A House Resolution is calling for the impeachment of Attorney General William Barr for a host of reasons, among them his recent actions against the cannabis industry. This includes 10 investigations of mergers between marijuana companies launched by Barr allegedly because of his personal animosity towards the industry. The affair came out after two Department of Justice whistleblowers came forward to denounce Barr’s actions as improper.

“We have been experiencing a very unusual pattern of behavior from the Attorney General of the United States,” said Rep. Steve Cohen. “He has abused his power, he has obstructed justice, and he has violated the First Amendment. He has destroyed almost every norm that existed for attorneys general and their relationship with the rule of law. [...] For those reasons and others, I have introduced a resolution calling for the impeachment of William Barr.”

Damning Testimony

The actions of William Barr, including his efforts to undermine the cannabis industry, have been reviewed during a hearing by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, June 24.

Attorney John Elias, who has been with the Department of Justice (DOJ) for 14 years, testified in front of lawmakers about sounding the alarm regarding Barr’s actions.

“The first matter that I referred to the DOJ concern 10 investigations that the Antitrust Division launched into merger activity in the marijuana, or cannabis, industry. These mergers were not even close to beating established criteria for these kinds of investigations. And yet, these cannabis investigations accounted for a full 29% of the Division's full review investigations last fiscal year,” Elias testified. “For context, these kinds of investigations are rare: On average, only 1-2% of the thousands of transactions that come before the Division each year get a full review.