Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Consistently wrong since 2002

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Republicans don’t trust women.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Democrats have delivered the Square Deal, the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and now… the Big Joe Biden Deal.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Not all heroes wear capes.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself. We’re allowed to grow past that.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Bogus polls are all they’ve got left. Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls a year from now.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / AG Barr Ain’t Done Covering Trump’s Ass

AG Barr Ain’t Done Covering Trump’s Ass

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Mueller should tell him to pound salt:

Justice Department officials have communicated to Robert Mueller that the department expects him to limit his congressional testimony this week to the public findings of his 448-page report, according to one current and one former U.S. official familiar with the preparations.

In extensive discussions since the former special counsel was subpoenaed to testify on June 25, department officials have emphasized that they consider any evidence he gathered throughout the course of his investigation to be “presumptively privileged” and shielded from public disclosure.

In the future, the reports showing the lengths McConnell and Barr went to protect this man are going to be mind-boggling.

Reader Interactions

77Comments

  6. 6.

    PeakVT

    If we every get a new and improved constitution, executive privelige should be seiously limited if not banned outright.

    Invoking it here seems laughably suspect but who knows how the Trumpolini Supreme Kangaroo Court will rule.

    Or are they invoking attorney-client privelige?

  9. 9.

    guachi

    Congress should strike back with an invented “Legislative Privilege” and dare Trump to stop them.

  11. 11.

    Gregory

    Mueller is a better lawyer than Trump thinks, and knows “presumptively privileged” isn’t actually a thing, in particular when it comes to revealing the results of an investigation — just ask Ken Starr.

  12. 12.

    SFAW

    Asshole Jackoff? Anti-American Jerkwad?

    Yeah, I know you corrected it already, Cole.

  14. 14.

    Anonymous At Work

    @Gregory: Amen. Mueller says something that the White House thinks is privileged and what happens? No one from the White House is there to yell, “Objection!”
    The best that the White House can do is make their request *public* to preserve objections for any trials (Hello there, Billy Barr!), although any half-decent law school student can find ways independently to introduce that evidence.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    Saw this.

    John Cole Presents “This Fucking Old House”

    Read post. Was disappointed.

  20. 20.

    Anonymous At Work

    @Plato: I object to their objection in advance. My objection holds as much legal weight at theirs. GOP caucus can raise hell and demand closed session. Democrats on the committee should vote on the motion once and move on. The phrase attorneys use is “We preserve all objections for trial.” Make them use it.

  23. 23.

    trollhattan

    Apparently Stephen Miller went on Fox yesterday to receive a tongue bath and got Chris Wallace doing journalism instead.

    WALLACE: Here’s what she actually said talking about her proposals for the country: “All of these things could sound radical compared to where we are, but where we are is not a good thing. And this idea of 10 percent better from garbage shouldn’t be what we settle for. She didn’t say the country was garbage. She said some of the policies she opposes are garbage.”

    MILLER: It’s impossible to read the quote that way. The quote — what she’s trying to say is —

    WALLACE: She said: This idea of 10 percent better from garbage shouldn’t be what we settle for. She’s talking about her proposal.

    MILLER: It’s literally impossible to read the quote that way. What she’s saying is there’s a debate in the Democratic Party in which some people want to improve, in her mind, 10 percent from garbage, which maybe we’ll say is Obamacare, where she wants to do, say Medicare-for-All, which she views being I guess 70 percent better than garbage. Her point is we’re starting at garbage, so I want to go a little better than garbage.

    WALLACE: I understand that. I understand it. But she’s talking about — she’s talking about policies.

  28. 28.

    prostratedragon

    In related matters, this from May but worth recalling:

    “We’re not meddling in an election — we’re meddling in an investigation, which we have a right to do,” Giuliani told The New York Times. “There’s nothing illegal about it.”

    (Link to Salon)

  29. 29.

    Paul M Gottlieb

    You said “covering,” but you meant “covering with kisses,” didn’t you?

  30. 30.

    PeakVT

    Image in the pearl-clutching if Democrats regularly (and, arguably, accurately) said “The Republiklan Party”…

    “Democrat Party” should be corrected every time it is uttered on-air. But our media sucks.

