Geez, how stupid must these guys think the American public actually is? First Barr tries to convince everyone that he's not Trump's right hand and he actually does have integrity and honor for the law/constitution and then this?
My hope for Barr is that when his tenure ends, he is shunned by every judicial system and law enforcement personnel/agencies on the planet. What an utter disgrace.
6
In other news: Attorney general William Barr has announced an investigation into the opening of the investigation of the Watergate affair. It is his personal belief that president Nixon did nothing wrong and his investigation will eventually exonerate him. In furtherance of these beliefs, the DOJ has released an opinion stating that it is unconstitutional to investigate members of the Republican Party.
4
Barr has given us a glimpse what the "deep state" actually is. Makes you wonder what else he has been hiding. Trump, of course, didn't make up the deep state out of thin air. He created it, with Barr, and then twisted it and projected it onto others.
3
I wonder how many Republicans in Congress are regretting their endorsement of this president’s behavior.
My guess is probably not enough to make a difference.
Besides the lesson we are getting on what corruption looks like from the president, this whole Trumpian saga has been an incredible illustration of the danger of intensely partisan two-party politics.
The party in power is endorsing a notion of justice that serves only those in power. They have forever lost credibility as defenders of the constitution and equal justice under law. 
5
Barr has given us a glimpse what the "deep state" actually is. Makes you wonder what else he has been hiding. Trump, of course, didn't make up the deep state out of thin air. He created it, with Barr, and then twisted it and projected it onto others.
2
Barr has given us a glimpse what the "deep state" actually is. Makes you wonder what else he has been hiding. Trump, of course, didn't make up the deep state out of thin air. He created it, with Barr, and then twisted it and projected it onto others.
Fascinating to read that Barr said that Trump didn't tell him to do anything in particular, while the public knows Trump expresses his desires publically via Twitter, and then let's his cronies do his bidding. Sad, but true.
This is not a Republican and or Democrat issue, but one for our democracy. If our systems of accountability are not changed, our young country is likely to go the way of so many dynasties before it.
3
Bringing in outside prosecutors should be setting off all of the alarms. It sounds like another way of saying, "Let's bring in people who have a more favorable opinion of the Administration."
5
So Barr won't be bullied by whom? The American people? Lady Justice? Morality and honesty? I don't know who/what he was really referring to, because he's just another Trump puppet disguised as an objective Attorney General.
2
The crew is abandoning ship! Barr isn't keen on going down with Trump as this administration is reaching for its inevitable climax. It is, in its own way, a kind of Greek tragedy in that it never reached for the stars but has rather dredged the bottoms of every aspect of governance and leadership. The resilience of our Democracy has been and continues to be tested in the face of behavior more indicative of the mob than a shining light on a hill. Politicians have been and are being challenged daily by the question of country before party. That some still teeter on the edge is and well should be a matter of grave concern to all.
I will be glad for America when we can all look back on this and say;
The wannabe king is gone! Long live the President!
November cannot come soon enough.
2
After preventing witnesses it has become crystal clear that we are now living in a banana republic.
3
McCabe lied to his own FBI and admitted it. Case thrown out, and it was equal in severity or lack thereof to Flynn’s case.
Flynn’s case will also be thrown out.
Then all the handwringers will go full crazy, declaring the experiment in democracy over blah blah blah.
All of these cases should be thrown out as the cases and their related activity was all in a context of widespread interagency hysteria abetted by the departing Obama administration and the flailing criminal enterprise known as the Hillary Clinton campaign.
3
And then he will appoint a clearly partisan toady from the Federalist Society who will drag out the process. They can then gauge when is the best time (based on Trump's chance of re-election) to lighten Flynn's sentence.
Like other commenters, I can't believe this is happeneing in our country.
2
Robert Mueller didn't get his man. He let him get away.
I am reading "A Very Stable Genius".
There is no word in English to describe the unfolding events.
Barr has been in the tent from the inception of this administration. He and the republicans are trying to save their ship. Don't believe anyrhing they say and let their ship sink.
Trump is worried one of his convicted henchmen will spill the beans on his obvious Russian collusion in 2016. At this point I'm not sure it matters. Half or more of the country knows he did it and another 1/3 don't seem to care.
In any case, AG Barr happens to believe in imperial (but only Republican) presidencies and is more than willing to meddle inappropriately in key DoJ cases.
And I'm sure Barr didn't pick random prosecutors for his jobs. Just like Giuliani in the Ukraine, he wants just enough so he, Donald, and right wing media can raise questions and make some kind of stink. Of course, any reports will be filtered through Barr and the full contents kept from Congress unless heavily redacted.
Welcome to the United Soviet States of Amerika.
2
Why stop with the Flynn case? Let’s rehash Benghazi, and why not figure out some crack method to rehear the Clinton impeachment to remove him from office for the record?
Well, add a couple of facts, fired James Comey admitted rushing the FBI agents, including of all people, Peter Strozck, to the White House to take advantage of the situation at the WH, not how things normally work, he admitted that. Then fired Andrew McCabe and the FBI advised Flynn there was no need for a lawyer to be present, FACT! They did not inform Flynn of any investigation. Now the 302 for from that initial interview is gone, nowhere to be found?? Just those FACTS alone would seem to warrant a second look!
3
Barr is the most criminally minded, corrupt AG the US has ever seen.
12
Welcome to the United States of Russia.
9
the fact that a US general cnspired to work for Russia & Turkey,2 Nations that are military dictatorships is Obscene.Flynn is a TRAITOR & should go to jail for life & forfeit his pension & any benefits.
11
In all of this week's madness, I wonder what Pelosi has cooking?
3
Whatever it is, I expect it will be a day late and a dollar short again.
Any hope that William Barr had an ounce of integrity in him lasted less than 24 hrs. with this pathetic announcement.
7
Barr is trying to make history and he will succeed.
He will go down in history as the single most corrupt and anti-legal Attorney General, counting Nixon's AG John Mitchell.
Why he thinks he'll get away with this is flat-out crazy. He is as corrupt as his boss.
12
I am wondering if the media could at least admit that interviewing Barr, Trump or any other member of the GOP leadership would be like interviewing OJ Simpson on how he was set up by the LAPD. Quoting them should absolutely be avoided. You do not need to be the smartest person in the world to see this.
How can the media be fooled every day? A mediocre President once said, "Fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me...well you can't get fooled again."
6
This little Trump and Barr brouhaha has to be a Kabuki Theater illusion to entertain us little people. While the last vestiges of rule by law in American are shredded.
7
McCabe's crucifixion has been interrupted because sealed documents were due to be released exposing Barr and Trump's meddling. They had to drop it.
Now what about reinstating his pension?
Are the banana Republicans going to do something about executive meddling in the justice system.
Trump attacks jury leader in the Stone case.
He also attacked the judge who had the audacity to be in Roger's cross hairs.
God help us all still living in western democracies.
12
So Barr is only checking cases where criminal supports (of which there are many) of Trump are involved.
Got it.
8
Attorney Jeff Jensen is a trump appointee. Fox guarding the hen house?
3
Give it up, and lets just admit that we are living through a 1950's Soviet stye pogrom of opponents of the new Beloved Leader. All thats missing is the blood oath expressing their fealty to the regime.
5
Barr should lose his law license.
10
What IS going on!
2
This just in: Barr assigns special prosecutor to re-examine case against John Gotti, Al Capone, John Dillinger, and Bonnie and Clyde.
6
The coup is almost complete.
Barr should be dis-barred.
9
On and on our banana republic goes....
2
Happy, Repub Senators?
4
Come on New York Times, it is time for you to start calling a "duck" a "duck". Or you risk becoming a minor arm of FOX News. It's easy. Just start pointing out the things that are outside the normal function of government, and ask why this is being done, and require justification with evidence - front page!
9
Based on the attached photo, he looks like a criminal and dishonest. And angry. Unhappy.
3
Barr is an amazingly corrupt person. He needs to be removed and dis-barred. He's a joke of a AG and a complete partisan hack. We are now in a dictatorship. These people are evil and represent a clear and present danger to the safety of the United States.
9
Dear God please save America, the US Senate refuses to.
10
This is not the US government. This is a rogue mafia operation. Trump is a fraud and so is Billy Barr. They're illegitimate and it's about time Americans refuse to accept another minute of this scam that is cannibalizing their nation.
10
As Flynn himself said when he lead the chants in the campaign
"Lock him (sic) up"
3
In case any of you were harboring positive thoughts about Bill Barr and his independent streak. He's a shill.
6
This is ridiculous. He committed a crime. Lock him up. There's nothing to investigate.
4
Some are saying the career prosecutors at DOJ should stay put, keep their heads down and ears to the ground. I say they should all start walking out en masse. I'm sick of people trying to do "the right thing". Look where it has gotten us — we're going down the toilet fast.Time for drastic, it's the only way we're going to survive this. State department career people should do the same. A total government meltdown should get ole Mitch and Bill's attention that they've created a monster and it's time to remedy it.
2
We're one of those countries now, huh?
2
Given the recycling of former dubious personnel presently occurring in this Fake President’s White House, perhaps Trump’s end game with Flynn is to eventually pardon him and then, in a typical “stick in the eye” move, also reinstall him there. The unimaginable has morphed into the routine under our pathological Narcissist-in-Chief.
6
How is this any different from what Adam Schiff told us during the impeachment about how in Russia, a judge makes a phone call to find out from Vladimir Putin how to rule on a case, or what sentence to mete out? Oh, but we're not Rusisa, are we?
7
They don't even bother to pretend any more, do they?
8
Hey, could somebody get DOJ to get an outside investigator to investigate the fact that Andrew McCabe was wrongfully investigated for investigating Trump ties to Russians?
5
Just a thought. But, could it be that Barr is feeling himself and his reputation being dragged into the mire and muck of Trump? Those kinds of epiphanies do happen from time to time. There will be. after all, life after Trump!
4
@Emanuele Corso -
I think we are watching a Kabuki Theater illusion to entertain us little people. While the last vestiges of rule by law in American are shredded.
4
The honorable Judge Reggie B Walton, went off on the prosecutors who have been stringing along Andrew McCabe for over a year now. He told those prosecutors that someone at the top of our government is gaming our system to who is prosecuted by the Justice Department. This is my version of what he said, but it is to the point. Barr and Trump have been called out by the courts. The case against McCabe has been dropped.
Hopefully when Trump goes off on this Judge, his supporters will realize what is really going on. As for Barr, he was in on this since he took office. He is as involved as Trump.
9
Unreal. This is dangerous and these people need to be stopped.
2
The new normal is readjusting, again. As Trump makes his circle of loyalists ever smaller, his allies are taking their case to Twitter. Aside from Fox News, this is the medium by which, through which and for which he sets his agenda — no I mean the country’s agenda — no, I was right the first time. We all know in Trump’s mind they are one in the same.
Having been given the green card by almost all Senate Republicans, his team of attorneys (including Dershowitz who was bidding for continued relevance) and his unflagging citizen-supporters, Trump is making the once great democratic republic into another land of bananas and dictators.
Meanwhile, in Alabama, Jeff Sessions is busy praising the man that publicly eviscerated him. Like a person with Stockholm Syndrome, Sessions sees Trump as the road back to the Senate, even if Trump disavows Sessions. What does it say when those throughly humiliated and wronged by this [any appropriate noun here] continue to align with and praise him?
Our hope may be in the continued progression into fascism. Perhaps some of his base will stop drinking the kool-aid long enough to actually hear and understand the truth. Perhaps those who didn’t vote last time will find their way to the ballot box this time. Perhaps those constituents served by Republican congresspeople will realize it’s not the constituents’ interest that their representatives are promoting. Perhaps. In some ways, I dread November, but it can’t come soon enough.
6
Barr's statement professing his "independence" against tweets and bullying by Trump turned out to be so much hogwash, a performance designed to protect him and his boss from further charges of obstructing justice. He continues to abet Trump's reprisals against real or perceived "enemies," with Comey, McCabe and other FBI agents at the top of the list. Republicans better speak out or the Don will soon be ordering hits on those he wants eliminated.
5
So it was a waste of money and resources as as a witch hunt when Mueller did it but not when Trump and Republican supporters Redo it?
3
Flynn admitted to lying, but we all know that there ain't nothing wrong with lying because our president does it all the time; hence the necessary review ordered by our independent AG, who's presumably trying to ensure that the unguilty don't go to jail.
5
If you are part of the Washington D.C. establishment, have plenty of money but no scruples, you can hire a top-notch lawyer to do almost anything.
And Bill Barr knows that.
And he knows exactly who to hire to do his dirty work.
And he even gets to use OUR tax dollars to do it to us!
5
When does a swamp become quicksand?
3
Let's see. This case is so complicated. The man lied to authorities and admitted it. Maybe he lied to Congress. Trump says, Hey I lie to Congress all the time. What's the big deal?
3
If you believe Barr "declared his independence" this week, think again. He never said it was the President's tweets which were "interfering with his ability to do his job". He said "comments", which I take to mean serious reporting and opinion from the MSM regarding his unprecedented attack on DOJ independence.
Consider: Barr has opened a back channel so a private citizen (and the President's attorney) can meddle in foreign policy and undercut his political rivals. He has overruled line prosecutors and forced them to choose between their careers and their integrity. He has interfered in a criminal sentencing, treated Congress with contempt and now is bringing all "political " cases under his purview and that of Trump's other cronies.
The man is a menace. Barr's "job" has been defined by patent abuse of office on behalf of an out of control executive. Please do keep "commenting" so he has difficulty doing it.
7
This is terrific. I expect now that we will soon release everyone in jail and prison that has been convicted of a cannabis infraction. For simple possession, first offenders can get 2 to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.
Only if you are poor and a person of color though.
And those fellows spending decades in prison for stealing $9, and similar...Yay! Out next week.
Currently, there are over 3,200 people nationwide are serving life terms without a chance of parole for nonviolent offenses. Add the staggering numbers of others with harsh sentencing for minor crimes. In recent estimates, approximately 35% of prisoners should not be in prison.
In all, about 2.5 million people are locked up in the US now.
We lock up kids near the border and big raids are planned to scoop up and jail more desperate people? As reported AG Barr apparently supports an expansion of mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes?
These guys Trump loves and encouraged are in country club prisons? No hard time if you are rich and did big crimes.
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/pie2018.html
2
Hopefully Flynn will receive no further grief for his distinguished service and patriotism.
5
The blindfold on Lady Justice is a good thing, but now she's being gagged. Donald Trump, the mob boss, and Bill Barr, his henchman, have turned the rule of law upside down. Our hopes for a fair and unfettered election are disintegrating by the day.
2
This is actually what The Innocent Project needed. The prosecutors of thousands of wrongfully accused can expect meticulous examinations of exactly how they arrived at a “guilty” verdict. Finally our Justice Department allowing rigorous study of evidence has indeed earned its name “Justice” and so many prisoners now have the chance of freedom. You’ve done something right, barr-trump. Thank you.
It’s so bizarre. All this stuff sounds like fiction.
The problem is......nobody could make it up.
3
The message here is quite clear: take steps that cross the political interests of Trump and you risk retribution. He has no moral compass and he's being enabled by reactionary toadies like Barr and all but one Republican senator. This is how the rule of law erodes and we lose our democratic governance.
5
There are three justice systems in the US, much like in any dictatorship.
One for the friends of the dictator.
One for the common people.
One for the enemies of the dictator.
Mark my words, soon the one for the enemies of the dictator will include “enhanced interrogation techniques” and “disappearances”.
5
Wait, first he said no didn’t then he said he did and then he said he didn’t- can’t he just be locked up for being a nuisance?? I believe Flynn himself was yelling “lock her up?” I agree withe one edit “lock HIM up!”
2
Why investigate a person who has pleaded guilty?
2
Let's make sure we bring back Michael Flynn Jr. for investigation. That will straighten things out.
1
This seems like a standard (for Trump, et. al.) act for the press and the gullible public. NOW Barr gets some spine--or so he would have us think--and NOW GOIP Senators get into high dudgeon about the War Powers Act (knowing DDT will veto it). It's all for show, and it's a crude PR show, but not however so crude that the Trump faithful and the slightly conscious-ridden Trump GOP won't buy into it.
It's a pattern among the opposition as well--hoping conscientious Republicans will rise to the occasion and save us from Trump, et. al.--Mueller, Murkowski, Collins, and now (?!?) Barr. But it won't happen. Only beating him in November will do that. And calling out these charades when they happen will do it.
3
Why doesn’t the fisa abuse get more print. Most of the comments here seem to be written by confirmed fascists. Lock em all up. Throw away all logic and reason and the key. Keep going and Trump will win by a large margin.
2
Perhaps because there was no “abuse”.
1
The IP report says there was. Christopher Wray says there was.
But just keep repeating your CNN mantra to yourself. In 5 years it will all be over.
1
@American For America If by “no abuse” you mean “at least 17 significant errors or omissions in the Carter Page FISA applications, and many additional errors in the Woods Procedures.”
1
And one more thing— even if you’re “cleared” flynn you will always be known for the trump legacy—DISHONESTY.
2
Barr posits that Executive Branch has the power of its branch. What he fails to recognize is who occupies the presidency. His theory crumbles with this presidency. His theory is null and garbage.
1
Michael Flynn is a prisoner of his own wrongdoing. No layering of prosecutors can save him from himself.
5
Barr should get the treatment Trump intimated that would be done to our Ukrainian Diplomat. He should find himself dealing with some bad things.
The entire country should be praying for Trump to have a massive stroke.
3
What Barr is doing, with the support of this president and the GOP, is prosecuting the prosecutors for doing their job.
5
Our justice is being sold to highest bidder. And Barr is a sole broker and Trump is one of his customer.
1
Barr coming out about Trump’s Tweets is an arranged ruse to give Barr public clearance to investigate Flynn Stone and others. “I’m not in Trump’s pocket, look I’ve complained about his Tweets. These investigations are legit”
4
So what is a "President" anymore? Is wanting to be a President a good thing or a bad thing? Branches of government? Don't let the right hand know?
2
Barr is troubled:
"Let's see, how many ways can I violate my solemn oath of office, refuse to enforce the law when my financial or ideological pals violate it, overturn sound judicial rulings, and let all my convicted criminal partners out of jail?
"Oh, and also explain Jeffrey Epstein's 'suicide,' which no one with an I.Q above 70 believes. Absolutely no one."
2
Vote for Bernie to end this nonsense
1
Flynn---Judas. What is our country coming to? Another legal fiasco and no justice? Are we a third world country at this point in our legal system?...Gadds..God save us--the president won't.
