Deep State – and I am critical of the Deep State and believe it exists – but there’s also some of the rhetoric and some of the positioning–
HOOVER: So how do you define it?
BARR: The way I would define the deep state is an increased willingness by more and more government civil servants to pursue political objectives, rather than stand up for the values of the institution they’re a part of. They are not neutral. They’re not politically neutral. But on the other side of the ledger, okay, is that I think there’s an exaggeration of its pervasiveness. It’s bad. It does pervert government. But I still think the vast majority of civil servants try to do an honest job and try to check their politics at the door. And I think that President Bush’s quote that you played is right on the money. The most important thing is leadership. When you provide clear guidance and goals people will– the institution will deliver for you. You can move the institution. And I think people who come in to run the government, who try to govern, who treat government employees as pariahs, are not doing their job.
