BARR

[MDlaxfan76]

Not true.

[old salt]

William Barr Says Trump's Not 'My Idea Of A President' Days After Saying He'd Vote For Him

Billy needs to prepare himself for the enmity about to be heaped on him by MAGAts across the land...

Barr told Tapper that he doesn’t think the Republican Party can win the White House with Trump as its candidate.

“I think the Republicans can win a decisive majority, but I don’t think we can do it with Trump. He’s just too divisive a candidate,” Barr explained.

“He’s not my idea of a president, and ... I felt he was going to lose the [last] election because he was not controlling himself. He was allowing this pettiness to come through, and I feel it’s one of his great failings,” he added.

“I think a lot of people agree with his policies. They like his strength and his directness,” Barr acknowledged. “But to the extent they support them, it’s despite ... this kind of obnoxious behavior, it’s not because of it,” he said.

Bill Barr is well-liked by Republicans across the board.

Yep & most who don't like Trump agree with him on this.

[Peter Brown]

William Barr Says Trump's Not 'My Idea Of A President' Days After Saying He'd Vote For Him

Billy needs to prepare himself for the enmity about to be heaped on him by MAGAts across the land...

Barr told Tapper that he doesn’t think the Republican Party can win the White House with Trump as its candidate.

“I think the Republicans can win a decisive majority, but I don’t think we can do it with Trump. He’s just too divisive a candidate,” Barr explained.

“He’s not my idea of a president, and ... I felt he was going to lose the [last] election because he was not controlling himself. He was allowing this pettiness to come through, and I feel it’s one of his great failings,” he added.

“I think a lot of people agree with his policies. They like his strength and his directness,” Barr acknowledged. “But to the extent they support them, it’s despite ... this kind of obnoxious behavior, it’s not because of it,” he said.

Bill Barr is well-liked by Republicans across the board.

Yep & most who don't like Trump agree with him on this.

Yup.

[NattyBohChamps04]

William Barr Says Trump's Not 'My Idea Of A President' Days After Saying He'd Vote For Him

Billy needs to prepare himself for the enmity about to be heaped on him by MAGAts across the land...

Barr told Tapper that he doesn’t think the Republican Party can win the White House with Trump as its candidate.

“I think the Republicans can win a decisive majority, but I don’t think we can do it with Trump. He’s just too divisive a candidate,” Barr explained.

“He’s not my idea of a president, and ... I felt he was going to lose the [last] election because he was not controlling himself. He was allowing this pettiness to come through, and I feel it’s one of his great failings,” he added.

“I think a lot of people agree with his policies. They like his strength and his directness,” Barr acknowledged. “But to the extent they support them, it’s despite ... this kind of obnoxious behavior, it’s not because of it,” he said.

Bill Barr is well-liked by Republicans across the board.

Yep & most who don't like Trump agree with him on this.

That's unfortunately a small minority in the Republican party nowadays. Like ~70% want Trump to run in 2024.

Pushing for pardons in the Iran-Contra scandal was a terrible miscarriage of justice in a long line of his. No wonder he's well-liked.

[dislaxxic]

BILL BARR’S LEGAL EXPOSURE MAY LEAD HIM TO LIE ABOUT THE HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP

Over and over, Billy situates in advance — sometimes even before he returned to government — his belief in conspiracy theories that John Durham is currently chasing. The book goes a long way to substantiating that Durham is and always was using a criminal investigation to tell a story developed before either Barr or Durham had looked at any evidence.

This entire three year investigation was started because Billy Barr wanted to get revenge, not because he wanted to investigate a crime.

That’s important background for a recent appearance Barr made to claim that the decision by social media companies not to allow the NY Post story on an unverified laptop go viral swung the election.

So when former staffer Larry Kudlow on Thursday interviewed former attorney general William P. Barr for his Fox Business show, the conversation operated from shared assumptions about Trump’s successes and the toxicity of the political left. The result was that Barr outlined a remarkable hierarchy of importance for actions that might have affected the results of a presidential contest.