2
Who are these "outside prosecutors"? Forgive me for my cynicism, but until proven otherwise the only rational assumption is that they are Trump loyalists (toadies) who will reach whatever finding Barr wants them to find.
1
you have to admire bill barr with an enormous dose of admiration.
he waited a full day between declaring he won't do the president's bidding and ... doing the president's bidding.
that's just hairchest manly. after spartacus and napoleon, barr may be the most courageous and defiant human male in history.
3
Welcome to the Banana Republic. Venezuela here we come.
2
Right, right, the Justice Department is independent from the Executive Branch. As for Barr's agenda to investigate anyone who worked for Trump and who faces/is-currently-in jail...that's just pure coincidence.
Carter Page, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn... pure happenstance, and if you think otherwise, you're a never-Trumper and YOU should be ashamed of yourself.
1
Unripened Banana Republic.
2
Attorney General William P. Barr needs to be impeached.
Full stop!
10
When are we going to have a national strike against the imposition of fascism?
The route - well taken - leads to a slow, slow acceptance of fascistic rule.
Of course - in the cover of "legality" by people who shred the constitution.
Barr is nothing more that Geobbles to Trump as Hitler.
The concentration camps are at the boarder.
Jews need not apply - only Central Americans and Mexicans.
9
I'm very glad Barr did this. The Flynn case has had too many discrepancies from both the prosecution and the defense. There have been many stories over the years of how the FBI paints people into corners and crafts questionable stories that they must agree to. I don't know how true that is, but there are too many stories with the same pattern. We need to make sure Flynn receives true justice and is not a victim of some vendetta against Trump.
1
Where are you getting these “stories”? Breitbart News?
4
@J. G. Smith
And an admission of guilt means nothing? Good to know.
5
@J. G. Smith Flynn lied, then admitted to it. As for all the stories, perhaps you could fill us in on the sourcing.
2
Trump supporters suffer from confirmation bias, like we all do. We choose to believe what we like. I'm not arguing that both sides are the same. I'm just saying that Trump supporters choose to ignore what doesn't agree with what they believe, and choose to take in what agrees with their point of view.
Additionally, many Trump supporters care more about "sticking it to the Democrats" than they do about winning. So their happiness comes from defeating the Democrats as much as it comes from winning. Even if defeating the Democrats has a direct negative effect on their lives (for example, defeat ObamaCare / loose pre-existing conditions, under fund EPA / water quality), they don't care because they can see the Democrats whining and that is ore important to them than anything else.
Any election at this point is going to be very close to 50/50. If you are a Democrat, or an Independent, vote in November against Trump. Even if your least favorite candidate is nominated. For me, that is Sanders. I don't particularly like him, but I prefer him to Trump, any day. If your first choice is not available, remember that not voting is like voting for Trump.
8
Completely agree with all of your statements.
3
The coming Flynn acquittal will be as credible as the Senate acquittal of Trump. They may have let McCabe off the hook just to distract from the inevitable phoney acquittal of Flynn.
One thing you can be sure of is that in one way or the other Trump is cheating in order to win the next election.
5
Successful operators in high profile positions know how to coordinate by indirection to retain “plausible deniability” of collusion. It’s a game of winks and nods, double negatives, reliable third-party cut-outs, arguably privileged communications, and so on - the variations are endless. This is now the Trump-Barr kabuki we are watching being played out at our ostensibly “independent” Department of Justice. The flaw in the play-acting is that Trump cannot resist showing he is the stable genius who is always in charge.
2
The real constitutional test is going to be when Trump loses the election, but says the election was somehow "rigged", and refuses to leave office "until it had been thoroughly investigated". The Senate will support him, of course. Now that's going to be fun. You ain't seem nothing yet.
5
Perhaps some folks may have not been following the matters closely, and missed the fact that FBI agents and prosecutors were filing false requests to spy on American citizens, including destroying exculpatory information that would have killed their applications. Perhaps it is very appropriate that the AG brings in outside investigators to see who may have been committing criminal acts over at Justice Department. Some of those folks are facing conflicts-of-interest in light of the new information about their investigations, as they may now face prosecution for illegal acts. It these allegations have any legs, we don't want those persons in positions of power over the American people anymore. Everyone should agree we want our FBI and J.D. staffed with ethical non-criminals. If they acted appropriately, then we will find that out as well, and unlike those who went after the President, the media will ensure everyone knows who is innocent on that side of the bar.
3
False requests? Did you get that from Fox the Trump fixer? A review found no bias. The FISA was warranted.
4
Some situations are too grim for words. This is a travesty of justice.
4
Career Prosecutors is a synonym for Democrat prosecutors. They hate Trump. He threatens their jobs. They represent the Deep State. If they don't like Trump - quit. What they have done to Flynn and Stone is a vindictive reaction to their failure in the Mueller fiasco. The problem of "career prosecutors" they are dependent on the government and bend the system to protect their job. Both Trump and Barr are their boss. Just as Holder was Obama's choice Barr is Trump's. The decision to not prosecute McCabe is incomprehensive. He was accused by the Inspector General. He laments two years of uncertainty - now he knows how Trump feels. Tough.
2
You forgot to tell us that Manafort was innocent too. Forget the juries that convicted these folks. They should just get Trump supporters to decide for us all.
2
Now that Trump won’t remove him from office he will continue to expand his power.
Mr. Barr has squandered his credibility. The fact Trump did not lash out at him suggests that Barr was confident Trump knew he was trying to put out a firestorm at DOJ. Trump now says he has every right to interfere in any DOJ cases, which is a clear violation of protocol and will lead to more obstruction and misconduct. Of course regardless of what happens with Stone it is probably quite certain Trump will pardon him. Since the GOP Congress has no desire to reign in these people we are in full blown crises. Our government is now operating like authoritarians regimes we used to chastise. The worst thing is that the vast majority of the public is paying no attention - the Trump cult thinks it's great and most everyone else isn't engaged either.
4
The end result of these investigations is that prosecutors will be afraid to bring charges against Republicans for fear of scrutiny and punishment
3
We should examine every case that THE CRIMINAL confessed. No justice department has become the long arm of tyranny. I hope the ones who care quit.
"This week, four line prosecutors quit the case against Roger Stone Jr., Mr. Trump’s close adviser, after Mr. Barr overruled their recommendation that a judge sentence him within sentencing guidelines".
That is a lie. Sentencing guidelines for this offence recommend 18 to 24 month sentence. The prosecutors requested 7 to 9 years - grotesquely above sentencing guidelines.
2
A petition by as many line prosecutors who wish to sign on should be undertaken to request the resignation of A. G.Barr as our Attorney General for the good of the country and the perception of our Justice Dept. as fair and unbiased by political interference as demonstrated by Trump who appears ignorant of our constitutional republic. Franklin warned us we have a Republic if we can keep it ,Trump and Barr are busy trying to establish a dictatorship.
1
There has already been so much time wasted on this case. Flynn pleaded guilty, and his smart mouth ticked off the judge so she continued his sentencing hearing until months later. He did it; he's guilty. He's another Trumpster who should have known better given the position of power the Trump put him into, but no, he had to wheel and deal. Trump loves the guy, so he wants Barr to see a way clear to just letting him go, which Barr will no doubt do, as soon as a decent amount of time has passed.
1
Flynn, Barr, Trump, Manafort... and all Republicans sell outs- co-opted assests like McConnell and Nunes assest of the global Oligarchy + the the big boss Putin ( the wealthiest man on the Planet). Cash & power for loyalty & favors, Trump sold you out for seat at the big table. America as we knew it is finished in a bloodless coup. Gullible Americans are serfs or servants of the new Reich (realm).
3
The swamp is about to get drained.
1
At least alligators can live in swamps; in the morass Trump created, only the vilest pathogens can possibly exist.
7
@Muddlerminnow
Nice catch minnow.
1
Nothing short of Neo-Fascism.
14
@Peter King
Watch for Trump postponing the election. He will use the Corona virus or similar to do it.
I have an idea. I say, ‘Let’s stop and frisk all old white guys in suits.’ We’re bound to catch a few criminals.
16
@itsmildeyes
Even better if we just lock up all republicans I bet the wars will stop and money will finally start to accumulate in our coffers.
How do you spell Banana Republic---William Barr.
10
Barr rebuking the president is just another good cop/bad cop flim flam.
13
It sure seems that way. But I can’t help but think that Trump’s fragile, delicate ego was still hurt by being rebuked by one of his top flunkies in public, even if it was pure theater. That’s just the way he functions. There will be a resentment there now which will never go away.
1
Let’s review. Flynn was charged for lying about his contact with the RUSSIAN Kislyak; Manafort is the link Mueller needed to find Trump guilty of collusion with RUSSIA. Stone is the link to Wikileaks, which is the repository for RUSSIA’S hack against the DNC. Trump is trying to whitewash his guilt. Ukraine and Trump’s wanting to find exonerating evidence on Manafort — everything comes back to Russia with this president. Lapdog Barr is just another tool for him — like the corrupt Republicans in the senate. There’s literally no bottom to the lack of morality of this administration and the Republicans in the senate. Rotten from top to bottom. November can’t come soon enough. I hope the next AG isn’t corrupt like Barr, and that he or she investigates all these (cough) investigations.
12
Uncle Sam's picture now comes under "Banana Republic" in the dictionary.
