The Constipated Man - A Most Unartful Dodger
William Barr always looks like a man waiting to explode. He wears a constant grimace and he cannot sit without fidgeting and squirming.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham opened the Committee's May 1st hearing on the Mueller Report by making an argument for investigating Hillary Clinton's email server.
Who woulda thunk it? It was Déjà vu all over again. Lindsey likes nothing better than injecting cognitive dissonance into a hearing at the outset.
Lindsey is one nasty MF. We got to see his Mr. Hyde persona at the Senate Judiciary Committee's Supreme Court Justice confirmation hearings on Brett Kavanaugh last September.
Thank goodness for Dianne Feinstein. Dianne is the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In her opening statement, Dianne focused on the Mueller Report and outlined the glaring discrepancies between what was actually written in the report and what Barr wrote in his 3 1/2 page summation of it.
It's worth noting that on March 24th, Barr originally released his summation, which was countersigned by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, of Mueller's Report. Barr wrote "the Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government." He also concluded that Mueller's evidence "is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice".
Donald Trump loved Barr's summation. Within hours he claimed "it was a complete and total exoneration". He also said he was the victim of "an illegal take down that failed".
On March 27th, Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrote a letter to Barr expressing his concerns about Barr's summary.
"The summary letter the Department sent to Congress and released to the
public late in the afternoon of March 24 did not fully capture the
context, nature, and substance of this Office's work and conclusions. We
communicated that concern to the Department on the morning of March 25.
There is new public confusion about critical aspects of the results of
our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for
which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full
public confidence in the outcome of the investigations."
On April 18th, Barr held a press conference with what appeared to be Rod Rosenstein standing beside him. The Rod figure did not appear to be breathing, blinking or showing any signs of life. Barr released a redacted version of the Mueller Report after the press conference.
Barr's press conference prompted a joint statement from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. They wrote:
"Attorney General Barr's regrettably partisan handling of the Mueller
report, including his slanted March 24th summary letter, his
irresponsible testimony before Congress last week, and his indefensible
plan to spin the report in a press conference later this morning - hours
before he allows the public or Congress to see it - have resulted in a
crisis of confidence in his independence and impartiality."
Meanwhile, back at the May 1st hearing, Attorney General William Barr was sworn in and proceeded with an opening statement.
Barr's opening statement was chock full of statistics. He talked about the percentage of redacted material in the copy of the Mueller Report that he released to the public - that was the interesting part. His manner of speaking was sleep inducing.
Lindsey Graham was the first committee member to actually question Barr. He asked mostly leading questions. Lindsey knew where he wanted this hearing to go and Barr was only too happy to be led - all the way back to the Clinton email investigation.
Dianne Feinstein was the next committee member to question Barr. The Republicans and Democrats take turns questioning witnesses. Dianne's questions were related to the Mueller Report and Barr's conclusions regarding that report. She was focused and detailed and intelligent in her questioning. Barr was rambling in his responses.
All subsequent Republican questioners followed Graham's approach with Barr. Much like the Munchkins in "The Wizard Of Oz", they encouraged Barr to follow Graham's obfuscation and obstruction road.
All subsequent Democrat questioners followed Feinstein's approach with Barr. They asked relevant, specific, intelligent questions. Much like Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird".
William Barr was not a happy camper. He dodged most relevant questions in the most inartful way. He was the Inartful Dodger. He couldn't remember or recall a lot of things. He didn't know a lot of things. He quibbled. He answered questions that weren't asked and didn't answer questions that were asked. He could not justify the conclusions he came to in regard to the Mueller Report.
Barr is a morally Constipated Man. He came to the Senate determined to keep information regarding Trump's high crimes and misdemeanors locked away from the public. He will not allow any damning evidence against Trump to see the light of day.
Barr is actively colluding and conspiring with Congressional Republicans and being deceptive is taking its toll. Somebody should throw in the towel for Barr. He's not going to go the distance.
In his last attempt at testimony he refused to provide the Committee with a copy of a document memorializing a phone conversation he initiated with Mueller after getting Mueller's March 27th letter. He referred to Mueller's letter as "snitty" and said he did not regard Mueller as a "career prosecutor".
Lindsey Graham, who has admitted to not having read the Mueller Report, closed the hearing by saying that investigating this matter was "over" and that he would not call Robert Mueller to testify. As crazy as that was, in his opening statement Graham dropped the F Bomb.
As for Barr, he made one last piece of news after the hearing by saying he would not testify before the House Judiciary Committee and that he would defy a subpoena and not turn over the complete unredacted Mueller Report to the committee.
By the way, there is a printed version of the redacted Mueller Report. I found it on Amazon. It has an introduction by Alan Dershowitz. Alan is a major defender of Donald Trump. I would avoid it.
The taint of treason and corruption appears to be everywhere. Washington, D.C., our nation's Capitol, the foundation of our government, appears to be collapsing along with our rule of law.
Holy Moly!
Barr is totally corrupt. He has been since he covered up the Iran-Contra debacle. He is lawless and should be held accountable. Thank you for posting this valuable information about this criminal who belongs behind bars.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteBarr is making bad history. It is catching up. Watch this over weight stand against the pressure. Truth will win. It is winning.
ReplyDelete