Analysis: The former attorney general has distanced himself from former president Donald Trump in some ways. But when it comes to perhaps Barr’s highest-profile controversy — his misleading summary of the Mueller report — old habits apparently die hard. https://t.co/9td1IHQOjs
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 24, 2023
… Here’s the now-familiar backstory: After Barr on March 24, 2019, released a summary of the Mueller report on President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia’s interference in that election, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III sent him a letter complaining that the summary failed to “fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of his report and its conclusions. When the report itself came out the next month, it became clear that Barr’s summary had indeed been misleading in some significant ways. And eventually a federal judge — a Republican-appointed one, no less — issued a scathing review of the matter that called Barr’s “candor” and “credibility” into question.
Barr has given media interviews since the end of the Trump administration. But unlike his appearances on Fox News, Barr’s discussion with Bill Maher on HBO this weekend paired him with a potentially more critical host.
In what was otherwise a relatively chummy interview, Maher did briefly press Barr on the subject of the summary, saying the way he “mischaracterized” the Mueller report was “shady.”
Barr defended his handling of the matter. But in doing so, he rolled out some of the most misleading aspects of his summary all over again.
“I felt that I had to say something to give the bottom line of what [Mueller] had decided,” Barr said. “Number one, I said that he had found there was no collusion.”
This isn’t strictly accurate now, just as it wasn’t strictly accurate back when Barr first said it. In fact, as we came to find out, Mueller said explicitly in his report that he wasn’t examining the nonlegal concept of collusion…
Barr’s use of the “no collusion” phrasing was suspect not just because the report didn’t directly address it, but because it matched Trump’s own mantra and defined the amorphous term in a way Trump surely approved of. And it’s arguably even more jarring today, given that a later bipartisan Senate report, released in August 2020, detailed perhaps the most significant example to date of a high-ranking Trump campaign aide working with someone it described as a “Russian intelligence officer.”…
Perhaps the main problem with Barr’s initial summary and his news conference on the day the Mueller report was released is that he elided the reason Mueller didn’t accuse Trump of obstruction. Barr’s implication was clearly that Mueller had examined the evidence and could not come to a conclusion. But Mueller’s report was explicit that he believed it wasn’t his place to accuse Trump of a crime, regardless of the evidence — because of long-standing Justice Department policy against charging a sitting president. Barr did not mention this. And in fact, when asked at the news conference whether Mueller punted because of that policy, Barr talked around the question. (This was the other main part of Barr’s summary the judge deemed to be misleading.)
On Maher’s show, Barr again oversimplified. He pitched the report as Mueller saying he didn’t “find there was obstruction.” In fact, Mueller laid out five instances in which he suggested Trump’s conduct appeared to satisfy the criteria for an obstruction charge. Mueller at one point did say that “this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime” — but in the context of an extended discussion about why he felt he wasn’t even allowed to make such a conclusion.
Instead, Barr focused on the fact that the final no-obstruction call was his own, which is indeed how it was presented at the time. But the problem was always about how he described Mueller’s views and findings and how they fed into Barr’s own.
Four years later — and even after creating some distance between himself and Trump — Barr seems to still fail to “fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the report.
Ex-Republican:
I was overseas when this happened and and I was asked to write for USA Today on this moment. I was, I am sorry to say, one of the suckers who only could go on Barr's word. I didn't think an AG would be so shameless, but his info op took a lot of us in – including me. https://t.co/wuiLD4b3vo
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 24, 2023
War for Ukraine Day 334: Touch Not the Cat But a Glove!
FelonyGovt
I remember the hopeful feeling we all had that Mueller would “save” us, and the gut punch when we realized the full report wouldn’t see the light of day.
sanjeevs
Barr trying to drop the charges against Flynn after Flynn had pled guilty is one of the most nakedly corrupt moves in American history.
karen marie
Tom Nichols is a fool. His apology for being a sucker doesn’t cut it.