6
The headline should read 'Barr installs outside prosecuter to acquit Michael Flynn'
9
Barr does his job “reeeeee he’s the lapdog of the president! He’ll never speak up against his boss! What a horrible DOJ!”
Barr speaks up against his boss “Look, Barr contradicted the president! What a horrible DOJ!”
This news seems a little... fake... to me
2
This is how Hitler was able to take over Germany. Hitler was able to do this BECAUSE Germany was in a horrible financial Depression, people were starving and they grabbed at anyone who could save them. But that is not where America was when Trump got in as President. We were doing very well. But Trump by using lies made many think they were doing very badly. Now three years after Trump's attack on America we have an Attorney General who has destroyed the rule of law. It can't get much worse.
7
Since when has this sycophant cared about political interference? I smell a rat
4
Cut to the chase and have Russian prosecutors review these cases. It’s not like Republicans will stand up for the rule of law. Bunch of despicable cowards.
12
Barr is he was serious he would resign but of course that nonsense of telling the President after he spoke to him not to interfer was a horse and pony show. Today says it all they are looking at all the cases even when judges have said there is no reason for the verdict to be thrown out or a juror was biased. Also with these Barr sends the message out for all prosecutors and lets face they are coming after judges that they don't like. The one in the Stone case convicted Mr. Trump's friend the crook Conrad Black who he gave a pardon to. Black who gave up his Canadian citizenship is a British citizen and since I live in Canada he should go to the UK. He last year wrote a glowing book about the little hand King (remember that comic strip) and wow a pardon for stealing millions from shareholders was granted. I wonder is anyone in the investigative branch digging to see and I bet each tainted Medal of Freedom, pardon money in an envelope is changing hands think the Little King does anything for free. Welcome to the full blown Nazi dictatorship. Remember there are investigations of Comey and McCabe who the Little King killed his pension the day before he was to retire. Everyone is fair game this is not about a Deep State what crazyness, this is about creating a dictatorship. Funny no investigation by Barr or request from Graham who is up to his eyeballs in it. Jim Trautman
3
Time to draft some more articles of impeachment.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin appreciates the Valentines Day present.
8
The “reformed” Barr’s “come to Jesus” moment didn’t even last 24 hours! Lol!
9
Lock him up and throw away the key
5
Barr, Trump or both?
Wow, its almost as if Barr's alleged (alleged because it was a lie from the start) discomfort with Trump's tweets was just a guise to investigate more cases with supposed independent prosecutors. In other words, the scam laid to bare is: "I think Trump is wielding too much influence over my independence, as a result dear public, I am going have outside "independent" prosecutors revue even more cases to show you how much you can trust us now." HA. Swamp creature extraordinaire!
11
if you look at all the ridiculous investigations that barr has begun and that, so far, all have shown nothing, barr is a trumpian lapdog. trump's ignorant and childish twitters really have no bearing on barr's decisions to go after everything that trump is unhappy about. he is the most corrupt ag since mitchell during the nixon years, and, up to now, he had been the worst. but barr is trying to win his place in the corruption game. flynn lied. period. he made a deal. period. and now he wants to ignore all that since he might have to spend time in jail as he should.
6
Flynn: I lied about lying. I'm not guilty of lying. Maybe I forgot :(
Trump and his AG fixer are a total disgrace to this country and it's getting crazier every day.
9
Keep voting Republican folks.
Ye reap what yea sow.
6
Kick them all out. It will take us 50 years to straighten this mess. It took 50 years to get us here.
8
This is not normal.
12
Where were you when democracy died?
14
Ya want to know why we find ourselves in then place we are? Here's a quote from the local paper:
"Then again even the elitists are separated into two different groups those that support the democrats and those that support the constitution and law and order."
Get it? It's the GOP that is for law and order. I cannot make this stuff up.
8
Be prepared for Trump's second term in office. He is assured of it.
6
Reading the latest news from this administration is like drinking swamp water from a fire hose.
17
Eager to rewrite history only Orwellian Trump could ignore the fact that Flynn himself plead guilty.
19
F pleaded guilty. What's to review?
16
They are all in cahoots to get him off: hence the idea of his withdrawing his guilty plea. Yet another favor from White House and DOJ!
Given how much neither believes in America or democracy, and given the power AG Barr has, surely people can see the danger to our “rule of law” ethos.
Welcome to the national socialists!!!
1
Just waiting on the news of "shuffling" Generals around, closing down "hostile" news outlets and postponing elections...for national security reasons.
13
We have arrived at a point that whatever Donald Trump or William Barr say it is thought to be a lie, to a majority of Americans. Even Trump's most ardent supporters admit that he lies, they simply don't mind being conned. What a strange outcome, where "the boy who cries wolf" is no longer a parable about the importance of honesty. One wonders, how do parents teach their children that trust and honesty must be an integral element of their character, when our President and Attorney General are habitual and brazen liars?
10
What's Flynn's complaint? "You tricked me with the facts and scared me into admitting to them." !
12
I do not recognize my government in this current administration. Flynn's case has been settled; only the sentencing was left to be decided. Why is there an "investigation"? What is to be investigated? This stinks to the high heavens. People, please make certain you are registered to vote and get off your behind and vote because everyone voting is what it will take to remove this ridiculous "wannabe" dictator from our White House!
16
Ladies and Gentlemen, please let me introduce the next Presidential Medal of Freedom, Michael Flynn.
16
The swamp only grows and gets muckier. No drainage going on here for sure.
3
Who, might I ask represents me on all of this? No one of substance or ability, it seems. Makes you want to vote for the kid from South Bend.
14
@PleasantlyPlain
That "kid" is one of them.
"The Justice Department declined to comment."
Everything Trump touches dies. Goodbye, America.
14
I say 'lock him up' Flynn that is, hey if you want to live by leading a chant of 'lock her up' than you should be imprisoned for being convicted of breaking the law.
11
Anyone else think Barr’s rebuke was staged?
38
Conspiracy Theory 101
2
When and if we ever emerge from this nightmare, we need to build a monument in Washington that has bronze busts of each of the 47 GOP Senators who voted against impeachment. Underneath each bust would be a short quote of the counter-logical excuse they gave for their vote. (They'll look even worse when all the dirt comes out) The next time a Republican comes close to the presidency, we need to remind America what they do when they take power. When Ford pardoned Nixon, we failed to explain to Republicans that messing with elections, and twisting the justice system is against the Constitution and our celebration of democracy. Let's not make the same mistake again.
18
I predict that every Friday afternoon Barr will announce his review of each and every Trump crony that has been prosecuted, not that Barr is responding to Trump's pressure or anything.
14
The DOJ is obviously "infested" by a deeply corrupt Republican Party. Democrats are pretty well united behind one question, who is the best candidate to beat Trump, tip the Senate and keep the House. Alas, no one knows. Will "moderates" be able to support "progressives" or will a large number of Bernie Bros not vote if their man isn't the nominee?
6
Let me guess, they decided that acting as a foreign agent without proper notification and making promises to our enemies on behalf of the U.S. government without any authority to do is really no big deal now.
15
It all comes down to this:
The House needs to subpoena Barr and jail him when he fails to appear . Without enforcement, the House’s foundation rests on quicksand. Stand and deliver! Now is the time.
14
@RjW - Too late. That mark was past last fall when subpoenaed witnesses refused to show at the impeachment hearings. Special treatment under the law of the land is now standard for this administration. Who knew it could happen in broad daylight but Trump did tell us his intentions before he was elected.
The problem is the 40 percent of Americans who are okay with that. That is the truly astonishing part and is a bigger problem than the individual outrageous daily affronts to law and the Constitution.
6
@MJM
Well said. The 60pct. have to assert dominance. It’s never too late. Throw a reluctant witness in that jail room they have. If we don’t do this, we’ll always wonder, would it have brought the boil to a head, to use an apt, but unpleasant comparison. I still maintain, go for it.
2
These actions sound like a combination of a Banana Republic and the Mafia. Is this really still the United - and one stresses, "United," here - the United States of America? Or some other rogue country?
11
trump unleashed! remember this Maine, Kentucky, Ohio, Texas and the Carolinas. remember this 11/3.
9
The purge continues.
Trump's crushes in Russia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Turkey approve, sending valentine flowers, chocolates and KFC buckets via secret diplomatic channels aka Rudy. Barr gets extra leftovers in his bowl.
7
Now Barr is actively moving without any hesitation to get the other Trump Traitor off the hook.
Never believe a word a republican says. Watch what they do.
17
Poor AG Barr might awaken with fifty resignations at once including career prosecutors, clerical staff and interns alarmed at how deep his corruption reached.
12
It wouldn’t be “poor Barr.” It would be “poor us,” We the People. Too many ethical prosecutors, diplomats etc are gone already, leaving the Trump Regime with corrupt toadies or empty desks where knowledgeable staff ought to be. A festering wasteland...
1
@terry brady
That is exactly what Trump and his buddy Putin want.
1
Barr has to go...period.
13
Now it's clear why Barr and Trump arranged the fig leaf of Barr's performative mouth noises about Trump's tweets. They want to camouflage Barr's perfidity.
19
where did jessie liu go and why was she moved?
2
Mr. Barr, as Trump’s corruption is making its”impossible” to do your job man up and resign. Your reputation is already in tatters. Why make it worse?
12
@Scott : Because he doesn't care about his reputation; this is about the retention of power, and thus the influx of money. That is all that matters. What is a reputation? Pfffffft!
