Politics - News Analysis

Barr Reportedly Told DOJ Officials to Try to Undermine Michael Cohen Conviction

The nation is starting to wake up to the fact that William Barr represents just as big a threat to the rule of law as Donald Trump. Barr is every bit as corrupt as Trump, but he is three to five times smarter and knows how to run an entire department to implement his policies and views. Most dangerously, Barr has no problem ignoring conflicts that any third-year law student would recognize, all so he can act as Trump’s law firm. Increasingly, Barr’s moves behind the scenes are now being discussed in the light of day, and with each revelation, the need to impeach Barr becomes clearer.

According to a new report in the Times, Barr had just been sworn-in as A.G. when he sought to interfere on behalf of “Individual-1” in the Michael Cohen case. The Cohen case is particularly dangerous to Trump because Trump is an unindicted co-conspirator. If Trump wasn’t president, it is likely he would have been charged in the same action. The Cohen prosecution sits as a giant threat on the horizon for Trump the moment he leaves office. Remarkably, some of Barr’s first business as A.G. was to clear this path for Trump:

At one point during the discussions, Mr. Barr instructed Justice Department officials in Washington to draft a memo outlining legal arguments that could have raised questions about Mr. Cohen’s conviction and undercut similar prosecutions in the future, according to the people briefed on the matter.

If Barr could get SDNY to drop the Cohen case, there could be no case against Trump. One cannot “conspire” without another conspirator. If what Cohen did wasn’t illegal, it makes it less likely the government could prosecute Trump.

Mr. Barr’s maneuvering in the Cohen case was not his only attempt to insert himself in Southern District cases. After Mr. Barr was sworn in, one of his first actions was to seek briefings on politically sensitive investigations in the office and elsewhere, people briefed on the discussions said.

“Seek briefings on politically sensitive investigations in the office and elsewhere.” So Barr immediately set out to figure out what the department might be holding as evidence against who? Tried to figure out how much trouble Trump and his buddies might be in?

Yes:

 Michael T. Flynn, the president’s former national security adviser, and Roger J. Stone Jr., a political operative close to Mr. Trump who was convicted of lying to Congress and other crimes. Last month, Mr. Barr ordered that prosecutors in Washington drop the case against Mr. Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about phone calls with the Russian ambassador. Mr. Barr also overruled a sentencing recommendation from career prosecutors in Washington for Mr. Stone, which he viewed as excessive, prompting the office to backtrack.

And, of course, Rudy, Lev, and we haven’t even mentioned Jeffery Epstein yet. Epstein, of course, is the man who was able to commit suicide due to the “perfect storm” of circumstances (as characterized by Barr) allowing everyone to look the other way.

As we noted above, the real evidence is starting to come out. Barr faces a hearing in the Democratic House in late July amid calls for impeachment.

https://twitter.com/AshaRangappa_/status/1276233732391948294

We have read several reports in the last week that state it is conceivable that foreign nations have influence over Barr due to actions Barr took as a younger attorney general in the George H.W. Bush administration. We cannot know.

What we do know is that everything looks different when the political winds change. When Trump was polling in the mid to high 40s and the election looked like the typical horserace, Barr held a much stronger position. But now that Trump is in free fall, and with the country in decline on several fronts, people want answers and there is little room for Barr to hide.

Barr may skate through the rest of the term without being impeached but there is no one who wants Trump to win more in November than Bill Barr … perhaps Barr wants Trump to win even more than Trump does. After all, Trump can likely beg someone for a pardon someday. Barr …

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom

 

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

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