Viva BrisVegas
The Republican motto:
“You trusted me, you fucked up.”*
* Copyright Animal House.
James E Powell
@FelonyGovt:
Having lived through several special counsel investigations, I expected nothing. The same will come from all the investigations of Trump. Our political culture does not allow big shots to get in legal trouble. They learned their lessons from Watergate and from Iran Contra. They know they can lie, refuse to testify, destroy evidence, delay delay delay and nothing will happen to them other than some negative OpEds.
In my beloved home town of Cleveland, a county commissioner had some landscaping & home improvements done, got some free trips to casinos and he got 28 years in federal prison. He’s gonna die there.
cain
@James E Powell:
It doesn’t allow execs to get into legal trouble either. No wonder everyone wants to be a higher-up.
Edmund Dantes
@karen marie: Barr was literally involved with keeping Whitewater investigation going as HW’s AG.
Nichols just ignored what he already knew about Barr as an AG because they were still on the same team. He was always a corrupt GOP AG.
Edmund Dantes
@James E Powell: this was in fact one of Cheney’s key findings from Iran-Contra. He even put it in their GOP house report i believe. How Reagan and them had screwed up by admitting anything and congress had no right to be involved. Or something to that effect. It’s been a while since I dug into it and Dick Cheney’s report.
Honus
@James E Powell: let me guess: the commissioner is a democrat.
piratedan
Bill Barr, the Glenn Greenwald of AG’s…. never let it be said that Bill Barr was faithless, he had plenty of faith, all of it bad.
Honus
@Edmund Dantes: I was thinking about Whitewater today. How a nakedly partisan Republican prosecutor relentlessly investigated the Clintons for four years, and found… absolutely nothing.
JWR
No sh*t! This was so maddening, especially once the refrain of “no collusion” took hold in the GOP, which occurred at light speed.
oatler
Saw a clip of Maher’s show yesterday and there was Bill, with special guest Bill Barr and a bunch of GOP, telegraphing his senile devolution to Both Sides with wandering pauses and murmurs.
The Thin Black Duke
@oatler: Bill Maher is a Grumpy Old Comedian yelling at the kids to get off his lawn.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
We just had some shaking here in LA, 4.6 near Malibu.
Baud
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
California is having a bad week.
lowtechcyclist
@karen marie:
Whatever. Given how many members of the press have never apologized for anything, and still treat Barr as a credible figure, and (per Edmund Dantes) aren’t supposed to be on anyone’s team in the first place, I’m gonna give Nichols props for admitting he blew it.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I have had a bad week.
Gvg
The justice department needs to look at that policy and get rid if it. It allows corruption and cover ups. Allowing sitting presidents to be charged can also be misused, so it has to be careful, but simply saying never is itself corrupt.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: They fired one of my co-workers(he was late a bit too often, but worked his ass off when he got in)…as a result of that, I ended up working 7 days straight(was scheduled for 6 and then two days off, now 7, one day off, one day work, one day off)…hump day on this revised schedule was my b-day.
The morning folk seem to have returned to form of not pulling deliveries, so I have to do more without the support of the additional staff.
I’m convinced that my dept. head thinks I’m developmentally disabled. He babbles a lot and seems disturbed by my silence…I’m not talking because I’m listening to you moron, try it!
For example, we had a pick for a customer, I picked it off of the app, then noticed some of the items in a cart by the desk last night. So he tells me that the morning guy picked this stuff and that I needed to prepare them for delivery, told him the whole order was in the delivery area this morning and that cart was there the previous night when I left at 12am. Went out to our delivery area, the order shipped this morning.
So things are just peachy.
Geminid
So, Democratic Congressional leaders and Joe Biden met at the White yesterday afternoon to discuss their strategy for the new Congress. Reporters and cameras got to see the President, Senators Schumer, Durbin, Stabenow, and Representatives Jeffries, Clark, and Aguilar sitting at a conference table. Before reporters were ushered out, Biden told them:
Afterwards, the Congressional leaders appeared outside to brief reporters. Chuck Schumer contrasted his party and their adversaries with a typically pithy sound bite:
Hakeem Jefferies said they had discussed jobs, infrastructure, and the importance of implementing the initiatives Congress passed last year. The talks, he said, were “wonderful.”