This just confirms what we knew all along -- William Barr's well rehearsed interview with ABC news yesterday was all for show. A meaningless gesture, likely signed off by trump himself, designed to manipulate the public into thinking that Barr really isn't Trump's personal fixer.
The MSM might've fallen for Barr's act, but the public isn't buying it. Hard eye roll at Barr's whining over how difficult it is to do his job with all the "background commentary". He wasn't just referring to Trump's tweets, it was also a dig at anyone who scrutinizes Barr's behavior (i.e. House committee members, the press, etc). Yet, like trump, Barr has no one but himself to blame for that scrutiny. If Barr wants to be scrutinized less, then perhaps he should stop weaponizing the department of justice for Trump's personal and political benefit.
23
@Roberta
Oh my God absolutely right Roberta. I can't believe anybody would actually sit still and listen to it. I know of one person who watched it, and they did it for comic relief! I'm 100% serious.
1
What the country needs is a good public airing of the thuggish tactics employed by Mueller and his investigators as well as the line prosecutors in Washington DC. Both have access to the unlimited resources necessary to crush and coerce anyone within their cross hairs. While that may be justifiable in truly threatening criminal or national security activity the Mueller report dismissed any such claim. Flynn committed no crime yet was coerced into an admission of "lying" to the FBI about a perfectly legal interaction with a Russian diplomat.
AG Barr is now in the cross hairs of those who want to keep secret the abuse inflicted upon anyone associated with Donald Trump. Assigning outside eyes to review the behavior of what is increasingly being viewed as a concerted attempt to negate the 2016 election is a necessary endeavor. I hope he realizes that most of America is behind him.
4
@tim
I am not trying to be sarcastic, honestly, but I have to ask: is your post meant to be taken as satire? That’s truly the only way I can understand it. Or if you are serious, do you realize that the Mueller investigation began when Jeff Sessions, Trump’s handpicked A.G., appointed Mueller to investigate?
2
You didn't read the Mueller report.
1
@ben
He meant the Fox report...
This more/different than rich v not rich. It's fascism - how one is treated will depend on how you treat our American Mussolini.
22
William Barr, the textbook definition of the concept of spineless lackey.
22
@William Dufort No, the textbook version are the Republicans (sans Romney) in the Senate.
5
banana republic 2.0
16
If Barr isn't careful he may choke to death on all that integrity.
16
We can all hear Trump calling Barr from behind a half-closed door: "Bill, investigate him! And when you've finished, investigate her! Then him! Then her! And when you've...!"
So, it's "impossible" to do your work with the loudmouthed president in the room, eh, Barr?
We think not.
Rather, we think you're ecstatic -- one might say, "impossibly delighted" -- by all the work Trump is giving you these days.
Bad news, though, Bill, is that YOU'RE being investigated, too. And so is Trump. And Pence. And also...
Enjoy the farce, Bill.
16
Welcome to Germany 1933!!
24
“Billy the Kid” Barr, with his provocative, past history as AG directing presidential pardons arising from the Iran-contra scandal, will be quite useful to this Fake President when his own gang members Flynn, Stone, Manafort, et al receive theirs. History, as said, repeats itself.
14
All those who believe that Barr is not obstructing justice in service to his lord Donald Trump are fools or criminals.
25
Barr lies as much as Criminal Trump.
20
“I can’t do my job...”. You certainly can’t!
18
This is straight out of the Fascism 101 textbook. Weaken the judicial system first go for the jugular later.
32
Trump will pursue a case until he gets the outcome he wants and Barr will make it happen. That's about in a nutshell about our current system of justice.
23
"The review is highly unusual and could trigger more accusations of political interference by top Justice Department officials into the work of career prosecutors."
Top Justice Department officials should be supervising the work of career prosecutors. That's what they do. Calling without evidence their supervision "political interference" is disingenuous.
The president called the recommendation of a 7 to 9 year prison sentence in the case of Roger Stone outrageous. He has a point. It is outrageous. And that all 4 prosecutors made a recommendation like that shows that the whole prosecution may be flawed.
Look at the context of this Roger Stone sentencing. The FISA court has just found that two FISA warrants were unlawfully obtained. Those two warrants were signed off on by the highest officials at the FBI and the Justice Department!
An investigation is under way into the whole Russia investigation, including but not limited to Bob Mueller's team. Regrettably, it was clear from his testimony to Congress that Bob Mueller was too addled and senile to supervise his team. It appears they needed it.
Roger Stone did nothing illegal with regard to the Russians. That someone like him could be found guilty of trumped-up process crimes and sentenced to jail shows our system is not delivering justice.
The Justice Department and FBI need to clean house and make sure that witch hunts like the Russia investigation do not happen again.
3
The 7 to 9 years are the federal sentencing guidelines for the crime he has been convicted of.
18
@John Smithson That's quite a bit of half truths and lies you ranted about.
We are going to clean house in November. You won't be happy.
7
@John Smithson Why should I follow the Laws? Just give my Republican Rick Scott $500 and I can drive at 120 MPH whenever I want.
4
There is only one action left to take.
Following his criticism of Trump's (Trump has never asked him to interfere) twitting, the decision to review the case against Michael Flynn is totally disingenuous and as usual, inappropriate; even criminal.
Start an investigation into Attorney General William Barr's fitness to remain in office.
Enough is enough. If Barr is determined to be Trump's lawyer rather than the people's, he should be investigated, impeached and tried.
22
@Carrie Beth Barr is scheduled to testify before the House in March. I doubt much truth will be forthcoming from him.
So if Barr is all hot under the collar at Trump's tweets because it interfere with his ability to do his job, how does he rationalize his multiple moves to mitigate or protect men who are Trump's men? Sounds like he just want people to think he is independent from Trump's influence. I'm not buying it.
23
All thoughtful, exceptional Americans will agree that the new "outside prosecutor" be immediately investigated. As The Leader has made clear, all judges, prosecutors, jurors and law enforcement officers, except his own, are hopelessly corrupt because some hold political opinions.
6
Every Federal defendant awaiting sentencing needs to ask for a review of the recommendation by the AG.
They should also ask for a review of the origins of the charges against them by an US Attorney from a outside jurisdiction.
8
Anyone giving Bill Barr the benefit of the doubt that he would be independent of a corrupt President or administration can now put that ideology away completely, the one constant is that Barr along with McConnell will have brought down the Constitution and Republic, needless to say, they have certainly brought down anything that could and was called the Justice Department of the United States, my understanding is that both fall under the hand of the Bar Association, and in Barr's case if he were stripped of his law license then he would automatically be stripped of his duties as Attorney General, I am uncertain of just how much power the Chief Justice has in this dilema but as this is a major crisis involving an officer of the Court and Chief Justice Roberts is the highest ranking Justice and head of the third governing arm you would think that he would uphold not only his oath but his duty to protect the people of the United States, What also brings into question is the mental health of both Trump and Barr, they are acting in way that is totally abnormal, they see themselves as divine beings,there is with great certainty the knowledge that the American People cannot depend on the Republican run Senate to enforce the 25th amendment which means that Trump needs to be assessed not only by a Medical Proffessional but also by a Psychiatric Panel independent of any Political Party, should the behavior of both of these men continue, will there be hope for an American future.
15
DisBarr isn’t even trying to be subtle anymore. Like his boss, he is committing obstruction of justice in plain sight. This will not end well.
15
@Peter Never thought he was ever suttle on his intentions.
Your friends, your relatives voted Trump into office, And this is the result. They wanted to shake things up. You are seeing it happen. Is this what you want America to be?
23
Why on earth would yo review a case where the defendant plead guilty? I was in the legal business for 45 years and I have never heard of such a thing.
26
Because Flynn links to Kislyak and the Russians and Trump has ordered Barr to look into him. Manafort will be next, you watch. Stone is linked to Russia via Wikileaks. What more do you need to know? As Nancy said, all roads lead to Russia with Trump
9
William Barr is Trump's man inside the Department of Justice, getting Trump's crime family members like Michael Flynn and Roger Stone off the hook.
Lindsey Graham is Trump's inside man in the Senate, using his Chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee to harass and intimidate executive branch employees, to keep them from reporting Trump's ongoing crimes.
Trump and his crime family are shutting down democracy in the USA. We are going down like lambs at the slaughter.
18
I like watching true crime tv shows - the investigations are interesting and the investigators always get the bad guys. Here, we have not just a reeking swamp, but True Crime happening live. Only it's not interesting, it's frightening, and I doubt the bad guys will ever get what they truly deserve.
13
Seems the whole things is a set up to make dupe us into thinking that Barr is independent. Do a little talk back to the president in a staged way (anyone else would have been fired on the spot), and look like your really independent when you lower the hammer and help trumps friends.
You also get resignations from competent prosecutors to be replaced by rabid trump supporters.
So simple: win-win.
9
Unpardonable conduct by the AG. Is he really a lawyer? Maybe he should assign a Special Counsel to investigate his lack of professional ethics.
15
Yup, he's meddling in Flynn case and Stone case. Just like we knew he would. We are now a dictatorship with the usual cast of characters. Mussolini would be proud.
16
Trump supporters must be excited about getting their very own "deep state"!
11
The career, line prosecutors botched political non-interference up so badly it is necessary for the oversight of democracy to restore them to proper function.