Russian interference in 2016, he said, was just “some embarrassing emails about Hillary Clinton and Bernie.” The effort to “suppress” information about Hunter Biden’s laptop, meanwhile, was “probably even more outrageous” and “had much more effect on an election.”

Philip Bump lays out all the evidence that Barr’s claim the media ignored the story is false and links to a contemporaneous analysis of the uncertainties about the laptop — though not this recent, overlooked WaPo article that revealed “the data contained on the drive [that purportedly comes from Hunter Biden’s laptop] was so compromised by a variety of factors that definitive conclusions about most of its contents were impossible.”

Bump is wrong, in my opinion, to treat this recent Hunter laptop surge as a mere political conversation on the right. It’s not. It is part of a plan to undermine the investigation — and likely, by then, prosecution — of Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to obtain dirt that is believed to closely if not exactly resemble what he ended up releasing under the guise of a discovered abandoned Hunter Biden laptop. If Republicans win the House, Jim Jordan will dedicate the resources of the House Judiciary Committee full time to investigating this “story,” and will use it to sabotage whatever legal proceedings are working against Rudy at that point.

And that’s why it’s important that a once respected lawyer is going on TV endorsing conspiracy theories.

After all, Barr is legally implicated himself.

..

[old salt]

BILL BARR’S LEGAL EXPOSURE MAY LEAD HIM TO LIE ABOUT THE HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP

Over and over, Billy situates in advance — sometimes even before he returned to government — his belief in conspiracy theories that John Durham is currently chasing. The book goes a long way to substantiating that Durham is and always was using a criminal investigation to tell a story developed before either Barr or Durham had looked at any evidence.

This entire three year investigation was started because Billy Barr wanted to get revenge, not because he wanted to investigate a crime.

That’s important background for a recent appearance Barr made to claim that the decision by social media companies not to allow the NY Post story on an unverified laptop go viral swung the election.

So when former staffer Larry Kudlow on Thursday interviewed former attorney general William P. Barr for his Fox Business show, the conversation operated from shared assumptions about Trump’s successes and the toxicity of the political left. The result was that Barr outlined a remarkable hierarchy of importance for actions that might have affected the results of a presidential contest.

Russian interference in 2016, he said, was just “some embarrassing emails about Hillary Clinton and Bernie.” The effort to “suppress” information about Hunter Biden’s laptop, meanwhile, was “probably even more outrageous” and “had much more effect on an election.”

Philip Bump lays out all the evidence that Barr’s claim the media ignored the story is false and links to a contemporaneous analysis of the uncertainties about the laptop — though not this recent, overlooked WaPo article that revealed “the data contained on the drive [that purportedly comes from Hunter Biden’s laptop] was so compromised by a variety of factors that definitive conclusions about most of its contents were impossible.”

Bump is wrong, in my opinion, to treat this recent Hunter laptop surge as a mere political conversation on the right. It’s not. It is part of a plan to undermine the investigation — and likely, by then, prosecution — of Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to obtain dirt that is believed to closely if not exactly resemble what he ended up releasing under the guise of a discovered abandoned Hunter Biden laptop. If Republicans win the House, Jim Jordan will dedicate the resources of the House Judiciary Committee full time to investigating this “story,” and will use it to sabotage whatever legal proceedings are working against Rudy at that point.

And that’s why it’s important that a once respected lawyer is going on TV endorsing conspiracy theories.

After all, Barr is legally implicated himself.

...Barr was in on it with the Russians. They planted the phony laptop at the repair shop. PMM is all over it.

[dislaxxic]

Billy Barr Can’t Flee The Stench Of What He Did For Trump

This nitwit enabled the delusional excesses of The Moron and NOW wants us to praise the way he is "telling the truth"? What a numbnut. The guy was nothing but a shill for DJT while he was in office. The way he mangled the results of the Mueller Report was a masterstroke of msinformation.

The Era of Alternate Reality was vastly aided and abetted by this guy.

