I hope all none of the Bill Barr fans in the audience are sitting down, because there was a WaPo news alert last night that you might have missed:
Attorney General William P. Barr has told people close to President Trump — both inside and outside the White House — that he is considering quitting over Trump’s tweets about Justice Department investigations, three administration officials said, foreshadowing a possible confrontation between the president and his attorney general over the independence of the Justice Department.
Almost every word of this is bullshit:
- Nobody is “close to” President Trump. He has no close advisors – he just have people who do his bidding, try to manipulate him, or try to curry his favor.
- There’s no “administration” – there is no “White House” as it was conceived by journalists in the past, something Jay Rosen is constantly pointing out.
- Barr is considering quitting in the same way that I’m considering flying to the moon on a spaceship made of spun unicorn hair and hobbit spit.
- A “confrontation” between Trump and Barr over the “independence” of the Justice Department is impossible, because you need to have a disagreement to have a confrontation, and both of those guys are in violent agreement about the role of Justice in enabling Trump to do whatever the fuck he wants.
This is just noise, but every day the noise is different. The four (!) reporters bylined on this story just live in a box that won’t allow them to admit the obvious truth that Barr is fully on board with whatever Trump wants. So, we have this “breaking” news that just shows us that the DC media is broken.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Sounds more like a case of Barr never meant the face eating leopard to eat Barr’s face. Anyway, Trump owes Barr and Trump always screws the people he is in debt too.
PenAndKey
Honestly, if there is tension in the relationship between Barr and Trump it’s not because Barr isn’t willing to cover for him. If anything, it’s because Trump is incapable of keeping his yap shut and Barr, while evil, is smart enough to recognize he’ll bear a large chunk of the blowback that’s building in Washington over Trump’s blatant lawlessness. This is especially true now that he, no surprise, is acting like the Senate gave him a blank check to corrupt to his hearts content by refusing to try his impeachment.
The GOP has for generations claimed to be a “law and order” party, but with Trump acting like a bad parody of a silver screen mobster it wouldn’t surprise me if Barr recognizes his boss is too dumb to make the con work much longer. From the chatter I hear in my highly conservative community in Wisconsin it’s evident, both from what people are saying and what conversations they’re refusing to have, that the GOP voters are feeling the heat. If they are, the support base Trump is used to in DC is too, no matter what McConnell may be pretending.
Baud
It’s performance art for Chief Justice Roberts IMHO.
donnah
First of all, I enjoyed the REM reference in the title. Yay!
CBS this morning shared this item this morning, and I immediately called bullfeathers. Barr is just trying to cover his ass, pretending again that he has a moral code. He begged and lobbied for the AG position and he wouldn’t even consider giving it up. Too much power, too much control for him to leave.
I’m sick of the Barr sideshow.
?BillinGlendaleCA
When I saw the news alert from WaPo, I said I’ll believe it when Barr sends his resignation letter to Trump. Talk is cheap.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
You’ll know Barr resigned when Trump tweets that he fired him.
cmorenc
Barr has principles! And if you don’t like those…well, he has others!
(riffing off Groucho Marx)
MattF
I guess Barr wants to hold on to the favorable opinion of the three people who (he thinks) believe what he says. Bill, I’ve got some news for you.
cope
Not for a picosecond did I believe the lede when I read it online nor did I bother with the article. My first thought was that Barr/Trump planted this with “…people close to president Trump…” to ferret out a leaker. My second thought, while looking out the window was “Those asshole squirrels have knocked my bird feeder to the ground AGAIN.” My third thought was “Mmmm, coffee.”
Ken
One of my fantasies is that the next President announces at the inauguration that she will be asking Barr to stay on as Attorney General, on the condition that Barr provides exactly the same cover for the new administration’s actions as he did for Trump.
germy
Jamie
sherparick
@PenAndKey: Trump is now doing his best Johnny Rocco imitation.
youtube.com/watch?v=ACTkVM6t_bo
MattF
@germy:
Rubin on Barr:
mapaghimagsik
Its not that anyone believes the bullshit, they’ll just pretend to in order to seem like sane, reasonable people.