2
Given Judge Sullivan's in court statements. His questioning of Flynn during a hearing late last year ending with his lawyers requesting a delay in sentencing prosecutors face a stiff challenge. Going light on Flynn roundly rejected by Sullivan in the past. Barr and Trump's sideshow perhaps damaging for prosecutors and Flynn.
1
Stop with the "line prosecutor" or "career prosecutor." They are simply prosecutors. I am not a "career doctor" or a "line doctor," I am simply a doctor.
And save your typing, I know exactly the distinction that is being attempted with this choice of wording.
14
I feel as though our country has lost its focus and center and we are in terrible, grave danger of having democracy go down the tubes - because of one emotionally unstable man whom the GOP cannot or will not control.
I just don’t understand this. Everyone knows that Trump is crazy. Mitch McConnell knows that Trump is crazy. Everyone knows that what he is doing undermines constitutional government, including our justice system. Everyone knows, but no one who has power to stop Trump is doing anything about him. Instead, he is defended by his party, as though the GOP, not constitutional government, is under attack.
The Republicans are acting like frat boys on Greek night, not responsible legislators. There has to be someone who has the power to stop Trump. – now that impeachment and removal are off the table – we cannot wait until January 2021
20
I agree! it is getting really scary.
8
Barr, with his very calm and gentle public voice, is turning the DOJ into a joke while making Trump an autocrat.
I hope that career DOJ lawyers can somehow find the courage do something to stall him.
Barr has got to be impeached and disbarred.
12
@Ron Impeachment may happen, but the low-life Senate R's will have another kangaroo court trial.
Didn't Trump fire Flynn for lying to Pence?
Didn't Flynn plead guilty?
What else is there to investigate?
17
The basset who keeps licking Trump's boots while professing independence keeps going after Trump's foes. So much for he "won't be bullied."
5
@Christy
He's not being bullied. He's completely on board with Trump's vendetta.
Barr, a former board member of the right-wing Catholic Information Center, a K Street lobby, sees all of Trump's enemies as his enemies too.
He's given more than one speech making that clear since he was confirmed as Trump's Attorney General.
He made these remarks in a speech to the Notre Dame Law School on October 11, 2019:
"On the one hand, we have seen the steady erosion of our traditional Judeo-Christian moral system and a comprehensive effort to drive it from the public square.
"On the other hand, we see the growing ascendancy of secularism and the doctrine of moral relativism.
"By any honest assessment, the consequences of this moral upheaval have been grim.
"Virtually every measure of social pathology continues to gain ground."
Religious zealot Billy is intent on scrapping the First Amendment separation of church and state to institute a crypto-theocracy modeled on his authoritarian version of Christianity.
That's why he applied for the AG job with a memo on obstruction of justice that he knew would appeal to Trump, and which the journal Lawfare described as "bizarre."
Billy sees Trump as the perfect instrument to implement his agenda. The public mistakes the dynamic, thinking it's entirely the other way around.
8
To call this the appointment of an "outside prosecutor" is a sick joke.
Jeffrey Jensen, who's heading this latest sham investigation, was nominated to head the US Attorney's office in St. Louis by Donald Trump in July of 2017.
He couldn't be more "inside."
7
Why is the president getting so excited about a long sentence for his friend Roger Stone (and Michael Flynn, and others)? All he has to do is pardon these people. He can do this.
Would it be any worse than the Clinton pardon of Marc Rich?
1
@commenter IMHO if Trump give them a pardon they may not be able to invoke the fifth amendment if they are force to testify...and Trump do not want those "friends" to testify...so NO pardon!
He can’t pardon them just yet because they have the goods. If he parsons them now they lose the ability to plead the fifth.
It's easy to feel discouraged right now about the state of democracy. I am sad and frightened for my country. I see people posting about who will stand up and do something. People, it is time for US to stand up and do something. There is no other choice.
12
@Rubad
Agree! Take it to the streets, America! We've been successful before in turning this ship around, and we can and should do it again--now!
@Rubad Do not give Trump the possibility to declare an emergency to cancel the next election and impose martial law...HE WILL LIKE IT
Lots of powerful people enjoy immunity with a wink and a nod. The first rule of being a member of a powerful government club is that you don't talk about being a member of a powerful government club. Even low-life simpletons are often given a "get out of jail free" card by the local police (PBA cards). Granted, different privileges are given depending on your place on the food-chain, but they're nonetheless the same: we're not equal under the law. That's not new!
Americans know this and what they are seeing now is perhaps what they've come to expect. Barr may be right in telling Trump to tone it down on the tweets. You know, a wink is as good as a nod, and you really shouldn't be tweeting your winks and nods. Basically, we know it happens, but we still want to believe that America is the land of justice for all, however, it's not and never has been.
6
Aside from the highly irregular act of choosing an “outside” prosecutor to oversee the Flynn case (one already settled in court but for the judge’s sentencing), why would Barr choose a prosecutor whose expertise is as a CPA before Trump nominated him for his current job?
4
This is how they circumvent the Constitution and set up a shadow government.
10
the shadow government was set up decades ago. where have you been?
1
The only way Barr keeps his job is by doing his master's bidding. House Democrats are doing the right thing by investigating and exposing his activities and holding him accountable if they undermine the DOJ and the rule of law in our republic.
4
Anyone want to bet Barr's hired hand will find Flynn completely and totally innocent?
10
The speed with which those who proclaim to love the constitution the most have blown holes in it is astounding.
6
Surely, this is not happening in the United States of America!!
11
Quid pro quo? If they let McCabe off, does that mean Fynn gets off, too?
it's a long slog to November. I'm afraid for this country and I believe that we have passed a point of no return. I pray that someone stops Donald Trump and his minions.
33
I am afraid so too.
8
@bike fan Time is running to November...don't forget to vote blue or be prepare to face anarchy and/or martial law! You can avoid it but you have to vote blue! Best
Strange how many readers find a Lieutenant Colonel Vindmann to be a hero for wearing a uniform, but not General Flynt who served even longer. Basically, they both either are or are not.
3
Rose M - Sorry, but heroism is due to behavior, not a uninform.
29
General Flynn betrayed his oath and broke the law. Lieutenant Colonel Vindman kept his oath and spoke the truth. It’s as simple as that.
47
@Rose M Not so strange if you observe the fact that one served his country faithfully, and the other pleaded guilty to betraying it. Your entire premise is based on a logical fallacy.
34
So much for his "appearance" of rebuking Trump. One can only wonder what game Barr is up to now. Surely he cannot think his reputation has any hope of being salvaged
9
Vote out every single Republican. Every single one. Vote as if your freedom depends on it, because it does. Don’t let them turn us into Hungary or Poland, or Russia.
Trump’s retribution knows no limit. Trump would like nothing more than to jail any and everyone who criticizes him, including you and me.
30
Prosecutors: resign. En masse. If you stay on you're compromising your integrity.
8
So easy to tell other people to resign. How much will you contribute to help their families make up for lost income?
1
@Kevin Meehan
Well, then they can just be collaborators.
For your reasoning was used by thousands in occupied Europe in WWII.
1
Every one of them would be hired by private law firms. There would be no lost income.
3
Trump won’t even listen to good advice from a friendly AG. It seems the administration will self implode! Trump ruins everything he touches!
4
@GC Too bad Trump is now the president of the USA...
Barr only wants Trump to stop tweeting because he doesn't want attention on his corruption.
16
Oooh, wait until Mr. Trump hears about this, Mr. Barr! He's going to be hopping mad!! You might even get a time-out.
2
Trump, Barr and the rest of the Republicans are trying hard to turn our republic into a banana republic. Their corruption is aimed at destroying our system of government and replacing it with something corrupt and undemocratic that Putin would be proud of. That is who todays Republicans are.
They are seditionists at the least and traitors at the worst. Wake up America before it is too late.
10
Barr Talks the Talk but doesn’t Walk the Walk. Likely the deal everyone has made with the king. A way of appeasing those of us who are watching and listening. Who are the real fools?
2
This case is already before a judge. If the guilty plea is withdrawn the case will be tried. What is the point of a "special prosecutor" except to try to end-run court jurisdiction?
8
This (daily) erosion of democracy, along with climate change, added to the second anniversary of Parkland has me yearning.
Canada: I’ve always looked up to you.
Maybe it’s time to see you will accept me.
5
Now, we know why Barr made the statement yesterday indicating his disapproval of the President’s comments and interference. It was all a smoke screen to distract from the politicization of the DOJ that Barr is determined to push through. If he really thought Presidential interference makes his job ‘impossible’, he would resign like a normal person with integrity would have done.
12
With all of his gyrations and changes of mind, I have to think Flynn's attorneys' fees have to be well over a million dollars. Where does a soldier get that kind of money?
5
Have you ever looked at what he actually does? He’s a multi millionaire from shady foreign “contracting” gigs.
5
Outside prosecutors? But they still work for DOJ.
2
@Smslaw
Outside the DOJ.
Outside the rule of law.
Inside the pockets of 45.
4
Either the Justice Department under Trump appointed AG Jeff Sessions was a lawless operation out to crucify Trump appointees, or we are seeing a Justice Department completely under the sway of Donald Trump's whims and vendettas. Take your choice, though I think that is fairly obvious.
You have to wonder how much ranting is coming from the Oval Office over the decision to close the Andrew McCabe case without dragging McCabe before a jury. Once again, Barr has failed his boss but I'm sure not for trying.
