Say Anything
“The summary … did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office’s work and conclusions. There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations.” That was part of a letter sent to William Barr by Robert Mueller in which the special counsel complained that Barr was distorting the report ahead of its release. This is more evidence, as if if we needed any, that you can’t judge a book by its cover letter. From WaPo: Mueller complained that Barr’s letter did not capture context of Trump probe.
+ Meanwhile, Barr is testifying before Senate Judiciary Committee. On Mueller’s complaints: “He is part of the Department of Justice. His work concluded when he sent his work to the attorney general. At that point, it was my baby.” (And his bathwater.) Here’s the latest from the sometimes contentious hearings.
+ Quicktake: It’s worth noting that William Barr was hired to replace Jeff Sessions because Trump was unhappy with Sessions’ refusal to “unrecuse” himself and take a more active role protecting the president. Hence, the hiring of Barr was itself a form of obstruction (not legal obstruction, but certainly laypersons’). In a way, William Barr is is now both obstruction and justice.
+ Especially in this era of hot air and relentless sound bites, we all have to respect Bob Mueller’s silence. But the time to say something, anything, really does seem to have arrived. As of now, the expectation is that he will testify sometime in May.