The list of former Department of Justice officials signed onto a letter that calls on U.S. Attorney General William Barr to resign is now more than 2,000 names long.
One of those signatures belongs to Bob Troyer, the former U.S. Attorney for Colorado and a 15-year justice veteran.
The letter, released on Sunday, comes after Barr lowered the recommended prison sentence for longtime President Donald Trump ally Roger Stone. NPR reported that the decision has "led to accusations of political interference." Troyer did not mince words on his opposition to the move in an interview with CPR News.
"I realized this is a horrible, tough, demoralizing time for people still working at the department," Troyer said. "It's just like getting kicked in the junk every day to have your ultimate boss at the department behave like this. My heart went out to them, and I know how tough it is for them to do their jobs with this lack of leadership."
Troyer sees the reduction of Stone's sentence as just the latest and "most egregious" piece of a decision-making pattern that undermines the attorney general's, and all of the Department of Justice's, role in a healthy democracy.
"It's not appropriate in our democracy for any attorney general or any president to make it the policy of law enforcement to perpetuate the president's political power," Troyer said. "(But) that's this attorney general's policy — to perpetuate the president's power."
In an interview with ABC News, Barr defended the move to relax Stone's sentence, even adding "the president has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case."
The letter was signed by DOJ officials who have served for Democratic and Republican administrations alike. Troyer was appointed by President Barack Obama and kept on by Trump for a year.