..

[jhu72]

Billy Barr Can’t Flee The Stench Of What He Did For Trump

This nitwit enabled the delusional excesses of The Moron and NOW wants us to praise the way he is "telling the truth"? What a numbnut. The guy was nothing but a shill for DJT while he was in office. The way he mangled the results of the Mueller Report was a masterstroke of msinformation.

The Era of Alternate Reality was vastly aided and abetted by this guy.

..

... correct, Barr is a POS.

[Seacoaster(1)]

Billy Barr Can’t Flee The Stench Of What He Did For Trump

This nitwit enabled the delusional excesses of The Moron and NOW wants us to praise the way he is "telling the truth"? What a numbnut. The guy was nothing but a shill for DJT while he was in office. The way he mangled the results of the Mueller Report was a masterstroke of msinformation.

The Era of Alternate Reality was vastly aided and abetted by this guy.

..

Agreed, and he failed in the carrying out of his essential public duties as the nation's chief law enforcement officer, just utter failure. This faux pious asshat spoke about morality and the law at Notre Dame and said this:

"In the 20th century, our form of free society faced a severe test. There had always been the question whether a democracy so solicitous of individual freedom could stand up against a regimented totalitarian state. That question was answered with a resounding “yes” as the United States stood up against and defeated, first fascism, and then communism.

But in the 21st century, we face an entirely different kind of challenge.

The challenge we face is precisely what the Founding Fathers foresaw would be our supreme test as a free society.

They never thought the main danger to the republic came from external foes. The central question was whether, over the long haul, we could handle freedom. The question was whether the citizens in such a free society could maintain the moral discipline and virtue necessary for the survival of free institutions.

By and large, the Founding generation’s view of human nature was drawn from the classical Christian tradition.

These practical statesmen understood that individuals, while having the potential for great good, also had the capacity for great evil.

Men are subject to powerful passions and appetites, and, if unrestrained, are capable of ruthlessly riding roughshod over their neighbors and the community at large.

No society can exist without some means for restraining individual rapacity."

Exactly asshat. And confronted with the sociopathic rapacity, Barr really did nothing and resigned before really trying. His Redemption Tour smells.

[jhu72]

Billy Barr Can’t Flee The Stench Of What He Did For Trump

This nitwit enabled the delusional excesses of The Moron and NOW wants us to praise the way he is "telling the truth"? What a numbnut. The guy was nothing but a shill for DJT while he was in office. The way he mangled the results of the Mueller Report was a masterstroke of msinformation.

The Era of Alternate Reality was vastly aided and abetted by this guy.

..

Agreed, and he failed in the carrying out of his essential public duties as the nation's chief law enforcement officer, just utter failure. This faux pious asshat spoke about morality and the law at Notre Dame and said this:

"In the 20th century, our form of free society faced a severe test. There had always been the question whether a democracy so solicitous of individual freedom could stand up against a regimented totalitarian state. That question was answered with a resounding “yes” as the United States stood up against and defeated, first fascism, and then communism.

But in the 21st century, we face an entirely different kind of challenge.

The challenge we face is precisely what the Founding Fathers foresaw would be our supreme test as a free society.

They never thought the main danger to the republic came from external foes. The central question was whether, over the long haul, we could handle freedom. The question was whether the citizens in such a free society could maintain the moral discipline and virtue necessary for the survival of free institutions.

By and large, the Founding generation’s view of human nature was drawn from the classical Christian tradition.

These practical statesmen understood that individuals, while having the potential for great good, also had the capacity for great evil.

Men are subject to powerful passions and appetites, and, if unrestrained, are capable of ruthlessly riding roughshod over their neighbors and the community at large.

No society can exist without some means for restraining individual rapacity."

Exactly asshat. And confronted with the sociopathic rapacity, Barr really did nothing and resigned before really trying. His Redemption Tour smells.

... the guy is carrying a load in his diaper.