  32. 32.

    Another Scott

    Pelosi-Schumer joint statement:

    “Today, a bipartisan agreement has been reached that will enhance our national security and invest in middle class priorities that advance the health, financial security and well-being of the American people.

    “Importantly, Democrats have achieved an agreement that permanently ends the threat of the sequester. We are pleased that the Administration has finally agreed to join Democrats in ending these devastating cuts, which have threatened our investments to keep America Number One in the global economy and to ensure our national security. With this agreement, we strive to avoid another government shutdown, which is so harmful to meeting the needs of the American people and honoring the work of our public employees.

    “Democrats are also pleased to have secured robust funding for critical domestic priorities in this agreement. Democrats have always insisted on parity in increases between defense and non-defense, and we are pleased that our increase in non-defense budget authority exceeds the defense number by $10 billion over the next two years. It also means Democrats secured an increase of more than $100 billion in funding for domestic priorities since President Trump took office.

    “We must never let the full faith and credit of the United States come under threat, and therefore are proud to have achieved a suspension of the debt limit until July 31, 2021. After a long negotiation, we have only agreed upon offsets that were part of an earlier bipartisan agreement.

    “The House will now move swiftly to bring the budget caps and debt ceiling agreement legislation to the Floor, so that it can be sent to the President’s desk as soon as possible. With this agreement, we can avoid the damage of sequestration and continue to advance progress for the people.”

    Sounds pretty good. It will be good to hear how the July 31, 2021 date was reached, and why.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  35. 35.

    plato

    When Robert Morgenthau passed away in New York, aged 99, he died where he had fought.

    As one of America’s longest-serving public prosecutors, he proved to be the scourge of mobsters, crooked politicians and white collar criminals.

    “If you want people to have confidence in their government, you’ve got to show that people who have economic power or political power are not immune from prosecution,” he told Bloomberg.

    He was also lambasted over cases involving police brutality and racial bias, and some of his victories were later exposed as miscarriages of justice.

    One that made international headlines was the conviction of five black and Hispanic teenagers over the beating and rape of a 28-year-old white woman.

    Thirteen years later, in 2002, a serial violent offender named Matias Reyes confessed to the attack, saying he had acted alone. Morgenthau ordered a new investigation, and armed with the confession and fresh DNA evidence, the group, known as the Central Park Five, were exonerated.

  37. 37.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Steven Hale @ iamstevenhale
    I’m outside a home in Hermitage where neighbors say ICE agents tried to take a man from his home early this morning. Neighbors say the man was in his van with his young son and they stayed there for 4 hours or so. Neighbors say they refused to let agents take the man

    Thread. The neighbors formed a human chain so the man and his son could get back inside their house

  38. 38.

    PsiFighter37

    Barr should be thoroughly investigated by whomever wins the presidency in 2020. He should be disbarred at the very least – his conduct is disgraceful.

  39. 39.

    TenguPhule

    @Another Scott:

    Democrats are also pleased to have secured robust funding for critical domestic priorities in this agreement. Democrats have always insisted on parity in increases between defense and non-defense, and we are pleased that our increase in non-defense budget authority exceeds the defense number by $10 billion over the next two years.

    Nancy Chamberlain has achieved peace in our time. //s

    I have a bad feeling about the deal. Mainly that our Democratic leadership seems to believe Trump will honor his side of it.

  40. 40.

    TenguPhule

    Al Franken: senators say they regret calling for his resignation

    Seven current and former US senators who called for the resignation of Al Franken in 2017 have said their actions were wrong.

    The disgraced former Minnesota senator and ex-Saturday Night Live star resigned amid huge pressure, including from his own party, after he was accused by eight women of groping or forcibly trying to kiss them at the height of the #MeToo scandal.

    More than a year and a half on, the Vermont senator Patrick Leahy, former North Dakota senator Heidi Heitkamp, Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth, Maine senator Angus King, Oregon senator Jeff Merkley, former Florida senator Bill Nelson and New Mexico senator Tom Udall all told the New Yorker they have regrets about the way the allegations were handled.

  41. 41.

    gene108

    We had a big T-storm about 1.5 to 2 hours ago. Didn’t last long, but the skies briefly turned as black as night and heavy rains, high winds and lightning exploded from the sky.

    My mom lost power (along with a bunch of other places).

    She lives about 1/3 of a mile from me. Just had dinner with her, then went home. I have power. She doesn’t feel like spending the night at my place, and I don’t want to pressure her, but do feel a bit guilty.

  42. 42.

    Martin

    This is our timeline.

    No, it’s much stranger: The alleged killer, his lawyer said, is a believer of the QAnon conspiracy theory who thought he could count on President Donald Trump’s “full support” when he drove up to the Staten Island home of Gambino boss Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali.

    In a court filing first reported by The New York Times and provided in full to TPM by the defendant’s lawyer, Anthony Comello is portrayed as a devout Trump fan whose participation in the QAnon conspiracy theory “evolved into a delusional obsession” and “permeated every aspect of the defendant’s conduct and dictated his actions.”

    Noting his intent to present evidence of mental disease or defect in his client, attorney Robert C. Gottlieb wrote that Comello didn’t understand that killing Cali was wrong — and also that he only intended to place Cali under “a peaceful citizen’s arrest.”

    Judge: Under what grounds do you claim your defendant has a mental defect.
    Atty: I just said he’s a Trump supporter.
    Judge: I’m convinced.

  43. 43.

    TenguPhule

    Betsy DeVos, the billionaire US education secretary, has seen her and her family’s profits soar after Trump’s tax reform legislation, according to a new CNBC analysis out today.

    Business leaders and corporations have, as expected, earned massive benefits from Trump’s tax policy. That apparently includes DeVos, whose total income had a valuation of at least $33m in 2018 through assets listed on her most recent public filing, CNBC reported.

    A DeVos family spokesman, Nick Wasmiller, disputed in a statement to CNBC whether the financial gains could be attributed to Trump’s policies, but did offer a vague claim that the Trump administration “has had a positive impact on the investments of all Americans”:

    Like all investors, the family seeks investments that grow in value over time. These long-term investments have and do fluctuate in terms of income produced annually and that fluctuation is based on a variety of factors,” he said in a statement to CNBC. “It is impossible, given the complexity and diversity of these investments, to attribute any individual shifts to specific policy changes as you suggest. Certainly, the strong economic expansion during the Trump administration has had a positive impact on the investments of all Americans – whether direct or via their 401Ks, IRAs, pensions, etc.

    CNBC said it did not appear that DeVos or her family had made any recent investments that pose a direct conflict of interest with her role as secretary education, though some have argued that the complexity and size of her finances make it difficult to assess ethical questions.

    Today’s political summary.

    And now we have the official explanation for Pence’s panicked cancellation.

    The White House has been quiet about why Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to New Hampshire was abruptly canceled earlier this month. Now a report has emerged that one of the prominent participants in the planned event was under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

    One of the people to greet Air Force Two in Manchester, New Hampshire, would have likely been Jeff Hatch, a former New York Giants player who is known for warning students about the dangers of doing drugs. He has spoken openly about how his own addictions derailed his football career.

    But Hatch, who has previously appeared alongside Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, has been facing a federal investigation for allegedly moving more than $100,000 worth of fentanyl from Massachusetts to New Hampshire, Politico reports. He agreed on Friday to plead guilty and could be sentenced to up to four years in prison.

    Of course I don’t believe it because Drug dealing doesn’t even rank as a felony big enough to make the top thirty for Republicans.

  44. 44.

    TenguPhule

    @Martin:

    attorney Robert C. Gottlieb wrote that Comello didn’t understand that killing Cali was wrong — and also that he only intended to place Cali under “a peaceful citizen’s arrest.”

    “Your honor, my client doesn’t think killing is wrong, but he was going to arrest his victim peacefully anyway!”

    Is this legal malpractice?

  47. 47.

    gene108

    @TenguPhule:

    Democrats need their own news network, papers, etc. on the scale Republicans have. There’s no other way to counter the way conservatives can shape the media narrative, and what we are talking about, so easily.