. The leaders would not take questions about classified documents and the President.
From Politico.
Baud
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
NobodyOnly Billin wants to work anymore.Baud
@Geminid:
Geminid
@Geminid: Kevin McCarthy has pledged to remove Representatives Schiff and Swallwell from the House Untelligence Committee, and dey Representative Ihlan Omar from the Foreign Relations Committee. He can remove Swallwell and Schiff on his own, but he’ll need the votes of a majority of House members to deny Omar her seat.
He may not get them. A Politico reporter interviewed Dean Phillips, who clashed with Omar in 2019 over her comments regarding support for Israel in their party. Phillips said he would vote to keep Omar on the panel, and he belieoved his Democratic caucus would all vote similarly.
Two Republican House members have already said they will vote to seat Omar on the commitee: Nancy Mace (SC) and Vicki Spartz (IN). With Florida Representative Steube recovering from a bad fall, two more Republican votes will seat Omar (assuming Democrats have no defectors). The reporter said that Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Tim Burchett (TN), Chris Smith (NJ), and David Valadeo (CA) are still undecided on the matter, although I think there could be others.
Democrats are expected to announce their committee assignments soon, and a vote could come later this week..
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Guess I’m not bright enough to know any better.
Baud
@Geminid:
Why? Special rules for Intelligence Committee?
Geminid
@Baud: The article did not say, but I guess that committee is treated differently than the others.
Chris T.
@Baud: Nah, a mere 4.6 quake is just a fun carnival ride!
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Geminid: Could be since it is a Select Committee.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Chris T.: The problem is that when the shaking starts, you have no idea when it will stop and if it will intensify.
geg6
@lowtechcyclist:
Agreed. I will not condemn those who see the light, even if it comes later than I would have liked. I’ll take an ally who admits their mistakes.
NotMax
@Baud
It’s the Select Committee on Intelligence.
Unlike regular committees, select committee membership falls under the purview of the Speaker (its membership is deemed as selected by the Speaker). Removal of any member from a regular committee requires a floor vote, removal from a select committee does not.
Pelosi, for example, quashed the nomination of Jordan and I forget which other nutcases to serve on the January 6th Select Committee.
mrmoshpotato
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Sorry your boss is an asshat.
Baud
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
@NotMax:
Thanks.
The Oracle of Solace
For me the main thing about the Mueller Report is that the press was willing to ignore it after Barr had said it was no big deal. But I read it, and it was a big deal, at least in the context of Putin’s hostility toward the United States in general and Hillary Clinton in particular—not to mention the obstruction of justice in part two. I kept waiting for someone in the media to do a deep dive, but no one ever did. And that, kids, is how grandma started her YouTube channel.
Chief Oshkosh
@karen marie: Tom Nichols may be a fool, maybe, but we know he’s a lying piece of shit. He KNEW what Barr was all about – so did the rest that ilk. It still pisses me of that the DC press just rolls over for these people.
polyorchnid octopunch
King Louis could only dream of the kinds of tongue-baths that Republicans routinely receive in American newspapers.
J R in WV
@geg6:
Me too. We donated to Kyrsten Sinema from AZ in the 2018 election cycle. She was running as a “progressive” liberal Democrat in AZ, and appeared to have a shot at winning a seat in the US Senate. Oops! Won’t do that again, was an error.
We weren’t evil nor stupid, she did a good job of misleading all the Democrats…
Geminid
@J R in WV: Sinema joined the Blue Dog Caucus when she entered Congress in 2013 and was a Blue Dog when she ran for Senate. I don’t she pretended to be a liberal; people just overlooked her record as a moderate because it was important to elect a Democrat.