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Thread: Did Barr shut down the Mueller investigation, or did Mueller beat him to the punch?
Barr auditioned for Attorney General by mounting a public, full-throated defense of Trump’s ability to obstruct justice and shut down investigations. Mueller knew what was coming.
Barr auditioned for Attorney General by mounting a public, full-throated defense of Trump’s ability to obstruct justice and shut down investigations. Mueller knew what was coming.
On May 12, 2017, three days after Trump fired Comey, Barr published this little op ed in the Washington Post in defense of Comey’s firing. Anyone who read this should have known Barr was a bad actor. And you can bet Mueller’s team read it, many times: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/former-attorney-general-trump-made-the-right-call-on-comey/2017/05/12/0e858436-372d-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html
On June 8, 2018, Barr sent this memo to Rosenstein saying nothing Trump does can constitute obstruction of justice because Trump controls the Executive Branch.
Effectively, Barr was telling Rosenstein to shut Mueller down.
https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/549-june-2018-barr-memo-to-doj-mue/b4c05e39318dd2d136b3/optimized/full.pdf
Effectively, Barr was telling Rosenstein to shut Mueller down.
https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/549-june-2018-barr-memo-to-doj-mue/b4c05e39318dd2d136b3/optimized/full.pdf
On December 7, 2018, Trump announced his plan to nominate Barr as Attorney General.
On December 19, 2018, we (and Mueller) learned about Barr’s June 8 memo to Rosenstein essentially instructing him to shut Mueller down: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-attorney-general-pick-criticized-an-aspect-of-mueller-probe-in-memo-to-justice-department-11545275973
On December 19, 2018, we (and Mueller) learned about Barr’s June 8 memo to Rosenstein essentially instructing him to shut Mueller down: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-attorney-general-pick-criticized-an-aspect-of-mueller-probe-in-memo-to-justice-department-11545275973
February 14, 2019: Bill Barr appointed AG.
March 5, 2019: Nineteen days after Barr becomes AG, Mueller meets with Barr and previews his findings.
March 22, 2019: Mueller submits the Mueller Report to AG Barr.
March 5, 2019: Nineteen days after Barr becomes AG, Mueller meets with Barr and previews his findings.
March 22, 2019: Mueller submits the Mueller Report to AG Barr.
Those are the facts. Barr had signaled his intent to shut Mueller down. Mueller is not an idiot and understood Barr’s intent to shut him down.
Mueller was screwed...kind of. He knew that Barr was going to shut him down, and he couldn’t let that happen without producing a report.
Mueller was screwed...kind of. He knew that Barr was going to shut him down, and he couldn’t let that happen without producing a report.
If I were Mueller and saw Barr coming in December 2018, I would instruct my team to quickly finalize a report on whatever they had at that time. Keep investigating as long as you can, but get everything down in a report NOW. If you get shut down without a report to produce, poof!
Worst case scenario was that Barr would shut Mueller down before Mueller had produced any report on his findings at all. Then the public would never learn anything. Better an unfinished report than no report at all.
And, of course, Mueller and McCabe had a back up plan!
And, of course, Mueller and McCabe had a back up plan!
Watch this, starting at 5:29:
Imagine Barr’s surprise when he got the Mueller Report and realized that Mueller didn’t conduct a counterintelligence investigation and didn’t investigate Trump for anything other than obstruction.
And that an FBI investigation was raging and he couldn’t touch it.
Gotcha!
And that an FBI investigation was raging and he couldn’t touch it.
Gotcha!
