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This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

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You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / Breaking: Barr To Update On Mueller Report

Breaking: Barr To Update On Mueller Report

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Try to tamp down expectations. This is a long game. Stay focused on the important jobs of taking back the Senate, keeping the House and cleansing the White House from floor to ceiling.

I just don’t want anyone to dive off an emotional cliff because Barr trying to downplay any of this.

Open thread.

 

Reader Interactions

66Comments

  1. 1.

    TaMara (HFG)

  3. 3.

    smintheus

    Mueller’s report about his indictment decisions is just the tip of the iceberg of what he uncovered in his investigation. And Barr’s summary that he’s handing to Congress is just the tip of the iceberg of what Mueller declared in his report.

  11. 11.

    smintheus

    @guachi: Agreed. It’s bad enough that the DOJ insists on a policy of never indicting a sitting president. But you can’t have that and simultaneously refuse to make public an investigation into his administration’s wrong doing predicated on the fact that you didn’t indict. If a politician can’t be indicted then he needs to be held accountable in some other way, which can’t be done without the facts. We paid for that investigation, we deserve to be able to read it. Any politician who can’t take the heat of being investigated and reported upon isn’t up to doing the job of president.

  12. 12.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Stay focused on the important jobs of taking back the Senate, keeping the House and cleansing the White House from floor to ceiling.

    Damn right. Mueller was never going to save us, no matter what he reported. Trump isn’t really our enemy. Our enemy is the people who elected him, and they’re not going away. Vote. This is about voting.

  15. 15.

    gene108

    @guachi:

    When people start having faith in government working for them, Republicans will crumble because they have built their party on the mantra of “government is the problem”.

    They know this. It is why they opposed Clinton’s healthcare reform bill so fiercely, they were scared people’s faith in government would be restored.

    They will do everything to bury this report. Making available to the public, will make people believe in good government again

  18. 18.

    Princess

    I’m not that interested in Barr’s report. We need to see Mueller’s report. If he has got nothing on Trump and his family, we on the left need to see that. If he does, those on the right need to see that. Anything but the complete report is going to only make the divisions and mistrust between the two groups get worse. If Barr says Trump did nothing, I won’t believe it without the full report. If Barr says Trump did everything, his supporters won’t believe it (yes, they may never believe it, but having the report in front of us is essential to challenging their state of denial.

  19. 19.

    Steeplejack

    @smintheus:

    It’s bad enough that the DOJ insists on a policy of never indicting a sitting president. But you can’t have that and simultaneously refuse to make public an investigation into his administration’s wrong doing predicated on the fact that you didn’t indict.

    Excellent point.

    NBC has broken into golf coverage to have Pete Williams read from the four-page document sent by Barr to Congress. Their highlight is that “sufficient” evidence was not found of Trump committing obstruction.

    Oh, jeez, they’re bringing in Chuck Todd to bloviate. Back to golf, please God!

  20. 20.

    Another Scott

    @JaySinWA: IANAL, but there seems to be an awful lot of weaseling on the next to the last page ((roughly) “we don’t have any evidence that he was involved in the conspiracy, therefore he couldn’t have been provably involved in a coverup of the conspiracy even though we all saw what he did and said in public about it…”).

    I want to see the whole thing before trusting Barr’s synopsis.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  21. 21.

    balconesfault

    It’s been excruciatingly hard to keep explaining to people -There could be all kinds of collusion without it being prosecutable, except perhaps under campaign finance laws.

  23. 23.

    smintheus

    @JaySinWA: Second page in, and already Barr is playing fast and loose with his summary. Barr claims that Mueller “did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.” Then Barr quotes the report to back this up, but his quotation states that the investigation “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign etc.” In other words, Mueller said he did not have the evidence to prove the allegation. Barr tries to turn that into a finding of innocence.

  24. 24.

    rk

    It sounds like a complete victory for Trump if this is all that we ever find out about the Mueller report.

  25. 25.

    gene108

    @JaySinWA:

    Thanks for posting the link. I want to punch Barr in the face and stomp his head into the ground.

    The media will not ask the obvious question: WHY ISN’T TRUMP DOING ANYTHING TO STOP RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN 2020?

    That was a clear conclusion.

    That needs to be hammered again and again. Russians interefered in our elections and Republicans encouraged them and did nothing to inform the public, when there was still time to react.

  29. 29.

    Mai Naem mobile

    So Trumpovs interview with Lester Holt saying he fired Comey for the Russian thing was not obstruction of justice? On what fucking planet?

  31. 31.

    MJS

    So, it will be cool for members of the Democratic nominee’s 2020 campaign to take meetings with representatives of a foreign adversary for the purpose of gaining information on Trump? Good to know.

    Fuck this shit, and every fucking Republican, including Mueller. As Schiff said, a colossal mistake not to demand an in person interview with Trump.

  33. 33.

    The Dangerman

    @rk:

    It sounds like a complete victory for Trump…

    I’m not sure about complete; there was one sentence about “knowingly”, which kinda called Trump (or Jarvanka or Junior) idiots. Which we already knew.

    …if this is all that we ever find out about the Mueller report.

    Eventually, everything that can come out, will come out. Before 2020 elections? I have no good guess.

    Bottom line, Trump was never getting indicted (he couldn’t be, which makes no sense to me, but IANAL) and was almost never getting impeached (and certainly not convicted in the Senate).

  34. 34.

    oldgold

    The entire approach was wrong.

    To treat this as criminal matter was boneheaded and worse.

    They should have appointed a
    special commission to address this.

