Is there anything to prevent the U.S. Attorney General from helping political allies convicted of crimes?

Question

Attorney General William Bar is in the news recently for pushing four federal prosecutors on the Roger Stone case to resign from the case.

What, if any, checks and balances are there to prevent this practice or is this normal practice for the Attorney General to do?

a citation that claims that the USAG "pushed" prosecutors to resign (from the case), would be helpful. OTOH if your question is about preventing or curtailing the USAG from interfering with sentencing guidelines and the prosecutors (in this case) agreeing with those recommendations, then you ought to make that the focus of the Q — BobE, Feb 12 '20 at 14:56
Related, in that it covers impeaching the AG: What happens if the US Attorney General refuses to comply with the legislative branch? — divibisan, Feb 13 '20 at 22:53

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 13 '20 at 00:57

7

The constitutional remedy is the same as for keeping a rogue executive official in check.

Impeachment by Congress

I cannot cite any source right now, but I think from following the Trump story, I have learnt enough about separation of powers in the United States.

answered Feb 13 '20 at 00:57

Thomas Hirsch

2

"Yes we've had first impeachment, but what about second impeachment?" – SurpriseDog Feb 13 '20 at 01:33
Does this answer imply that the Attorney General can be impeached, or is it suggesting an impeachment trial for the president over the conduct of his selected Attorney General? – Zibbobz Feb 13 '20 at 19:48
2

@Zibbobz I meant to say that the Attorney General can be impeached. Just recently Senator Warren demanded just that. Wikipedia says "The Constitution gives Congress the authority to impeach and remove "The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States" ... The Constitution does not articulate who qualifies as a "civil officer of the United States"." While Senators are specifically excluded, this suggests that any other official would be eligible for impeachment. – Thomas Hirsch Feb 14 '20 at 00:07