Tag: Barr

A scary dangerous development:

The Justice Department’s review of the origins of the Russia probe has become a criminal investigation, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to NPR.

It is unclear what prompted the shift from an administrative review to a formal criminal investigation, when the change took place or what potential crime is under investigation.

The change drew immediate criticism from Democrats, who have accused Attorney General William Barr of turning the Justice Department into a political weapon for President Trump.

Or to put it another way, the change is obvious and grotesque evidence that Barr is turning the Justice Department into a political weapon for Mob Boss Trump.

“These reports, if true, raise profound new concerns that the Department of Justice under Attorney General William Barr has lost its independence and become a vehicle for President Trump’s political revenge,” said the Democratic chairmen of the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York and Adam Schiff of California.

A shift which suggests other possibilities, like Mob Boss Trump sending the military to round up dissidents, and Mob Boss Trump sending bombers to flatten rebellious cities like San Francisco and New York and Seattle. Presidents have a lot of power, and if they start using that power against nonconforming citizens then authoritarianism has arrived.

Barr told Congress earlier this year that he wants to understand how and why investigators made decisions they did in 2016 when the FBI began to investigate what it later verified was a broad campaign of “active measures” by Russia targeting the U.S. election.

Why? Why does he want that? What’s the mystery? What does he not understand? Why wouldn’t the FBI investigate a broad campaign of active measures by Russia targeting the U.S. election?

Barr, who became attorney general in this context, told Congress that he wanted to understand why there had been what he called “spying” on Trump’s campaign in 2016 and why neither the candidate nor his top aides were briefed by the FBI about its discoveries about Russian interference.

Because they were dirty, that’s why. Duh. Barr must be well aware of that.

We’re ruled by mobsters.

So, Barr turned in the expected shocking performance.

The Guardian was watching:

“The report recounts ten episodes involving the President and discusses potential legal theories for connecting these actions to elements of an obstruction offense,” Barr says.

It’s hard to avoid the sense that Barr is going out of his way to defend Trump here. Because while Mueller documented those ten episodes, Barr says he and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein:

“Concluded that the evidence developed by the Special Counsel is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”

Barr adds:

Although the Deputy Attorney General and I disagreed with some of the Special Counsel’s legal theories and felt that some of the episodes examined did not amount to obstruction as a matter of law, we did not rely solely on that in making our decision.

Barr says one of the other things that influenced his belief that Trump did not obstruct justice is that there was evidence that Trump was “frustrated and angered by his sincere belief that the [Mueller] investigation was” hindering his presidency.

But the White House “fully cooperated” with the special counsel’s investigation, Barr says.

You have got to be fucking kidding. Of course Trump was furious and outraged that anyone dared to investigate his corrupt and dangerous actions; we already knew that; being really really pissed off doesn’t turn obstruction of justice into not obstruction of justice. What kind of Attorney General treats the rage of the perp as exculpatory? Of course Trump’s belief was “sincere”; Trump sincerely believes he is the only person on the planet who matters; how would that make him any less guilty?

Mind you, that is how a lot of violence against women gets explained away. “He was sincerely jealous and angry”; not guilty. But that’s a defense argument, not a prosecutor argument. The AG is not supposed to be the president’s attorney.

Next entry:

Barr said that Trump did not obstruct justice – but in doing so admitted he had “disagreed with some of the special counsel’s legal theories” in coming to that conclusion.

Barr also claimed, falsely, that the White House “fully cooperated” with Mueller. In fact, Trump refused to be interviewed.

Barr also seemed to claim that Trump being “frustrated and angered” mitigated against some of the obstructions of justice allegations.

I’m feeling a tad frustrated and angered right now; what can I get away with?