Opinion: William Barr is helping to cover up Trump’s biggest crime of all
By Greg Sargent Greg Sargent Opinion writer covering national politics Email Bio Follow Opinion writer May 2 at 10:39 AM As the political world struggles to digest the enormity of Attorney General William P. Barr’s profound corruption of his role on President Trump’s behalf, it’s worth stepping back and surveying a distilled version of what we know, now that special counsel Robert S.
This allowed Trump to claim total exoneration on the details, but on that larger story as well: It obscured Trump and his campaign’s embrace of Russian interference and his extensive efforts to prevent an accounting of it. We now know Mueller was deeply concerned that this had profoundly misled the public about the gravity of what he had found, that is, in a big-picture manner.
Similarly, in a big moment, Barr declared Trump could terminate the investigation if he believed he was being “falsely accused,” and it wouldn’t display “corrupt intent.” This basically puts Trump above the law, but, like the above example, it also clears Trump of the underlying misconduct — Trump’s efforts to derail an investigation into a Russian attack on our election were no biggie, because he decreed he’d been unfairly swept up in that investigation.
The idea that there was no legitimate basis for the probe is a backdoor way of saying that the Russian assault on our political system, irrespective of any criminal conspiracy with it, was not worth investigating . What’s stunning about all this is that Barr does not appear to be a conspiracy theorist. He’s playing footsie with this alt-narrative for cynical instrumental purposes, and these other Republicans probably are as well.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Opinion | William Barr and his horrible hearingHe can no longer function credibly as attorney general.
Read more »
Opinion | Kamala Harris zeroes in on the big problem with William BarrThe attorney general appeared totally uninterested in reassuring Americans of his commitment to justice.
Read more »
Opinion | Now we know why William Barr is afraid to face House DemocratsOpinion: Now we know why William Barr is afraid to face House Democrats
Read more »
Opinion | Five questions for William Barr, in light of new Mueller revelationsWe've now learned that Mueller expressed dismay with Barr's presentation of his work.
Read more »
Opinion | William Barr has shamelessly corrupted the debate over the Mueller reportIt is heartening to know that one person infuriated by what Barr did was Mueller himself.
Read more »
Robert Reich: Congress should be ready to arrest William Barr if he defies subpoena | OpinionThe blanket refusal to honor subpoenas is the most dictatorial move Trump he has initiated since becoming president.
Read more »
Opinion | If William Barr refuses to testify, he should be impeachedOpinion: If William Barr refuses to testify, he should be impeached
Read more »
Opinion | William Barr’s congressional testimony was shamefulOpinion: William Barr’s congressional testimony was shameful, paulwaldman1 writes
Read more »
James Comey To William Barr: Trump 'Has Eaten Your Soul'Former FBI Director James Comey attempted to make sense of how Donald Trump'sinfluence corrupts others and criticized those tasked with holding thepresident accountable in a Wednesday op-ed
Read more »
Democrats blast Attorney General William Barr, calling him Trump’s ‘paid federal public defender’In scheduled back-to-back congressional hearings this week, Democrats will have their first chance to grill Barr since he stood at the Justice Department podium and repeatedly declared that Mueller had found no “collusion” between Trump and Russia.
Read more »