CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER
Experts Blast Barr for ‘Utterly Shocking Bad Faith’ NBC Interview Attacking FBI: ‘Hannity Is the Attorney General Now’
“If there is a single thing William Barr is an expert on, it is ‘bad faith.'”
In a stunning move the Attorney General of the United States on Tuesday blasted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, widely separating himself from the findings of the Dept. of Justice Inspector General’s report. Barr also claimed the FBI should have ended the counterintelligence investigation into Donald Trump once he was elected president.
And Barr even said the FBI acted in “bad faith” in conducting the investigation into Trump and Russia.
Effectively, Barr is saying not only should the president never be prosecuted, but presidents should never be investigated. All these statements are contrary to what many if not most constitutional experts have said.
Barr also called the reasons for opening the Russia probe “very flimsy,” in an interview with NBC News’ Pete Williams.
Again, that is in direct contradiction into what legal and constitutional experts have said.
“I think our nation was turned on its head for three years based on a completely bogus narrative that was largely fanned and hyped by a completely irresponsible press,” Barr also told Williams.
Stunningly, Barr also tells Williams the Steele Dossier is “false.” Nearly none of it has been determined to be false.
He also falsely hunkers down on his false claim the Trump campaign was spied on.
Barr is getting blasted as his interview airs on MSNBC.
Here’s MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, who pulls no punches:
If there is a single thing William Barr is an expert on, it is “bad faith” https://t.co/qBh13ZaXCW
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) December 10, 2019
Last night Frank Figliuzzi describes Barr as “shopping for outcomes” and he’s now basically come out and admitted that.
Gonna be awesome when DOJ opens a criminal investigation into whoever the D nominee is in 2020.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) December 10, 2019
Here’s ACLU attorney Josh Block:
The audacity of Barr to say this while Trump explicitly calls for investigation of Biden is breathtaking….https://t.co/WsygBl78eL pic.twitter.com/g2h47H2rOm
— Josh Block (@JoshABlock) December 10, 2019
CNBC/NBC’s John Harwood:
Putin could not serve Trump’s purposes any better than Barr in this interview
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) December 10, 2019
he continues to say Mueller found there was no collusion
that is false
Mueller found that he could not establish a conspiracy to collude – not that there was no evidence of it
to the contrary, Mueller found that Trump campaign welcomed Russian interference and exploited it
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) December 10, 2019
CNN National Security and Legal Analyst Susan Hennessey:
Just utterly shocking bad faith by the Attorney General. Once upon a time, this was the kind of thing that would spark high-level resignations in protest at the Department and Bureau. https://t.co/r0kjL4V4PW
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) December 10, 2019
NBC News and MSNBC Legal Analyst Glenn Kirschner:
Barr is becoming the Attorney General for Disinformation. Congress, if you’re listening . . .
— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) December 10, 2019
U.S. Senator Mark Warner, Vice Chairman, Intel Committee:
Mr. Barr is acting in incredibly bad faith. With this revisionist campaign to undermine a thorough, two-year IG investigation, the Attorney General is once again substituting partisan rhetoric for politically inconvenient facts. https://t.co/41KkrxMCkn
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) December 10, 2019
Others:
Barr is inadvertently describing exactly what Trump did with Ukraine and what the Articles of Impeachment cover. https://t.co/SXJu7pjcfG
— Leah McElrath 🏳️🌈 (@leahmcelrath) December 10, 2019
tl;dr Sean Hannity is the attorney general now https://t.co/UdSpazI2f7 https://t.co/zcu3aGNzOx
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) December 10, 2019
You know, John Mitchell went to jail for Nixon out of loyalty. Barr is doing it because after years of hiding under the radar as a kind of standard-issue Bush/Reagan Republican, he turns out to be a tin-foil loon. https://t.co/S5Rds7Pa0E
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 10, 2019
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