Some experts are balking at the news CNN broke Wednesday afternoon that the Mueller investigation is wrapping up and newly-minted Attorney General William Barr will be receiving a report soon, possibly next week. Others are saying it makes sense Mueller is wrapping up, insisting he would not give in to pressure if he weren’t finished.
But the timing, some are suggesting, is curious.
“Sounds Totally Legit!” wrote Talking Points Memo editor and publisher Josh Marshall, sarcastically. Marshall has become one of the most insightful and prolific experts on the Mueller investigation.
“This is fascinating. Six days into Bill Barr taking over the Justice Department,” Marshall notes. Chillingly, he adds: “Barr has made clear that he does not believe the DOJ can release negative information about people who have not been charged with a crime.”
Other experts on the Mueller investigation are also weighing in.
Some have pointed to last week’s chilling tweet from far right wing lobbyist and pundit Matt Schlapp, whose wife just happens to be a senior Trump White House official:
The truth is, no one outside of key players in the Dept. of Justice knows for sure.
Here’s what some other experts are saying.
Former federal prosecutor turned CNN legal analyst Renato Mariotti asks:
And responding to Marshall’s claim that ‘something does not fit,” he adds:
Frequent MSNBC contributor and former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance says, “it’s hard to figure how Mueller closes up shop with the Stone trial still pending,” but “the timing will be his decision, not Barr’s.”
Ross Garber, a CNN legal analyst and a top impeachment lawyer, offers this insight, which may not please those hoping for Trump to be criminally charged:
Noted national security and civil liberties journalist Marcy Wheeler has a different take:
But it’s professor of international relations David Rothkopf, who until recently was the CEO of the company that publishes Foreign Policy, that offers few answers but the wisest and best questions:
You can read the entire thread of Rothkopf’s comments starting here.
If you’ve lost all hope, there’s always this: