Well, that didn’t take long.
People, especially elite professionals, the best in the world, apparently do not appreciate political lackeys dismissing all their work with a wave of the hand.
According to the NYTimes:
Some of Robert S. Mueller III’s investigators have told associates that Attorney General William P. Barr failed to adequately portray the findings of their inquiry and that they were more troubling for President Trump than Mr. Barr indicated, according to government officials and others familiar with their simmering frustrations.
The article is currently being headlined on Mathews on MSNBC.
This is a big story.
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Normally, there would be some legitimate concern that it is not the investigator’s place to leak such information.
Normally, the Attorney General of the United States is NOT obstructing justice himself.
This, however, has been earned.
At stake in the dispute — the first evidence of tension between Mr. Barr and the special counsel’s office — is who shapes the public’s initial understanding of one of the most consequential government investigations in American history. Some members of Mr. Mueller’s team are concerned that, because Mr. Barr created the first narrative of the special counsel’s findings, Americans’ views will have hardened before the investigation’s conclusions become public.
A fourth grader could have warned Trump’s team about throwing themselves a parade about “exoneration” with a Barr report that explicitly stated that the report did not, in fact, exonerate him.
The officials and others interviewed declined to flesh out why some of the special counsel’s investigators viewed their findings as potentially more damaging for the president than Mr. Barr explained, although the report is believed to examine Mr. Trump’s efforts to thwart the investigation. It was unclear how much discussion Mr. Mueller and his investigators had with senior Justice Department officials about how their findings would be made public. It was also unclear how widespread the vexation is among the special counsel team, which included 19 lawyers, about 40 F.B.I. agents and other personnel.
Yeah, 10-4.
Apparently, some in this country will not stand for politics with stakes this high, and even though they are surely skating the edges of the law on this, it is worth doing. After all, that report could say damned near anything.
What we now know is that concerns run deep, or there would be NO need to counter the Barr narrative this quickly.
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Stay tuned, this is about to get ugly.
I guarantee, the harder that Barr pushes withholding such a report, the more “redactions taken,” the more leaks like this he is going to face. Thus, the more Barr personally puts his legal standing on the line.
Ultimately, if need be, a thumb drive (or whatever people use now) is going to show up at the editorial offices of the Times and Post, with a note: “In care of the United States, Love Law Enforcement” — and it will have all 400 pages, with exhibits.
One cannot be investigated for two years and suppress it all. They deserve every little pushback they get for even thinking they could.
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Peace, y’all.
My novels, that you have been so supportive of, the feedback has been almost — almost — reward enough, almost. :) Thanks to all.