    Given the media shitstorm, I think, if Franken had stayed in Doug Jones would of lost, because of the endless “what about Franken” crap that would have spewed, anytime Roy Moore’s assaults on girls was brought up.

  49. 49.

    eemom

    fuck you I am not relitigating Franken

    That it was never “litigated” in the first place is kind of the point, dumbass.

  50. 50.

    chopper

    @Another Scott:

    now we wait. if statements like schumer’s get any traction in the media, trump will blow the whole thing up if it looks like the democrats are winning in this negotiation. trump believes that every deal has only a winner and a loser, and he has to be the winner.

  52. 52.

    Elie

    I wish that we could trust Mueller. I just don’t think we can. Whether he is too narrow and literal in the translation of his mandate, or for other reasons more sinister, he aint gonna help this republic stay afloat. Yes, I can see him “following orders” from Barr because in his mind, the letter of the law says that Barr is his boss and well, that’s it.

    So what does my pessimism mean? I don’t know but there will be no justice for this awful regime until the fuckers are voted out of office. It will take years of pain, hard work and many dollars to clean up after this horror. The only thing these people are doing is breaking as many things as they can. Their goal is the destruction of the United States as we know it. Surely Mueller must know this and still he tips toes around literal interpretations of the law as we drown in the offal this regime has made of our system. Nope — I don’t believe that we can trust him so my expectations are lower than the floor.

  54. 54.

    gene108

    @Martin:

    Too bad NY is not a stand your ground state. If Comello were able to play it cool, he could’ve gotten away with it.

    Cops: What happened

    Comello: I had accidentally backed into him. He then goes off about being a mob boss, pointed at his waste. I figured he was going for his gun. Got scared and defended myself.

    This really is a crime a more collected person, in the right state, could’ve gotten away with.

  55. 55.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @A Ghost To Most: @eemom: Wonkette has it right. The Mayer article is kinda pathetic. And why is this news now? Focus, people. Eyes on the prize. Arguing over Franken helps NO ONE.

  58. 58.

    Mnemosyne

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:

    I’m guessing that Mayer went into the story expecting another Weinstein situation and was like, “WTF happened?” when she discovered there wasn’t one.

    We really have to come up with some way of publicly rebuking and restraining men who are too touchy-feely without assuming that all of them are deliberately molesting women with malice aforethought, Weinstein-style.

  59. 59.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Elie: I wish that we could trust Mueller. I just don’t think we can. Whether he is too narrow and literal in the translation of his mandate, or for other reasons more sinister, he aint gonna help this republic stay afloat. Yes, I can see him “following orders” from Barr because in his mind, the letter of the law says that Barr is his boss and well, that’s it.

    I don’t think it’s sinister, but I do think his (apparent) obsession with his own rectitude makes Wednesday a tough day for Dems. I hope they’re tamping down their desires to make a moment.

    I think there is a pretty good chance that Louie Goehmert doing his nasty imitation of Louie Goehmert and Gym* Jordan’s meth-addled Chuckie Dolll antics could make Mueller look like George Washington, which may create a media narrative that will drag down trump.

    * Cynthia Alksne, one of the least dramatic of the MSNBC stable of former prosecutors and a woman with whom I would not want to get in a knife fight, just spelled out G. Y. M. Jordan

  62. 62.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Spanky: Colonel Flagg, to whom Mike Flynn bears more than a passing resemblance, now that I think of it

  63. 63.

    A Ghost To Most

    @A Ghost To Most: If you want to know how run of the mill D’s think, read the comments on the article in WaPo. Most appear to agree with me.
    Last I checked, KG was dead in the polls, and spending 2x what she took in. But go ahead and continue to insult the many Democrats who agree with me.

  65. 65.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @A Ghost To Most: Nobody’s perfect.

    Senator Al made the right decision to resign. And that’s well in the past now.

    But whatever, let’s debate this BS some more… (seriously?!!)

  66. 66.

    JGabriel

    John Cole @ Top:

    In the future, the reports showing the lengths McConnell and Barr went to protect this man are going to be mind-boggling.

