This is interesting given that a big talking point the last two days has been that AG Barr is corrupt because he ruled on obstruction in just two days. As the narrative goes, there’s noway he could have made an informed decision in such a short time frame so that must mean he phoned it in at Trump’s behest.

See this conspiratorial report from MSNBC.

Such a conclusion would be momentous in any event. But to do so within 48 hours of receiving the report (which pointedly did not reach that conclusion) should be deeply concerning to every American.

Or this from Politico.

Yet in one notable instance where Mueller reached no conclusion after years of investigation—about whether the president obstructed justice—Barr rushed to reach a conclusion in just two days. Barr’s decision to reach his own conclusion on this matter was poor judgment and ensures that Congress will fight tooth and nail to gain access to Mueller’s full report and the evidence underlying it.

Well, so much for that attack line.

It turns out that Barr was made aware by Mueller three weeks ago that he would not reach a conclusion on obstruction. This game the DOJ, including the offices of Barr and Rosenstein, weeks to ferret through all the legal issues at stake. In the end, the made the reasoned judgement that there’s simply not enough there to move forward on the question of obstruction (something some of us have been saying for years).

Per NBC News.

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller and members of his team informed Attorney General William Barr three weeks ago that they would not be reaching a conclusion on the question of whether the president had obstructed justice, according to a person familiar with the meeting.

Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who was also present, were surprised by this, the person said.

“It was unexpected,” said the source.

Unexpected indeed. As I covered earlier today, there was no excuse for Mueller to not simply do his job and make a decision on the question of obstruction. That was one of the major points of his investigation. In the end, he left it up to the DOJ and at least did so by giving them plenty of time to make an informed legal judgement.

As usual, the rush to judgement has bitten media organizations and Democrats alike in the backside. AG Bill Barr is not a Trump sycophant. In fact, he was widely viewed with skepticism on the right coming into his job because of his establishment history and close relationship with Robert Mueller. For some to now try to spin him as compromised is nonsensical.

None of this will stop these people from continuing to yell cover-up though. It’s all they’ve got left. Well, that and the SDNY but they may be off the list after indicting Michael Avenatti today.

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