As most Americans already know one of their biggest banks is facing prosecution over its involvement in loans to the corrupt Malaysian government headed by ex Prime Minister Najib Razak. It is unnecessary to go into the details of the affair, most of which have already received widespread publicity within the United States and elsewhere in the world.

What does give rise to concern is the involvement of the United States Attorney General Mr. William Barr. He recently thought it necessary to take a direct oversight of the case despite having been in the past an employee of the law firm that the accused bank has now selected to represent them in this matter. It cannot possibly be that there are no other competent officials of the US government able to conduct these criminal proceedings with both fairness and competence. So Mr. Barr needs to explain why he has chosen to be personally involved in these proceedings. If he can he must; if only to maintain public confidence in the impartiality of the US justice system.