    Even more mind-boggling will be the lengths House Democrats, the media, and Republican voters went through to ignore Trump’s criminality and reward the GOP for their decades of bad faith behavior and bad faith governing.

  68. 68.

    TenguPhule

    @chris:

    A: How about Devin Nunes as Director of National Intelligence?

    Stop the planet, I want to kick some people off.

  69. 69.

    Millard Filmore

    @chris:

    How about Devin Nunes as Director of National Intelligence?

    I’m hoping for an avalanche of leaks from the international intelligence community if this goes through.

  70. 70.

    Elie

    @PsiFighter37:

    Seriously — if the Democrats win in 2020, our plates will be so full of shit to clean up that Barr will not be number one. I imagine that it will be like a Cat 5 hurricane where if we win, it will be like being in the eye but the eye wall will still be coming with the strongest winds and tide. Many of these folks will be headed for Russia or anywhere without an extradition treaty with the US. I WANT to have that problem rather than the possibility that they will win…no matter how horrid the clean up.
    And just for my two cents — I have only one requirement of whichever Democrat we nominate — just win baby win. That is all. We are trying to save the life of this country. Lets not forget that in Medicare for all…..

  71. 71.

    Emerald

    @Elie: Sadly I agree. If Mueller were who everyone seems to think he is, then why did he try to avoid testifying? Why does he say he’ll only stick to the report?

    More questions: Why didn’t he indict Don Jr., and others against whom he clearly had solid evidence of actual crimes? Why did he tiptoe around the “collusion” word? Why didn’t he speak out right away when Barr lied about the report and the media swallowed it?

    I greatly hope he’ll prove me wrong, but I have lost any faith I might have had in Mueller.

  72. 72.

    Elie

    @Emerald:

    Yep.

    I just cannot put any good faith to how he has handled this given what is so obviously at stake. Its nothing more than tragic. He had a chance to save the republic and he decided to descend to literalism and picking nits. To me, his role and failure will be my harshest judgement — and perhaps history’s.

    I don’t believe he had the courage or ultimately, the integrity to take this risk…. wrong man for such a large task with so much ridding on so much outside the box. Like McClellan in the Civil War who could not take his superior fighting force to face the Confederates. He never thought that he had enough men, armor or anything to leave Washington. All he did was to drill his men all day everyday – in DC. Lincoln almost despaired of ever engaging the confederates …. Until he found Grant.

  74. 74.

    eemom

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’m guessing that Mayer went into the story expecting another Weinstein situation and was like, “WTF happened?” when she discovered there wasn’t one.

    I’m guessing you are on drugs.

  75. 75.

    J R in WV

    @Emerald:

    Why did he tiptoe around the “collusion” word?

    Because that word, collusion, never appears in any law. Legally the word is “Conspiracy” — not collusion, which is why the Republicans have talked about nothing but collusion since the election. For one of your questions.

  76. 76.

    Bill Arnold

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:

    Wonkette has it right. The Mayer article is kinda pathetic. And why is this news now?

    No. Mayer’s piece is another of her pieces on the American right-wing propaganda apparatuses, in this case about how Democrats and the non-right-wing media were artfully manipulated like puppets by Republican rat-fuckers and media into destroying a career before the incident was actually investigated let alone litigated. Roger F-ing Stone was involved, and we knew it at the time. The plays were f-ing obvious!. The flak jacket thing was clearly a visual joke. Like, fingers can’t push through a flak jacket, if bits of fast metal can’t. Maybe resigning was correct, maybe not, but the decision processes at the time were being manipulated, by Republican operatives and maybe by self-interested Democrats.
    Meanwhile, we a sexual assault perpetrator (probably) on the Supreme Court and an almost-certainly serial sexual assault perpetrator as POTUS. Why? (Rhetorical question.) Moore went down, sure, that was good.
    People who don’t acknowledge this are setting themselves up for more successful Republican rat-fucking. Part of winning the prize is successfully fighting against these methods in real time. We will be seeing for some serious Republican ratfucking attempts during the next 1.5 years.

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