[dislaxxic]

Dahlia Lithwick has a view of the Asshat as well:

What’s Funny About Trump’s Plan to Overturn the Election? Ask Billy Barr.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr was having a rollicking good time in his taped deposition that was played before the Jan. 6 committee. He used words like “rubbish” and “nonsense” and “bullshirt” and “garbage” and “crazy” and “annoying” and “idiotic” and “stupid” to describe, frequently with a wide smile, how fundamentally silly Donald Trump’s claims about the 2020 election being stolen really were. Indeed, in clips of his testimony played during the committee’s second hearing on Monday, Barr essentially told us that he departed his post as the AG, because at some point he realized that the former president could no longer be reasoned with.

“I felt that before the election,” Barr said, “it was possible to talk sense to the president. And while you sometimes had to engage in, you know, a big wrestling match with him, that it was possible to keep things on track. But I was—felt that after the election he didn’t seem to be listening. And I didn’t think it was—you know, that I was inclined not to stay around if he wasn’t listening to advice from me or the Cabinet secretaries.”

It’s so strange because what Barr was describing is neither “silly” nor “bullshirt” nor “nonsense.” He is instead describing a claim about election fraud that was being weaponized to thwart the orderly transfer of power. Barr waited to let us all know in part because this was all a bit of a joke, until after he was subpoenaed to testify before the committee.

Recall that just a few weeks ago the same Bill Barr who felt that the former president couldn’t be reasoned with about, like, reality, said that he would vote for Trump again in 2024. Recall that the September before the 2020 election it was Bill Barr who took to CNN to make discredited and materially false claims about the connection between mail-in ballots and stolen elections. And recall also that the same Barr who says that he couldn’t get the president to “listen to advice” from any of his Cabinet secretaries resigned with a letter referencing “election integrity” without letting anyone know about what was either an existential threat to democracy or a 25th Amendment–worthy cognitive crisis in a sitting president (“ detached from reality,” said Barr of Trump).

Forced to choose between dereliction of duty because the president was delusional, or dereliction of duty because the president was a criminal, Barr appears to have picked door No. 3: The president was a laugh riot.

..

[Seacoaster(1)]

Dahlia Lithwick has a view of the Asshat as well:

What’s Funny About Trump’s Plan to Overturn the Election? Ask Billy Barr.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr was having a rollicking good time in his taped deposition that was played before the Jan. 6 committee. He used words like “rubbish” and “nonsense” and “nonsense” and “garbage” and “crazy” and “annoying” and “idiotic” and “stupid” to describe, frequently with a wide smile, how fundamentally silly Donald Trump’s claims about the 2020 election being stolen really were. Indeed, in clips of his testimony played during the committee’s second hearing on Monday, Barr essentially told us that he departed his post as the AG, because at some point he realized that the former president could no longer be reasoned with.

“I felt that before the election,” Barr said, “it was possible to talk sense to the president. And while you sometimes had to engage in, you know, a big wrestling match with him, that it was possible to keep things on track. But I was—felt that after the election he didn’t seem to be listening. And I didn’t think it was—you know, that I was inclined not to stay around if he wasn’t listening to advice from me or the Cabinet secretaries.”

It’s so strange because what Barr was describing is neither “silly” nor “nonsense” nor “nonsense.” He is instead describing a claim about election fraud that was being weaponized to thwart the orderly transfer of power. Barr waited to let us all know in part because this was all a bit of a joke, until after he was subpoenaed to testify before the committee.

Recall that just a few weeks ago the same Bill Barr who felt that the former president couldn’t be reasoned with about, like, reality, said that he would vote for Trump again in 2024. Recall that the September before the 2020 election it was Bill Barr who took to CNN to make discredited and materially false claims about the connection between mail-in ballots and stolen elections. And recall also that the same Barr who says that he couldn’t get the president to “listen to advice” from any of his Cabinet secretaries resigned with a letter referencing “election integrity” without letting anyone know about what was either an existential threat to democracy or a 25th Amendment–worthy cognitive crisis in a sitting president (“ detached from reality,” said Barr of Trump).