    The facts needed sunlight. Instead, for 22 there was opacity. Nothing. And, this is not an after the fact complaint. For months I have been complaining about pace and opacity.

    Moreover, what sense does it make to proceed criminally, with all of its procedural impediments, if the POTUS cannot be indicted?

    This has been an unmitigated shit show

  35. 35.

    TaMara (HFG)

  36. 36.

    MomSense

    @Redshift:

    While I realize that it was always going to be up to us to rectify this at the ballot box, I’m furious that every goddamned institution has failed us.

    And I don’t trust Barr’s interpretation.

  37. 37.

    smintheus

    @smintheus: Barr is back to the same game on page 3. He quotes Mueller saying “the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference”, and then immediately summarizes what Mueller describes as “the absence of such evidence”. There’s no proof provided by Barr that Mueller found an absence of evidence. Mueller states that there is evidence, but not sufficient evidence to establish the crime of conspiracy/coordination.

    In my opinion, Barr has proven that he cannot be trusted to give a complete and accurate summary of the Mueller report.

  38. 38.

    Aleta

    The obstruction of justice part burns me up as well. But it’s not over. The House can still call people in to get information and opinions on the public record I believe.

  42. 42.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @TaMara (HFG): And with that, I’m taking my leave of the internet for the afternoon. I’m hoping Adam or others will add their expertise to all of this.

    This is far from the end – it’s only the end of the beginning.

  43. 43.

    RandomMonster

    Of one thing I’m sure: the moment T-Rump Rex comes on the news to talk about this, I’m switching over to the Food Channel.

  45. 45.

    Aleta

    “Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence presented … is not sufficient to establish … obstruction of justice.”
    Let’s see or hear Mueller’s presentation of his findings.

  46. 46.

    Mary G

    I just can’t bring myself to care. This is what has me so upset today:

    A second student who survived last year’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, has apparently died by suicide, police confirmed. https://t.co/3oX9AgpQEe— HuffPost (@HuffPost) March 24, 2019

    Those poor children.

  47. 47.

    jonas

    Note Barr chooses words carefully: Trump did not conspire with the Russian government . Cutouts working on behalf of the Russian government? Well, now that’s another thing.

    I think the take away from all this is that we need much tighter laws regarding obstruction of justice and foreign interference in our political campaigns. If, after everything we *know* Trump did to encourage and suborn Russian interference in the campaign, much less all the intel Mueller was privy to, they can’t nail him on anything, then something’s seriously wrong with our statutes.

  50. 50.

    Mike J

    Had I been accused of the crimes of which Trump has and there was a report that cleared me, I’d demand it be made public in its entirety. Why would I want my innocence to remain secret?

  51. 51.

    germy

    Thread:

    THREAD: What does Attorney General Barr's summary of the Mueller report tell us? (Short answer: A lot, but there is much more that we don't know.)— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 24, 2019

  54. 54.

    StringOnAStick

    If it was such a slam dunk victory for trump as some are saying then why has he been off Twitter and so quiet at Mar a Largo all weekend? Do we really think he can’t keep doing his usual bull in a China shop in the coming days without compromising himself? Personall, I don’t think he’s ever had the self contented going to need to safely navigate a situation that in many ways has become more perilous for him.

    Let the R’s gloat now. They’ll be providing that much more evidence of their corruption when all the other investigations hit the fan.

  56. 56.

    germy

    In light of the very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department following the Special Counsel report, where Mueller did not exonerate the President, we will be calling Attorney General Barr in to testify before @HouseJudiciary in the near future.— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019

  57. 57.

    MJS

    @StringOnAStick: “All the other investigations” aren’t going to mean squat. Until and unless the entire report is made public, one way or another, or Mueller publically states Barr is misrepresenting the findings, Trump will become untouchable, due to a combination of racists, Republican office holders, and a lazy media that only wants to cover horse races.

  58. 58.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mary G:

    Facebook reminded me that today is the anniversary of the March for Our Lives.

    I wish I could say I was surprised that some of the survivors have fallen into despair, but I can’t. And I’m guessing that the massacre in New Zealand didn’t help their mental state. ?

  59. 59.

    James E Powell

    I have faith the whole report will come out. The Ds in Congress won’t stand for this. They’ll call Mueller to testify

    The one thing I do not have is faith. Not in the Ds, not in the press/media, and certainly not in the American people.

    I am willing to bet a decent lunch that Ds in Congress will do the “looking forward, not backward” move and we will never really know what’s in the Mueller Report.

  61. 61.

    Nelle

    So why burn the report that exonerates Trump, Nunes? That makes no sense. But then this gang doesn’t do logic.

  62. 62.

    rk

    I’m sure the report is damaging to Trump. If it were not then they’d be handing out copies to everyone themselves. Out of curiosity, does anyone know who has access to the report. I’m wondering what is the probability of it leaking to the public.

  63. 63.

    Aleta

    Kamala Harris @KamalaHarris
    The Mueller report needs to be made public, the underlying investigative materials should be handed over to Congress, and Barr must testify. That is what transparency looks like. A short letter from Trump’s hand-picked Attorney General is not sufficient.

  64. 64.

    gene108

    @germy:

    I would not object. I want them to set the precedent for investigating prior administrations, so if we win in 2020, we can go hammer and tongs after Trump and his crime family.

    Edit: And say we are following the Trump Doctrine

  66. 66.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @oldmold: The “unmitigated shit show” started when you first opened your mouth. You’ve been nothing but a WATB & general fuckhead from your first post. Delete your life.

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