Discussion: Comey Knocks Barr's 'Spying' Claim: I 'Don't Know What He's Talking About'

Why is he still relevant? Sit out of 2020!

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So does this mean that Comey is back to being a Hero of the #FakeResistance again, now that theyā€™ve got Julian Assange to beat up on for this week?

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The only place Iā€™d be remotely willing to cite Barr slack on spying is if he was referring to foreign intelligence services.

Even then though, when you literally invite them in, I donā€™t think you can fairly call it spying.

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Just a week ago you told us to give Barr the benefit of the doubt. Stop gaslighting us into believing the white elite is ever going to do the honorable thing at their own expense. Every white male ā€œinstitutionalistā€ asshole that gets on TV to defend another white male Republican ends up proven wrong, and yet here they are, once again, defending their country club buddies. Fuck off.

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This clip underscores why the debate over ā€˜spyingā€™ is irrelevant. If you hang out with Russian spies wh undertake an intel op to undermine our democracy, you get surveilled. Most Americans get that. Just relax, let Barr go, and pressure Dems to issue the subpoenas. Once we exercise that power, Barr fades into irrelevance. He canā€™t do anything more than Sessions did thereafter.

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Neither does he so that makes you even.

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Right before taxes due to try and knock that down a bit.

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Unlike Comey, I do know what Barr was talking about. Barr was being cute (such a cutie, isnā€™t he?) giving Trump headlines he wanted and tarnishing any and all oversight of the Trump campaign and administration. Barr is a panderer to a thug and an agent of authoritarianism: that is his game. Comey of course knows this too. Heā€™s being cute himself. So much cuteness!

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Comey is showing that the correct terminology is important.

Yes, it was court-ordered surveillance, and, as I remember, the FISA warrants here were renewed more than once. Those renewals would not have been acquired without some substance. All of this should come out but itā€™s not easy to get around Barrā€™s use of the term ā€œspying.ā€ Better the Dems like Schiff, indeed, start using the term ā€œcourt ordered surviellanceā€ during interviews, etc.

Obviously, Barr is showing that he is an apparatchik, and not a very effective one, at that. More journalistic research on Barr might be helpful. Follow his money, for one thing.

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Do you think Barr will hand over the Mueller report if it is subpoenaed?

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When the key persons in government bad mouth the portion of government they are responsible for democracy becomes unworkable for much of the population participating in the democracy.

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Oh, poor Julian. So misunderstood.

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ā€¦he thought ā€œspying did occurā€ by intelligence agencies.
He later clarified by saying he was told some people are saying there was spying, as you all know, and everyone can plainly see that.

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Whatā€™s not misunderstood is the fickleness of the #FakeResistanceā€¦

Fake resistance?

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This is a bit disingenuous. He know what Barr did. But he indicts him on the lesser charge of sloppy terminology. Itā€™s as far as he judges he can go without having people come up to him at parties and give him a hard time.

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At the worst, Barrā€™s claim of ā€˜spyingā€™ on the Trump campaign will be used as a basis for purging the professional staff at the DOJ and FBI, whose primary loyalty is to a constitutional order and not to the leader. Such a purge would have the intended consequence of intimidating those who remain and are not apparatchiks, not just for Drumpā€™s reign, but with regards to investigating future electoral malfeasance as well.
At the time that Barr oversees such an ā€˜internal investigation,ā€™ it will have ceased to be appropriate to refer to him as DTā€™s Roy Cohn, as he will instead become Hair Furorā€™s Beria.
Iā€™d guess itā€™s what Donnieā€™s always wanted anyway.

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Heā€™s dissembling. Itā€™s what grifters do.

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I do think Barr is going to hand over the report. He has made too many commitments under oath not to do so. If he refused or delayed, then that would make the Demsā€™ job a lot easier in terms of subpoenaing the report.

Where I think Barrā€™s fall back position will be is on grand jury material and selected redactions to the main text. However, I do think he is incompetent. He is not really supervising the redactions so I think he will end up revealing more than Trump would like him to.

All that said, I just want Dems to flex their power. It communicates to Trump much more clearly than the back and forth of comments, interviews, speeches and letters.

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