Forced to choose between dereliction of duty because the president was delusional, or dereliction of duty because the president was a criminal, Barr appears to have picked door No. 3: The president was a laugh riot.

..

Yes, Trump was crazy, a threat to the Republic, and Barr had to give up and exit (before the certification, and with knowledge -- real knowledge -- that the President was surrounding himself with toadying crazy apostles) because he could no longer reach him. Profile in Courage.

[jhu72]

Dahlia Lithwick has a view of the Asshat as well:

What’s Funny About Trump’s Plan to Overturn the Election? Ask Billy Barr.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr was having a rollicking good time in his taped deposition that was played before the Jan. 6 committee. He used words like “rubbish” and “nonsense” and “nonsense” and “garbage” and “crazy” and “annoying” and “idiotic” and “stupid” to describe, frequently with a wide smile, how fundamentally silly Donald Trump’s claims about the 2020 election being stolen really were. Indeed, in clips of his testimony played during the committee’s second hearing on Monday, Barr essentially told us that he departed his post as the AG, because at some point he realized that the former president could no longer be reasoned with.

“I felt that before the election,” Barr said, “it was possible to talk sense to the president. And while you sometimes had to engage in, you know, a big wrestling match with him, that it was possible to keep things on track. But I was—felt that after the election he didn’t seem to be listening. And I didn’t think it was—you know, that I was inclined not to stay around if he wasn’t listening to advice from me or the Cabinet secretaries.”

It’s so strange because what Barr was describing is neither “silly” nor “nonsense” nor “nonsense.” He is instead describing a claim about election fraud that was being weaponized to thwart the orderly transfer of power. Barr waited to let us all know in part because this was all a bit of a joke, until after he was subpoenaed to testify before the committee.

Recall that just a few weeks ago the same Bill Barr who felt that the former president couldn’t be reasoned with about, like, reality, said that he would vote for Trump again in 2024. Recall that the September before the 2020 election it was Bill Barr who took to CNN to make discredited and materially false claims about the connection between mail-in ballots and stolen elections. And recall also that the same Barr who says that he couldn’t get the president to “listen to advice” from any of his Cabinet secretaries resigned with a letter referencing “election integrity” without letting anyone know about what was either an existential threat to democracy or a 25th Amendment–worthy cognitive crisis in a sitting president (“ detached from reality,” said Barr of Trump).

Forced to choose between dereliction of duty because the president was delusional, or dereliction of duty because the president was a criminal, Barr appears to have picked door No. 3: The president was a laugh riot.

..

Yes, Trump was crazy, a threat to the Republic, and Barr had to give up and exit (before the certification, and with knowledge -- real knowledge -- that the President was surrounding himself with toadying crazy apostles) because he could no longer reach him. Profile in Courage.

... really had a good laugh yesterday watching Faux News, the host's praise of Barr, his courage.

[Seacoaster(1)]

Dahlia Lithwick has a view of the Asshat as well:

What’s Funny About Trump’s Plan to Overturn the Election? Ask Billy Barr.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr was having a rollicking good time in his taped deposition that was played before the Jan. 6 committee. He used words like “rubbish” and “nonsense” and “nonsense” and “garbage” and “crazy” and “annoying” and “idiotic” and “stupid” to describe, frequently with a wide smile, how fundamentally silly Donald Trump’s claims about the 2020 election being stolen really were. Indeed, in clips of his testimony played during the committee’s second hearing on Monday, Barr essentially told us that he departed his post as the AG, because at some point he realized that the former president could no longer be reasoned with.

“I felt that before the election,” Barr said, “it was possible to talk sense to the president. And while you sometimes had to engage in, you know, a big wrestling match with him, that it was possible to keep things on track. But I was—felt that after the election he didn’t seem to be listening. And I didn’t think it was—you know, that I was inclined not to stay around if he wasn’t listening to advice from me or the Cabinet secretaries.”

