Attorney General Bill Barr made some comments on the Russian investigation during a press conference about the Russia probe investigation.
A lot of what he has to say shows why he’s the right person for the job. He’s a constitutionalist committed to the rule of law. After eight years of Barack Obama and an impaired AG with Jeff Sessions, it’s great to finally have someone committed to that.
Now, he said some things today that were both good and disappointing, so it’s important to parse them.
Jeff Carlson of The Epoch Times broke them down in a tweet transcript.
First, he chastised the prior use of the justice system and the DOJ to go after political opponents. Read that “the Obama Administration”. Barr said under him that wasn’t going to happen (responding to accusations by the left).
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) May 18, 2020
"What happened to the president… was abhorrent.
The law enforcement and intelligence apparatus of this country were involved in advancing a false and utterly baseless Russian collusion narrative against the president."
— AG Barr pic.twitter.com/nJClP7yLoL
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) May 18, 2020
“What happened to the president in 2016 election and throughout the first two years of his administration was abhorrent,” Barr said. “It was a grave injustice and it was unprecedented. The law enforcement and intelligence apparatus of this country were involved in advancing a false and utterly baseless Russia collusion narrative against the President.”
He went on to say he and the DOJ were not going to engage in a “tit for tat” exercise and do what the Obama administration because that’s not what it’s supposed to be about.
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) May 18, 2020
Now, here’s the part on which everyone is focused.
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) May 18, 2020
#BREAKING: AG Barr: "As to President Obama and Vice President Obama, whatever their level of involvement, based on the information I have today, I don't expect Mr. Durham's work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man." pic.twitter.com/JFT0aPCMmG
— The Hill (@thehill) May 18, 2020
So, what does that mean? It’s great that there’s someone in charge who finally gets how unprecedented this all was and isn’t afraid to lay it out there and call it unprecedented in history.
But many are disappointed with him saying that he doesn’t expect there to be a criminal investigation of Barack Obama and Joe Biden as part of Durham’s investigation.
Several things to note. I don’t think too many were thinking that there would ever be an investigation of Obama and/or Biden, as much as one might have hoped for it for this. But saying “doesn’t expect” means exactly that. At this point. He doesn’t want to be political like the Obama officials and that commits him to nothing. At the same time, it also lets them believe that they aren’t going to be looked into and I think that’s an incorrect conclusion. I think he’s looking at everything right now, weighing the question.
The most important takeaway is that they do see crimes and they do see folks that they are focusing on. And I want to go back to this phrase because I think it’s illustrative of where they may be at: “The law enforcement and intelligence apparatus of this country were involved in advancing a false and utterly baseless Russia collusion narrative against the President.” I don’t know about anyone else but reading that, as well as noting the other recent reports, and this screams John Brennan.
For anyone to take seriously that they mean it and want to stop this from happening again, it can’t just be a nothing charge against a lowly functionary after saying everything Barr has said about what occurred.
The word is Durham will be done by the end of the summer, so hopefully will have a better sense then.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member