2
Get all republican senators on video for their response to Trump's atrocities on a daily basis. Then place those videos in political ads in their districts. Make them own it. This will end very badly for them and for the country.
8
We need to start organizing demonstrations in DC. Monthly at minimum.
6
My boy Bill, wasting no time from saving Trump fanboy Stone, is now tackling ‘Lock-her-up’ Flynn. Got to keep the jails empty to make room for all the Dems Trump will lock up after 2020.
Still waiting for that ‘hey, this doesn’t seem right’ moment from Republicans but they’re still celebrating keeping Felon # 1 in office.
3
What an olive branch: letting McCabe off the hook to look good (like you're ashamed and cleaning house). You can't make this stuff up. Barr cleared the ABC interview with the Trump White House before it aired. Roy Cohn, a.k.a. William Barr, is firmly in place and doing the President's bidding. Don't be fooled, for this is all made-for-TV-and-Twitter. The judiciary is now firmly entrenched in the executive branch; only the legislature remains relatively free. Democrats...win your senate races, for it's going to be a VERY long slog to save the Republic. Forget democracy....that's gone.
4
Rather than hear about the pie in the sky, Medicare for all, tell me how you’re going to beat Trump and then how you’re going to get him out of the a White House!
2
What's worse than being a laughingstock?
I thought vaudeville was dead.
It's been revived.
3
Is it too cynical of me to see this as little more than an orchestrated show designed to give the appearance that Barr is not a Trump puppet, when in fact he is?
3
It amazes me that a large percent of our Senators and Representatives are attorneys and they are not up in arms about this charade.
That this occurred right after clearing McCabe reeks of a dirty deal. Free one on one side so you can free one on the other.
2
Let the Justice Department “Purity tests” begin.
4
Once again, the elected republicans remain silent as yet more norms are bent, twisted, broken. I am just so sick of the lying destruction by this president.
7
There’s no end to the “anything goes” , “I can do anything I want” presidency. It’s sad and scary. Barr along with the GOP is bought and paid for. It hurts Americans to see the endless abuse of power. The applause for criminal friends of Trump. The firing of the finest career diplomats and honored military officers of the highest caliber. Brilliant, honest patriots. All from Trumps unstoppable drive for revenge. The injured service men in Iran with severe brain trauma dismissed with his smirk as headaches. No one stands up in the GOP. The vendetta against Obama, Biden, Clinton and now Bloomberg.
The award of a medal to a right wing media hate monger clown. The sentence reduction effort for Stone and now Flynn. He’ll get around to Manafort soon. Not Cohen. It’s sad and the planet is in decline unable to handle more Trump denial. The world hurts. Corona virus he thought hot weather would stop?? Wait what?
Space fleet and he doesn’t know you can’t recklessly blow anything up in space as every fragment becomes a dangerous missile that can take out satellites. CDC says corona virus is just getting started. No leadership from the White House. And yet we know we hot him from illegal immigration ignored for 40 years by both parties.
5
You can see now what Barr meant when he said that political pressures are making it impossible for him to do his job. He meant: "it is not my job as attorney general to pick winners and losers in political disputes between the left and right, and if you put me in that position, everybody is gonna walk."
So Barr is just throwing out politically sensitive convictions on both sides of the political divide. He is reducing Roger Stone's sentence, and re-opening Michael Flynn's case to review his conviction. At the same time, he is tossing out charges against McCabe. If somebody (on either side of the aisle) has said that a particular prosecution is a "witch hunt," then Barr may done with it at this point.
@Htb but McCabe was never convicted unlike Stone and Flynn
4
@Htb
You forget that Stone was found guilty by jury, and Flynn entered a plea of guilty.
McCabe was never charged. Big difference.
12
Not quite. Barr is looking for any reason to drop or reverse Flynn's conviction, because he is trump's friend. He is trying to get the judge to give Stone a light sentence, again.. trump's friend. In the McCabe case, they would more than likely not even be able to obtain a grand jury indictment. He is a Republican tool.
2
We really must stop thinking this is going to be OK. There is not simply "turmoil" in Main Justice. We are watching a President and an Attorney General subvert the rule of law before our eyes. What will we do to preserve our Republic?
20
@HJ Mattes, not only that. What's there to stop them already laying the ground work for declaring the elections "rigged", "illegal" ... and whatever else and at the minimum tie it up in the courts ... for ever! That's what Trump has done his entire life. We have let alleged or otherwise billionaires get away with murder and now we're reaping what we sowed.
6
It would be nice if The NY Times provided some discussion on what a Federal Grand Jury is and it’s role under the Constitution. Reading this article and the Andrew McCabe item, I am not sure many people understand (pretty sure Trump is clueless) that the federal government cannot charge and prosecute an individual for a crime without first obtaining a Grand Jury indictment.
Some would say that a Grand Jury is a rubber stamp for DOJ prosecutors. I don’t think so as I was the Forman on a federal grand jury for a year. I found the experience very rewarding and would encourage anyone selected to embrace the experience and do your duty as provided in the Constitution.
Pretty clear that the Grand Jury in the McCabe issue did not buy the DOJ arguments. Why did it take DOJ so long to admit this and be done with it? I guess Trump sees the DOJ as his personal legal team that bows to him as the King. Back to my point on the Constitution and the role of a Grand Jury - to prevent a King for using the justice system for his own personal...
6
At some point, you have to ask, why do we have inspectors general? It would seem that if there is an issue at this point in the process--we are at the sentencing stage--it should be addressed by a neutral person charged with examining process. That person is not a prosector.
What is particularly irritating is that Flynn was a bad actor. President Obama warned Trump about him. His actions were inappropriate, and jury has heard the evidence and found him guilty. Because Trump doesn't like the result doesn't mean Trump gets unlimited do-overs until he gets the result he wants.
At some point, the United States should start indemnifying the government officials who are subject to these investigations and exonerated for their legal and other costs. A government official should not have to foot hundreds of thousands of dollars of legal expenses to preserve his or her good name.
6
Attorney General William Barr tries to gaslight the nation and largely succeeds. Unbelievable to me that after all his lies and the degradation of the Department of Justice I heard political pundits (supposedly objective ones) that actually believed this man.
5
Trump and his allies' strategy is to clear our the justice dept. and state dept. and other government agencies--and the military--and fill them with their cohorts. Voila, no more whistle blowers or internal resistance. Barr is participating in this. He's weaponizing the Justice Dept., as many have said.
the R's strategy for decades has been to fill the courts with loyalists who will decide cases along ideological lines. This is just a furtherance of that strategy.
and it stinks. The streets may end up being our only recourse.
7
And where are the Republican Congressmen who resisted the DOJ's decision to appoint a special outside counsel to investigate Russian interference of the 2016 election? Is this more acceptable to their taste?
2
Plain and simple, these are the actions of a police state.
9
Barr is systematically transforming the DOJ into a political arm of the presidency: "a personal grudge squad" as Sally Yates intoned in a recent oped. By doing so,he's also attempting to restructure foundational tenets of the separation of powers: from virtually decapitating independent Congressional oversight authority to the precedent established under Marbury vs. Madison which grants an independent judiciary the right to determine "the constitutionality of actions by other government entities." All of Barr's actions are geared toward establishing the precedent of an infallible imperial presidency. A proclamation that "Well if the president does it, it's not illegal." This is what Dershowitz essentially argued during the sham trial in the senate. But Barr is doing it behind the scenes, using his position as AG to essentially "retry" most aspects of Mueller's findings and prosecutions in order to discredit the legal reasoning behind them. It's insidious and extraordinarily dangerous because Barr possesses the education, the power, and the arrogance to sustain his radical legal theories. Writing letters that rebut judicial findings as "flawed" and therefore "dispensable" Barr is testing the limits of constitutional authority to a perilous end. So far he's gotten away with it – as has Trump. And together along with Mitch McConnell (who is busy politicizing the federal judiciary with right wing jurists) the U.S. is facing the twilight of American democracy.
7
So Barr's statement was political theater. He has no intention of standing up to Trump's abuses of the DOJ.
6
@NC
Bad, bad theater.
Why on earth would we believe that this is going to be a fair process. Barr knows plenty lawyers who will craft some technical baloney and all will continue to fester. Barr's statement is crafted to look like he is taking a stand against Trump but I'm not fooled. It's all a stall and I don't buy it.
3
There is no greater corruption than to give credibility to corrupt behavior. Flynn conspired with the Russians to undermine U.S. sanctions and was on the payroll of Turkey while serving as national security advisor. He then lied to the FBI.
Now, Barr is once again attempting to placate Trump by giving the impression that Flynn might have been treated unfairly. Fortunately, the Barr tenure at the DOJ will come to an end at the termination of the Trump era. However, along with Trump, he can do a great deal of damage on the the way out the door.
5
One commenter below talked about hanging their flag upside down. This is a brilliant and immediately visible sign of protest. In that spirit, we have just hung our flag upside down and are encouraging others in our community to do the same!
4
You could skim off the political level in Washington and the system (read: civil servants) would just keep on running like a well-tuned engine. But the drivers that we have these days! Ugh! They're all looking at their paychecks and anticipating the next steps for their careers after government, which means they're not really paying any attention to where we are going, and where we are going is over a cliff (if we haven't already).
4
Can we ever think any action by this AG-in-name-only is not underhanded, dishonest, or fraudulent?