It’s so strange because what Barr was describing is neither “silly” nor “nonsense” nor “nonsense.” He is instead describing a claim about election fraud that was being weaponized to thwart the orderly transfer of power. Barr waited to let us all know in part because this was all a bit of a joke, until after he was subpoenaed to testify before the committee.

Recall that just a few weeks ago the same Bill Barr who felt that the former president couldn’t be reasoned with about, like, reality, said that he would vote for Trump again in 2024. Recall that the September before the 2020 election it was Bill Barr who took to CNN to make discredited and materially false claims about the connection between mail-in ballots and stolen elections. And recall also that the same Barr who says that he couldn’t get the president to “listen to advice” from any of his Cabinet secretaries resigned with a letter referencing “election integrity” without letting anyone know about what was either an existential threat to democracy or a 25th Amendment–worthy cognitive crisis in a sitting president (“ detached from reality,” said Barr of Trump).

Forced to choose between dereliction of duty because the president was delusional, or dereliction of duty because the president was a criminal, Barr appears to have picked door No. 3: The president was a laugh riot.

..

Yes, Trump was crazy, a threat to the Republic, and Barr had to give up and exit (before the certification, and with knowledge -- real knowledge -- that the President was surrounding himself with toadying crazy apostles) because he could no longer reach him. Profile in Courage.

... really had a good laugh yesterday watching Faux News, the host's praise of Barr, his courage.

Like the new Pence narrative: following the clear dictates of the law and tradition washes away the toadying servility over four years and makes him a "hero."

[jhu72]

Dahlia Lithwick has a view of the Asshat as well:

What’s Funny About Trump’s Plan to Overturn the Election? Ask Billy Barr.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr was having a rollicking good time in his taped deposition that was played before the Jan. 6 committee. He used words like “rubbish” and “nonsense” and “nonsense” and “garbage” and “crazy” and “annoying” and “idiotic” and “stupid” to describe, frequently with a wide smile, how fundamentally silly Donald Trump’s claims about the 2020 election being stolen really were. Indeed, in clips of his testimony played during the committee’s second hearing on Monday, Barr essentially told us that he departed his post as the AG, because at some point he realized that the former president could no longer be reasoned with.

“I felt that before the election,” Barr said, “it was possible to talk sense to the president. And while you sometimes had to engage in, you know, a big wrestling match with him, that it was possible to keep things on track. But I was—felt that after the election he didn’t seem to be listening. And I didn’t think it was—you know, that I was inclined not to stay around if he wasn’t listening to advice from me or the Cabinet secretaries.”

It’s so strange because what Barr was describing is neither “silly” nor “nonsense” nor “nonsense.” He is instead describing a claim about election fraud that was being weaponized to thwart the orderly transfer of power. Barr waited to let us all know in part because this was all a bit of a joke, until after he was subpoenaed to testify before the committee.

Recall that just a few weeks ago the same Bill Barr who felt that the former president couldn’t be reasoned with about, like, reality, said that he would vote for Trump again in 2024. Recall that the September before the 2020 election it was Bill Barr who took to CNN to make discredited and materially false claims about the connection between mail-in ballots and stolen elections. And recall also that the same Barr who says that he couldn’t get the president to “listen to advice” from any of his Cabinet secretaries resigned with a letter referencing “election integrity” without letting anyone know about what was either an existential threat to democracy or a 25th Amendment–worthy cognitive crisis in a sitting president (“ detached from reality,” said Barr of Trump).

Forced to choose between dereliction of duty because the president was delusional, or dereliction of duty because the president was a criminal, Barr appears to have picked door No. 3: The president was a laugh riot.

..

Yes, Trump was crazy, a threat to the Republic, and Barr had to give up and exit (before the certification, and with knowledge -- real knowledge -- that the President was surrounding himself with toadying crazy apostles) because he could no longer reach him. Profile in Courage.

... really had a good laugh yesterday watching Faux News, the host's praise of Barr, his courage.