We’re well beyond sane or reasonable. There is no bottom to the American Legacy.
kindness
I do subscribe to the digital WaPo. I like the paper more than most but they do carry other’s water frequently. I guess it’s baked in.
Nicole
@donnah:
You and me both. I love that song.
germy
@Jamie: Yes. There are Republican “never trumpers” and then there are Republican “Just the tip” trumpers.
The ones who love the low taxes and RW judges, but find the tweets troublesome.
bbleh
@PenAndKey: the GOP voters are feeling the heat
From your keyboard to the FSM’s screen!
And it’s true this is mostly fiction (which nevertheless the authors present as fact), and what’s really happening is Barr is pushing back on the recent (well-deserved) tarring of (what remained of) his reputation, but there probably is an underlying kernel of truth in that he’ll jump overboard before the fire gets to him.
Most likely, though, there will be some other outrage du jour, the spotlight will shift, and Barr will be free to go on suborning justice in the shadows.
oatler.
politico.com/news/2020/02/19/trump-cambridge-analytica-oczkowski-114075
John 2.0
I figure this is just laying the groundwork for Barr to do as much damage as possible for the next 6 weeks before ‘resigning’ before his scheduled appearance before House Judiciary.
that way he can politicize the DOJ, interfere with ongoing cases, rehabilitate his reputation, AND own the libs.
A Ghost To Most
Everyone assumes that Barr and Mushmelon have the same agenda. They do not. T is in everything for himself. Barr is in it for his christian takeover. T is a useful idiot to Barr.
Jamie
This is obviously all theater, but I wonder if Trump is smart enough to recognize that. It would be funny as hell if he fired Barr over this because he didn’t get it. Not that we are that fortunate…
JPL
@John 2.0: If he leaves, it will be so he doesn’t have to testify under oath. Good call!
Jamie
@JPL: Why wouldn’t he just lie? Criminal contempt and perjury are apparently referred to the DoJ, where he will just decline to prosecute himself. As he already has.
JPL
@Jamie: He’s not good at it. They already have the Harris tape they can use against trump. imo
joel hanes
the DC media is broken
In our current world, “media” is the plural of “mediocre”.
lancemannion.typepad.com/lance_mannion/2020/02/the-plural-of-mediocre-according-to-breslin.html
Frankensteinbeck
Trump is an angry, spiteful, whiny asshole. He must be absolute Hell to work for, and I am positive Barr has gotten no appreciation for giving Trump better loyal service than anyone else, ever. This story may not be likely, but it is definitely plausible.
Jinchi
Person close to the White House: Have you thought of quitting?!
Barr: Quitting? I consider that crazy.
Jinchi
That’s not how subpoenas work.
Spanky
Well, since we’re off the looking glass, through the map, out through Trump’s ass, and down some random rabbit hole, and since no one in their right mind takes the article at face value, consider another possibility.
WaPo is ratfucking Trump.
Whether there are no sources close to Trump, and Barr said no such thing, will not occur to Trump. This is the kind of article – if it is indeed not the kabuki theater everyone thinks – guarandamnteed to drive a wedge between Trump and Barr. We all know Trump demands absolute fealty, and if Barr didn’t signal this ahead of time he’ll now be suspect in the eyes of Dear Leader.
Hoodie
The whole complaining publicly about Trump tweeting is obviously theater, as he could have told Trump that in private. However, Barr is likely the latest – and perhaps most capable – of a line of GOPers that think they can manipulate Trump for their own purposes and he could be running into competition with some staffers (e.g., Miller) who are in the “let Trump be Trump” school that eventually triumphed over Kelly, Mattis, etc. I kind of doubt that Barr was all that enthused about pardoning Blago and some of the others, so that could be a power move by the competing faction. The threat of resigning is really a threat to quit covering for Trump if they keep meddling and a message to Trump to quit listening to them because, unlike him, they can’t protect him.
Lumpy
This is just a way to change the headlines to “Bill Barr is Concerned” which is a major improvement over “Bill Barr Interfering in Criminal Prosecutions”.
These people are good at playing the media.
