I’m going with that was the plan, that the report was ready a few weeks ago when we all thought it was coming, but it’s been undergoing the extensive legal reviews since.
There was always going to be a limited window for Barr to act before Trump inevitably soured on him, like he does on everyone.
Perhaps if it were only slightly embarrassing information, Barr might be willing to tweak it. I expect, however, that what Trump is actually guilty of is far more than embarrassing, but without the advantage of Trump’s knowledge of his own involvement, Mueller may not have been able to connect all the dots. (On the other hand, perhaps there is a sealed indictment waiting for the end of Trump’s presidency.) Trump would still be very unhappy if the report shows any connections between his campaign and Russia. He cannot stand the idea that he owes his usurpation (I refuse to say victory) to Russia and not his own great™ abilities and gut instincts.
Barr released a bizarre lengthy memo highly critical of the Mueller investigation last summer, when Sessions was on the ropes and clearly about to be fired in short order.
This memo conveniently made the rounds of the WH and got attention about this Barr guy and if he might be a good replacement. It also, oddly enough, was the only thing that Barr’s weighed in on in this manner since he was last in the position under Daddy Bush (When Mueller worked for him…).
The Barrs and Muellers are close couples, like BFFs. I rather imagine that Mrs. Barr would kick Mr. Barr out of the bedroom if he fucked up their Bridge Night.
Barr is happily retired, the elder statesman around the place. He came in at a time when everyone, even Mattis, had been put down.
Put all that together, you have a dude who conveniently catches the President’s eye at the right time, happens to be BFFs with the Special Counsel, and who has less than no reason to take the job, except to help out Mueller and make sure the Report gets finished and out the door.
I dunno… The trouble I’m having right now is that the OSC might have declined to indict a sitting president, but even if that’s the case, why hasn’t anyone else been indicted? No conspiracy charges for Junior? Nothing on Assange? It feels like an all-or-nothing situation here, with “nothing” being the end result.
Naturally I hope I’m wrong, but the initial signs aren’t good. At least on the Russia front. There’s a lot more happening on money laundering, bank fraud, insurance fraud, and all the rest.
1.Trump has been awfull quiet today, that is a good sign.
2. I have been trying to figure an angle for why Rosenstien is still there. There has to be something good there.
3. The longer it takes for Barr to complete his summary the more detailed it will be.
4. I am hoping for the best.
Totally agree - Twitler’s silence is deafening. And the fact that Barr said it was going to take longer is also a good sign.
There are lots of good signs around.
Just spitballin’ here: is it possible that Barr convinced RM III to put in the report all the relevant evidence necessary to warrant subpoenas/indictments of Tramp Klan but allow Barr to be the one to issue announcements/subpoenas in order to spread the accusatory responsibility throughout the Dept of Justice.
Might be a reason for the delayed ‘partial release’ until Sunday: avoid the re-ignition of a “Saturday Nt. Massacre.”
Really? Did not know about this.
Again, you paint a picture in which Barr would not want his legacy trashed by the Orange one. Interesting thought process you put out there.
Well I am not sure can you indict, and prosecute an underling without getting the head honcho? If I was part of a jury listening to a trial, for something of this nature, knowing that President would not be tried simply because he was the President, I would be hard press to convict those under him.
Especially because any report like that would have an executive summary upfront, highlighting the key points. So theoretically all he’d have to do is edit a 2-3 page report for release, then go into the comprehensive…
Try putting together a list of reasons why Barr would go in there to help Trump…
Oh, and the Bush’s really hate Trump, and Barr’s long-time friends with them as well…
"“Barr told Congress that concerns over Trump’s privacy could limit the information he makes public.”
i think barr is confusing trump’s privacy rights with trump’s right to take the 5th.
He could be down Spa a Lego for the Presidential edit session
Or, did Mueller get a feel for Barr and come away with the view that Barr would not be an ally? Has Mueller spent the last 5 weeks distributing cases to other prosecuting offices and stuffing more into his report that would be difficult to hide from Congress? Did Mueller stop prosecuting certain on-going items in his office to focus on getting the report out b/c Barr wouldn’t let him stick around?
This makes me think the report is more than bare bones in length.
See my post above. The couples are BFFs and hang out together. Even without talking any details, do you think Barr wants to have to sleep on the couch because he took this job to undermine Mueller?
He could easily just have stayed on the sidelines and done nothing.
I would very much like to believe this, but I fear that your post should begin “Once upon a time . . .” As Lily Tomlin once said, “No matter how cynical I become, I just can’t keep up.”
Oo, a whole different direction. How interesting.
we are all haruspices today.
Yeah, I busted out the word “haruspex” in the WAR thread 'cuz we’re trying to make sense of entrails while divining just WTF is going on.
And now we have another 24 hours until something breaks.
hamster heaves a sigh…
This report could be a bone crushing blow to the soul, a reason to celebrate and/or every emotion in between.
Must. Keep. Drinking.
There is also the other big fear I’ve had for awhile. Digging into influence on the 2016 campaign has a high probability of leading to the doorsteps of sitting Congress critters. And that makes reporting to them extremely complicated.
This^
I think the spreading of investigations around the DoJ was the plan for a long time, and it IS what has happened. My suspicion is this was done for two reason…so that Mueller can easily deflect any “fishing expedition” accusations, and to ensure that the SCO getting shut down cold wouldn’t stop the investigations.
I am not so sure about Barr stepping up to do the annoucement/subpoenas/indictments part works though. I suspect that Trump is going to go ballastic and fire Barr is he does anything damaging to Trump. Indeed, I suspect Trump to start screaming for Barr to shut down all the other known investigations very soon.