Like the new Pence narrative: following the clear dictates of the law and tradition washes away the toadying servility over four years and makes him a "hero."

Yup.

[Seacoaster(1)]

More on the notion of Barr's redemption:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... was-wrong/

"Some attorneys in the Trump administration, and serving as lawmakers in Congress, enabled egregious and perhaps criminal conduct after the 2020 election. Others prevented former president Donald Trump from acting even worse than he did, or at least refused to assist him. But none of them alerted the FBI, the public or congressional leadership. That’s a serious failing.

Some lawyers’ conduct was reprehensible. Testimony collected by the House Jan. 6 committee shows that Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, who lost his law license for filing utterly frivolous cases, promoted a coup over other advisers’ objections. News reports disclosed that former assistant attorney general Jeffrey Clark had prepared a draft letter to state officials making a false claim of widespread fraud and soliciting alternative slates of electors. And, worst of all, right-wing attorney John Eastman cooked up an infamous plot to stop the electoral vote count and deny the legitimate winner, Joe Biden, the ability to take office.

Many House members who are lawyers similarly signed onto an amicus brief in a frivolous case, initiated by lawyer and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, to challenge the results of certain states that President Biden won. In the Senate, Republicans with Ivy League law degrees, such as Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Josh Hawley (Mo.), spread the “big lie” and made groundless objections to prevent the orderly counting of the electoral votes. These actions exploited the Trump base’s delusion and put democracy at risk.

All of this conduct is unacceptable for anyone who has taken an oath of office, let alone a lawyer who has obligations as an “officer of the court.” Claims to sanction some of these characters have been filed. Clark and Giuliani, for example, could have criminal liability (the crime-fraud exception does not allow them to hide behind attorney-client privilege) if the facts are sufficient to prove they committed conspiracy to defraud the United States or conspiracy to disrupt an official proceeding of Congress.

Other lawyers performed much better. Former attorney general William P. Barr testified he repeatedly told Trump that no systematic fraud occurred. Acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen and his deputies Richard Donoghue and Steve Engel all threatened to resign if Clark were elevated to attorney general. Pat Cipollone, White House counsel, denounced Clark’s stunt. Meanwhile, Byung J. “BJay” Pak, the former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, diligently investigated fraud claims and quit rather than take part in the pressure campaign to “find” votes to overturn the election. Their actions helped defuse a constitutional crisis.

However, when Barr quit, he wrote a glowing letter about the man he later testified may have become “detached” from reality. He publicly supported the effort to discredit mail-in balloting. And none of the lawyers in the administration — Barr, Rosen, Donoghue, Engel, Cipollone or Pak — went to the FBI, media or Congress to warn the country. We should find out why — and then revise legal ethics rules accordingly.

Did they think everything was under control? Certainly, they knew Trump had not yet conceded and had planned the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. That seems the weakest excuse.

Did they feel bound by the attorney-client privilege or beholden to Trump because they served in his administration? Sorry, but the client of government lawyers is the American people, not an individual president.

Did they think they could preserve their careers? Perhaps they calculated that staying quiet meant they did not have to face the wrath of the GOP and the MAGA crowd — or end their career in GOP circles. If they thought quitting was sufficient, they were grotesquely wrong.

The oath that government officials take obligates them to “defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” In refusing to publicly short-circuit the coup attempt, they failed to fulfill that most elementary duty.

State bars, and certainly the Justice Department, must clarify lawyers’ ethical obligation: After exhausting all internal channels, they must alert law enforcement — or the public — to any plot to overthrow our democracy. Apparently, that now has to be spelled out with the threat of professional punishment if they fail to do so. None of these people covered themselves in glory."

[ggait]

I am no fan of Barr. He spent much of his tenure in the tank for Trump in many ways that were not legitimate for the USAG.

His obsequious resignation letter was downright disgraceful. He obviously was trying to have it both ways -- just in case Trump's legacy turned out to be good and lasting.