Jamie
@Hoodie: That’s one of the more plausible explanations I’ve heard. Hopefully it blows up in his face.
bbleh
@Jinchi: True. He’ll just refuse. He’ll make up some imaginary thing with the word “privilege” in it, and just refuse. There will then be lawsuits, and the whole thing will disappear into the courts forever — not least because the courts want more than anything NOT to have to rule on all these claims of privilege.
MattF
@Hoodie: Barr wants Trump to pay attention, and Trump is physiologically incapable of doing that. I can see that making Barr unhappy.
Steeplejack
@germy:
Edroso needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Jennifer Rubin hasn’t been buying Barr’s shtick for a while.
AnonPhenom
Kayfabe.
Jeffro
FYI y’all: I’m “considering” starring in a major motion picture next year and winning an Academy Award or three.
Also “considering” having my hair grow back, be below my recommended weight, etc etc
Chris Johnson
This is where you’re wrong, mistermix. Trump is not the one in control. He’s a pawn for Putin, and he’s uncontrollable.
People like Barr behaving this way is a warning. It’s saying, we could use another puppet, so shape the fuck up. NOBODY cares about Trump but the rubes: he’s there to serve powerful interests, and he is fucking it up.
rp
Of course this is theater, but the fact that Barr feels the need to leak this story is itself telling. He’s feeling at least some heat from DOJ, the legal community, the media, the GOP, or some combo of all four. And as others note, there’s a good chance Trump doesn’t understand the theater and gets pissed at Barr, driving a serious wedge between them.
Hoodie
@MattF: Barr has some pretty grandiose notions about his own role in the history of western civilization. Trump had publicly complained about lacking his own Roy Cohn, so Barr may have concluded that he could forge a svengali type relationship with Trump that was similar to Cohn’s and thereby realize his own goals. However, my guess is that Trump is too narcissistic to not be swayed by inputs from other flatterers who know how to push his buttons, so he’s not so easily controlled.
MattF
@Hoodie: Agree. Barr has an exalted opinion of himself, and that would mean Trump isn’t the only genius in the room.
jimmiraybob
Given the tone of the comment I suspect that you are skeptical of the science of spun unicorn hair and hobbit spit space travel. The part that you miss is that you also have to travel to the edge of the flat Earth, which everybody knows actually spins like an album on a turntable, to take advantage of the angular momentum as you leap off in the direction of the moon. Of course, from there on it’s all up to angels and demons and the occasional witch.
Signed: Space Force Basic Science Instructor
(I’m shooting for a career change for when the Social Security dollars all get deposited into the Trump, Inc. account)
Avalune
Didn’t he already refute that he was thinking of quitting anyway?
Geminid
Trump needs Barr.
Omnes Omnibus
@jimmiraybob: Look, mate. Unicorn hair and hobbit spot has it all assbackwards. Unicorn hair doesn’t have the tensile strength to handle the G force and hobbit spit just isn’t fucking magical enough, now is it? For a tenured position at the new Space Force Academy, I would be willing to spare my plans involving troll toenail clippings and dragons vomit.*
*She’ll be a smelly ship, but she’ll hold together.
Jamie
@Geminid: He needs all his enablers. He’s entirely a creature of impulse and narcissistic injury, incapable of long- or even medium-term thinking. Imagine what his administration would have looked like without Barr, McConnell, and his other enablers.
Fair Economist
I heard this PR nonsense breathlessly reported on NPR like high school clique gossip and was so disgusted I had to change the channel.
Eolirin
The push back on the Stone sentencing guidelines is a bigger deal than I think people are processing, and it wouldn’t have happened, at least not to the same extent, if Barr had interfered without Trump having complained about it first. He needs him to stop. If he doesn’t he can’t continue to protect him.
Whether he leaves or not will come down to whether he thinks it’s impossible to continuing to provide cover without that being counter productive. If every time he goes to cover something up, Trump is out there loudly demanding there be a cover up, he’s just creating legal and political trouble for himself and Republicans instead of accomplishing anything.
