Alex Christoforou
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
It is common knowledge by this point of the investigation that special counsel Robert Mueller has no collusion case against Donald Trump.
With William Barr set to take over the DOJ, it is now looking like Mueller’s hope for an obstruction case against Trump is all but over…leaving the Mueller witch hunt with nothing more than a washed up porn star, a 1990’s playboy centerfold, and some dubious claims that Trump somehow violated campaign finance law.
The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris examine how President Trump’s pick for attorney general, William Barr, has torn apart Mueller’s investigation into potential obstruction of justice, calling it “legally insupportable” in an memo to the Justice Department earlier this year.
The memo is now surfacing due to the fact that Barr reportedly told the US President that the memo could come up during his confirmation hearing before the Senate. If confirmed, Barr would have the power to fire Mueller.
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Here is the full memo from William Barr: https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/549-june-2018-barr-memo-to-doj-mue/b4c05e39318dd2d136b3/optimized/full.pdf#page=1
Via Business Insider…
William Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, sent an unsolicited memo to the Justice Department in June calling the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into obstruction of justice “legally unsupportable” and “potentially disastrous,” The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
In his 20-page memo, which the Journal reviewed, Barr argued that Mueller’s obstruction probe is based on an overly expansive reading of the special counsel’s powers.
He also wrote that Mueller shouldn’t be allowed to demand an interview with Trump about obstruction of justice.
“As I understand it, his theory is premised on a novel and legally insupportable reading of the law,” Barr wrote, according to the Journal. “Mueller should not be permitted to demand that the President submit to interrogation about alleged obstruction.”
The investigation, Barr said, shouldn’t be sanctioned by the Justice Department.
Trump and his allies frequently criticize the Russia investigation as a politically motivated “witch hunt” aimed at undermining Trump’s presidency. In particular, Trump’s lawyers are said to be worried about the president’s legal exposure in the obstruction thread of the inquiry.
The Journal reported that in addition to sending the memo to the Justice Department, Barr also sent it to Trump’s attorneys.
Legal experts pointed out that the 20-page document would have taken several hours to write, and that it signals one of two possibilities: either Barr feels very strongly about the obstruction probe, or he was angling for a job.
Matthew Miller, a former Justice Department spokesperson, wrote on Twitter that Barr’s memo “raises major questions about whether he should be allowed to oversee the Mueller probe.”
While it’s true that former officials sometimes relay their thoughts on legal issues to the Justice Department, “20-page memos that are sent to counsel for the subject of an investigation” are “not common, and it doesn’t happen by accident,” Miller added.
Ultimately, experts said, Barr’s views on executive power and his decision to defend Trump in a memo to both the Justice Department and to Trump’s lawyers may indicate that if confirmed, he would need to recuse himself from overseeing Mueller.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Am I ever tired of all this smut, all this filth, all these intrigues, all this lying and on and on…Frankly, I could not care less if the Americans kill each other – just leave the rest of the world alone. All this cheap sensationalism…who cares about all this ilk. Let them drown in their swamp.
True, Vera! I feel exactly the same.
This story is a cheap farce.
So Mueller will go down into history as the unfortunate FBI attorney who got left out in the rain, “washed up with a porn star”? What a sad fate for an educated man who should have known better.
These fanatic US Americans are wearing blinders.
Unfortunate? Mueller tried to bring down a sitting President on the basis of what he knew to be a campaign of falsifications from a defeated opposition party and involving improper behaviour of US intelligence agencies to prevent the POTUS from ever being elected and inaugurated.
Yes, I know, Terry. With “unfortunate” I meant that he was not lucky with his work. He made himself a laughing stock while trying to smear the President. He should have known better, being an educated man, a studied lawyer. How can a trained lawyer do such dumb things? Normally lawyers are cautious people who think twice before opening their mouth.
My mother tongue is not English, so maybe I chose the wrong word. Now you know what I meant.
Not that it matters because they just print it like drunken sailors but how much money have they spent on this bull$hit Mueller investigation so far and counting ?
You are correct: not that it matters, but the last count I saw was $25 mil but it depends who you ask-trump says $40 mil but the trash media says, oh no, that’s too high. I will say this to anyone reading, I doubt that there is an average american who reads or does more than listen to the screamers on cnn, et al, that is not profoundly embarrassed, bored, frustrated, ad nauseum. It comes down to a question as to who do you believe, who do you want to come out of this: trump, rosenstein, mueller, demos, pelosi, schummer,… Read more »
I thought the point of Trump leaning totally on Rod Rosenstein’s memo when he fired Comey ANTICIPATED and WAS INTENDED TO NEUTRALISE the phoney charge (which was Comey& Rosenstein’s set-up) of “obstruction.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39866767#
I wouldn’t be so quick to jump on the Barrwagon. Yes, of course Barr will say all the right things to get inn power. (It’s not as though he’s said anything we didn’t already know.) However: he’s an old Bush/Casey CIA hand. Look into his participation in the management of the illegal war in Central America as well as the illegal weapons and drug trafficking, as alleged by at least two covert operators, Terry Reed (whom you might want to try to talk to) and Chip Tatum.
The Mueller investigation is a third-rate sit com, a sort of US version of “Kasperletheater”. And people are bombarded with it day and night.
Boy, am I glad not to be a US citizen. That nation could drive anyone crazy.