But to his credit, he did go public on December 1 with his conclusion that there was no evidence of fraud that would change the election outcome. And his mid-December resignation only came after the presidential electors had voted in the states. So it is fair to say that Barr stayed around until after the electoral college process had definitively decided Biden was the winner.

Only a completely crazy evil doofus criminal (i.e. Giuliani, Eastman, Clark, Trump) would believe that the election was not 110% done and over by that time. Of course, that is the time when Trump said "hold my beer."

While Barr did the minimum required under the circumstances (i.e. refrain from illegal fraudulent acts) it is stunning how many lawyers could not meet that very low standard. The lawyers in Congress (like fancy credentialed Senators Cruz and Hawley) are, to me, the most loathsome individuals. In any normal world, they would be turned out of office and spend the rest of their careers shamed and unemployable.

But there are some small lawyer heroes in this tale. Props to deputy AG Donoghue, for example, for telling Jeffrey Clark (an environmental lawyer) in an Oval Office meeting: "how about you go back to your office and we'll call you if there's an oil spill."

[MDlaxfan76]

I am no fan of Barr. He spent much of his tenure in the tank for Trump in many ways that were not legitimate for the USAG.

His obsequious resignation letter was downright disgraceful. He obviously was trying to have it both ways -- just in case Trump's legacy turned out to be good and lasting.

But to his credit, he did go public on December 1 with his conclusion that there was no evidence of fraud that would change the election outcome. And his mid-December resignation only came after the presidential electors had voted in the states. So it is fair to say that Barr stayed around until after the electoral college process had definitively decided Biden was the winner.

Only a completely crazy evil doofus criminal (i.e. Giuliani, Eastman, Clark, Trump) would believe that the election was not 110% done and over by that time. Of course, that is the time when Trump said "hold my beer."

While Barr did the minimum required under the circumstances (i.e. refrain from illegal fraudulent acts) it is stunning how many lawyers could not meet that very low standard. The lawyers in Congress (like fancy credentialed Senators Cruz and Hawley) are, to me, the most loathsome individuals. In any normal world, they would be turned out of office and spend the rest of their careers shamed and unemployable.

But there are some small lawyer heroes in this tale. Props to deputy AG Donoghue, for example, for telling Jeffrey Clark (an environmental lawyer) in an Oval Office meeting: "how about you go back to your office and we'll call you if there's an oil spill."

Well put; +1

[CU88]

But there are some small lawyer heroes in this tale. Props to deputy AG Donoghue, for example, for telling Jeffrey Clark (an environmental lawyer) in an Oval Office meeting: "how about you go back to your office and we'll call you if there's an oil spill."

Quote of the year!

[Seacoaster(1)]

I am no fan of Barr. He spent much of his tenure in the tank for Trump in many ways that were not legitimate for the USAG.

His obsequious resignation letter was downright disgraceful. He obviously was trying to have it both ways -- just in case Trump's legacy turned out to be good and lasting.

But to his credit, he did go public on December 1 with his conclusion that there was no evidence of fraud that would change the election outcome. And his mid-December resignation only came after the presidential electors had voted in the states. So it is fair to say that Barr stayed around until after the electoral college process had definitively decided Biden was the winner.

Only a completely crazy evil doofus criminal (i.e. Giuliani, Eastman, Clark, Trump) would believe that the election was not 110% done and over by that time. Of course, that is the time when Trump said "hold my beer."

While Barr did the minimum required under the circumstances (i.e. refrain from illegal fraudulent acts) it is stunning how many lawyers could not meet that very low standard. The lawyers in Congress (like fancy credentialed Senators Cruz and Hawley) are, to me, the most loathsome individuals. In any normal world, they would be turned out of office and spend the rest of their careers shamed and unemployable.

But there are some small lawyer heroes in this tale. Props to deputy AG Donoghue, for example, for telling Jeffrey Clark (an environmental lawyer) in an Oval Office meeting: "how about you go back to your office and we'll call you if there's an oil spill."

Well put; +1

Agreed; great post.