Even with Barr’s world view I’d leave under those circumstances. Nothing would be worth having to deal with that.
jimmiraybob
@Omnes Omnibus:
I look forward to working with you at the Academy.
trollhattan
Unless Barr just inked a book deal featuring an advance of a few mill this is kabuki. Consider NPR (I know) this morning’s sucker, as they “have learned” etc.
Cameron
Sure, Barr’s going to quit. And Susan Collins isn’t going to run again. Take it to the bank.
Cameron
@AnonPhenom: I believe in Trumpworld, the word is “covfefe.”
bemused
@A Ghost To Most:
If Bill Barr is working toward Christian takeover, I wonder how he thinks that would work. Does he want his extremist religion, Catholic Opus Dei, to dominate the country? Would there be pushback from other ultra-extremist evangelical sects or more likely they all make a pact with their devils on their connecting points?
Geminid
@Jamie: Trump probably needs Barr most of all. Trump faces multiple legal threats, and Barr is doing his best to protect him through DOJ appointments and legal guidance. I despise Barr, but still give him credit for being smart and capable. Whether Trump understands this another story. But the people around Trump, including GOP senators, need Barr as much as he does, and will advise accordingly. And I think Trump has a lizard brain survival instinct that warns him against going too far. But he does seem to be breaking down mentally. Could do anything.
Another Scott
In other news, …
Something to think about…
Just say NO to ex-Mayor Mike.
Cheers,
Scott.
ET
Not for a moment do I think Barr will leave. I don’t know think about leaving might be true, it might not. I will say that I think “those close to him” may just mean those people that wander in and out of his physical orbit – because yes the people staffing the White House right now have no real loyalty to anyone.
With that said, tRump’s tweets do make it hard for Barr and others working to do all those gross things they have wanted to do for decades but didn’t. They (and Barr) were hoping to do it in the shadows and behind the backs of those who would care. The president’s tweets bring too much attention and too much attention does make the skulduggery that much harder. Saying the quite parts out loud discomfits many of the people that they have been quite successful at conning and they can’t successfully pretend they aren’t what those with a brain knew they always were – quiet/not so quiet racists that wanted all the money and best stuff for themselves at the expense of everyone else.
And it is likely that most of them – and definitely Barr – think they are way smarter than he is (admittedly a low bar) and that he was supposed to be the GOP buffoon they could lead and things haven’t exactly turned out like what they thought.
Another Scott
We’re not doomed. But we have to fight them every single day and not get discouraged.
Cheers,
Scott.
ziggy
@rp:
Yes, Barr is the opposite of Trump, in that he has extreme message discipline. If this is leaking, he wants it that way. I take great pleasure in the fact that he must be feeling a lot of uncomfortable pressure right now. But we still don’t have a lot of insight into what motivates him. If he’s in it entirely for himself, he may bail before it gets any uglier.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: That is great news!
I wonder if this is the final ruling on this, or if the evil Rs can take it further somehow?
randy khan
@Another Scott:
That’s a big deal, and great news.
randy khan
As I’ve said elsewhere, I’ll believe it when I see it. Still, it would be hilarious if Barr- who lobbied hard for the job – realized he couldn’t work with Trump.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Barr’s problem is Barr is waking up to the fact Trump thinks the same thing about Barr and that hurts Barr’s fee fees.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Then pull a Bolton, turn on Trump to be seen as one of the good guys? Interesting, that would make sure Barr’s Imperial Presidency isn’t utterly disgraced..
Jay
Barr’s not gonna quit.
Dumph’s not gonna fire him.
Their kabuki theatre is “fooling” most of the Beltway, and they think that’s all they need.
Look at what they have accomplished in 3 1/2 years, very little pushback or fail, Concentration Camps on the Border, Armed Nazis marching in the streets, EPA and others crippled, huge huge lists of damage done.
Ryan
The Spoils System reigns supreme in Trumpland. Trump and his ilk believe that there are no unbiased civil servants. Every career government worker –especially higher-ranking ones–are biased, and to Trump, they are all biased against him.
Fuck the meritocracy! To the victor goes the spoils. Everyone out!
sdhays
@Baud: This was my exact thought!