History to Attorney General Barr: Expedient resignations don't save reputations or souls Dennis Aftergut and Austin Sarat Dec. 10, 2020 FacebookTwitterEmail Attorney General William Barr now says he may abandon ship and resign before Jan. 20. Leadership is what we seek in public officials. This looks more like expediency, self-protection, or maybe last-minute reputation cleansing. So why resign now? Barr seems to be repositioning himself. And trying to outflank his boss. On Dec. 3, when President Trump was asked whether he had confidence in Barr, Trump hedged, telling reporters to ask him “in a number of weeks.” We understand. Trump excels at dangling threats, exploiting human desire. Most Cabinet officials hope to avoid the fate of recently fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Trump’s hedge looks suspiciously like there’s a presidential “ask” out to his attorney general.