The memo by which DOJ justified its finding that Trump didn’t commit obstruction of justice, counter to Mueller’s findings, was released yesterday, shocking all who read it. It was full of disingenuous conclusions and, as just one example, it required the reader to believe that Trump’s warning to witnesses “do not flip” meant “tell the truth.” It was that bad, which explains why it was torched by every court that read it.
It shouldn’t be a surprise.
Barr was the guy who advertised himself – practically begging to be named A.G. – as the guy who “could land the plane,” a tacit acknowledgment that the Mueller investigation would find hydraulic lines that ran through uniquely dirty and dangerous systems, leaving the wide body uncontrollable as it approached the Mueller tarmac. Barr had reason to be confident, the last time he was A.G., he led the George H.W. Bush administration and remnants of the Reagan White House through the final stages of the Nicaragua-Contra scandal, and everyone walked away, some with minor injuries, even though that scandal was far worse than Watergate. Barr’s unique piloting skills owe to his willingness to break certain systems having to do with transparency, truth, and the rule of law, which allowed his particular craft to function normally for a short period of time. And he did land Trump’s plane. But now, looking at the damage, Barr will be lucky if he doesn’t lose his license.
CNN’s Elie Honig described the problems on CNN to Kaitlin Collins: (Video Below)
“This is a dark chapter in DOJ’s history. I think the tag line is Bill Barr lied to us about Mueller’s investigation, Bill Barr lied to a court about those lies, and then Merrick Garland appealed to try to bail out Bill Barr, and it all collapsed yesterday.”
We’ve now seen this internal memo, and what Bill Barr tried to tell a judge was, ‘Well, judge, that was a memo with deep legal analysis that I was really studying and relying on when I reached my conclusion that Trump had not committed obstruction of justice.
The trial judge said basically nonsense. This is a memo that was completed after the fact. It’s essentially a CYA, a cover-your-blank memo that you did to just paper the file after the fact.
The key phrase, the portion from which everything else flowed, is that Barr lied to the court. Attorneys don’t generally get a second chance if they lie to a court. To continue the theme, lying to a court is so dangerous that licenses get yanked.
So we learn why Barr was so confident. He knew when to lie, and he knew how to lie. One can appear to be an uber-competent pilot if one uses such techniques. But again, at some point, an incident investigation will reveal that the risks taken allowed the passengers on his plane to walk away unscarred but only at the expense of the system itself, the one that keeps everyone else safe. That system has suffered severe damage putting many at risk.
[embedded content]
@JasonMiciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, and currently studies philosophy of science, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact for speaking engagements or any concerns.