3
Congratulations to the department of justice. They were right on Stone,McCabe and now on looking at the Flynn case. The die hards who exalt at the McCabe decision and smear the department on the Stone case or exalt at Stone case and smear the McCabe decision are died in the wool partisans who are looking to smear ( or exalt) Trump.
1
@John
Stone and Flynn were found guilty and provided all due process.
McCabe was not ever charged with a crime, much less tried and convicted. To conflate him with the others is completely unjustified and wrong.
5
What I find ridiculous is how defenders of Stone and Flynn decry their sentences as 'unfair', because there are others who have gotten away with similar or worse crimes.
Just because someone else didn't get indicted, doesn't mean these felons should get off.
The daily unforced errors of this administration and its base are indefensible.
3
Barr says it is impossible to do his job if Trump interferes. Trump says he has every right to interfere. Shouldn't Barr now resign?
4
This is how democracy disappears -- piece by piece. Day by day. Tweet by tweet. A president of Peru once famously said: "For my friends, everything. For my enemies, the law."
Congress is impotent as a check and balance. The Supreme Court will be majority reactionary for a generation or more. What's left? The federal justice system -- prosecutors and judges. Now this last line of democracy's defense is being diluted, undercut, demoralized, demonized.
Things have reached a point beyond outrage. They have reached a point where danger can be felt viscerally -- as a tingling of the nervous system. Where one can imagine brown shirts banging down doors.
3
One question remains, rule of law, a constitution and bill if rights that mean something, or dictatorship?
That America is partially inclined to the latter is clear. Red America what has happened to you?
The people must recognize the moment and rise and safe ourselves, not to mention their very own bacon.
1
Funny how the only thing that seems to bother AG Barr is that Trump keeps putting a spotlight on his skulduggery. Like any creature of low moral character, Bill Barr would prefer that his boss not gloat until after the deed is done.
3
So if we Ds take the White House in Nov, new AG should not reassign R appointed folks. Be careful what you advocate for as unintended consequences are real. All new AGs and all other new cabinet members reassign and replace folks. Why we need to win elections!
1
I want to thank all the attorneys, former prosecutors, et al., who weigh in on these comments with explanations of what is really happening. The material and jargon can be head-spinning for us non-legal readers, and I for one appreciate your clarifications. I wonder if one of you can comment on whether it would ever be possible (and what it would take) for a chunk of the USA--say New England, NY, and NJ--to secede and form its own country. Not kidding!
2
This is confirmation that Barr wasn't really throwing down the gauntlet. He is still Trump's lap dog and the United States is turning into a banana republic.
3
So Barr makes a cosmetic public statement about his independence from Trump and then goes right back serving as stooge and grim reaper for Trump on his vengeance juggernaut. If there were ever a clear lesson about not believing what people say, and paying prime attention to what they actually do, this is it. Barr should be impeached.
3
Remember his performance art piece yesterday ... yeah me neither it’s been erased by reality.
1
Huh? Outside prosecutors? Does this suggest that the DoJ cannot do justice? It's all just too much...
1
Barr's investigating that Flynn plead guilty? Up is down.
2
Actions speak louder than words.
2
So much theatrics coming from William Barr .
Looks like now Jeff Sessions had more integrity than Barr.
At this time Barr should recuse himself or resign.
He already damaged whatever reputation he ever had.
1
In light of this latest action to appease Trump, Barr's "...making my job impossible..." remarks can be translated as: 'Donald, if you'd just keep quiet about all the little favors I'm doing for you @ DOJ, it would make your dirty work go so much more smoothly!'
6
We all have been had. Goodbye America as we knew ya. No longer can we be your favorite sons. Bill Barr has deceived you and now thas got us on the run. Some interview last night Bill Barr and for who's benefit was that scam. Tis a terrible thing you're doing to this country prey tell what it did to you or is it what haven't they've done for you. What a sad sad commentary to sneak up like that with the likes of Trump and McConnell and his merry merry men. I'm dying to see what direction the Supreme Court will take. Our last bastian of democracy. This will test the likes of Roberts and his court to no end.
1
Congratulations to Mr Flynn, the latest beneficiary of Trump’s whirlwind “No Crook Left Behind” tour!
4
This is what autocrats do. Barr didn't really challenge Trump yesterday. Yes, he asked him to keep quiet. But given that Barr was hired to save Rump's rear and destroy the career professionals at Justice there is no reason to believe that he thinks that Trump is doing anything wrong except running his mouth where normal people can hear how deranged he really is. His second guessing of the professionals is simply an attempt to intimidate the Justice Department and get rid of any honest lawyers and prosecutors and replace them with more members of what is at best a religious cult devoted to the bizzarre beliefs of Trump and Barr and the rest of the craven deplorables who are running this country into the ground.
2
Each passing day delivers thicker smoke from the dumpster fire that is this administration. I believe we've reached the threshold for a legitimate class action suit against Trump for indiscriminately causing inuria: (mental anguish). Any American citizen possessed of a sense of outrage could rightly claim psychological damage at the hands of this lunatic president. Our case could be built around Trump's abysmal judgment, incompetence and relentless prevarication. I know I'm not alone in experiencing "distress, anxiety, fright and depression" to varying degrees with each news cycle. Stop the insanity!
3
you are definitely not alone.
William Barr: "I'm not going to be bullied by anyone... ." But he forgot to say "Donald and I have a consensual relationship."
5
Stone wasn’t found guilty by some secret deep state tribunal.
He was convicted by 12 American citizens. All of whom were voire-dired before the trial giving Stone’s defense team the opportunity to exclude those they suspected might be biased.
You know what the odds are of finding a jury of 12 people, who’ve never met before (have better things to do) and who were subjected to questioning by lawyers from both sides - all being biased against Stone?
You what the odds are of that happening - Zero!
5
America does not have an Attorney General. America has a ‘Consigliere’.
5
Our criminal justice system should go ahead and close down; just like the EPA, Dept of Education . . . .
2
Hello Susan Collins. Lamar Alexander—guess what. We believe your actions.
3
The stench of Bill Barr’s corruption is too odious to bear.
2
What is Trump's new ' Roy Cohn' aka U. S. Attorney General Bill Barr doing checking on what the Republicans Jeff Sessions, Bob Mueller, Rod Rosenstein and James Comey wrought in the Russian investigation and beyond ?
And why should American taxpayers pay for any of it?
Is Bill Barr brave and honorable to defend the American people against all enemies domestic and foreign while preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution of our republic?
2
In a normal time, the installation of an outside prosecutor would be an admission that the established means of investigation, etc. was compromised in some way, either because of the relationship the target has with someone in authority or some other factor. I don't trust this prosecutor, if he is selected by Barr, to be independent, but I choose to see this maneuver as a way of confirming that neither Trump nor Barr can be trusted to follow the rule of law.
4
It seems as though Trump is pursuing two objectives: (1) to completely undermine and negate the Mueller investigation, and (2) to install a shadow Justice Department that caters to his every whim, just as he has hollowed out the State Department under Pompeo. When he is done with that, he will start on the Department of Defense.
31
The prevailing narrative on Barr is wrong. He has sided with Trump on many matters. But here he is drawing a line in the sand to keep Trump under control. Too often we get a one dimensional view of those who work with Trump -- some are good guys, most are bad guys. This is way too simplistic. Barr frequently sides with Trump, but here he is standing up to him, keeping him from having his way. It seems too complicated for the media to understand that someone can be a good guy at times and and a bad guy at other times.. To the extent he stands up to Shea, and thereby stands up to Trump, Barr is a good guy.
3
@michjas I think you've commented on entirely the wrong article. this isn't "Barr drawing a line in the sand to keep Trump under control," this is Barr reviewing yet *another* case of one of Trump's cronies. the other one was smoke and mirrors. this one is the fire that's producing smoke.
1
@michjas
Look closer. The word is "crafty", not unlike the late Roy Cohn.
1
Get used to it fellow Americans. Either that or take to the streets because this is how it's going to be from now on. Trump is not leaving come November no matter what the outcome of the election. Minority rule forever.
12
@Jenifer Trump I guarantee you is gone if he loses the election. No doubt about it at all.
I get pretty worried at times as well. after reading about how trump has his minions looking into the russia investigation, I started getting especially worried. what do they have planned besides trying to undermine it? to lock up former intelligence agents, or maybe even former democratic leaders?? my husband thinks I am overreacting, and he may be right but we should NEVER be afraid like we are!! but if we know THIS much, imagine what they are doing behind the scenes! I am scared.
anyways, welcome to the United States! I promise, this isn't who we really are.
1
Kelly, you are not overreacting.
Rex lex, "the king is the law." It's that simple. Trump is no longer a threat to American democracy. American democracy died when the Senate refused to convict the "president" for crimes committed in the open, for all to see. This is but the beginning of what I am certain will be a sustained purge and campaign of vengeance against our Baby Tyrant's many enemies. I actually think twice about sending this and other letters to the Times, communicating with concerned friends via email, and discussing the country's woeful situation in public. Having just recently become an American citizen, I even worry that my standing would not protect me should I attract the ire of some vindictive MAGA-hatted public official. We should be pouring into the streets in protest.
28
@Robert
Agreed! And welcome to the fold.
1
It’s apparent that out country is in a Constitutional crisis. The doctrine of separation of powers and equal justice under the law is being tested. We depended on the framers to have the foresight and wisdom to give us a republic, if we could keep it. They could not have foreseen how our republic is now being tested.
The governmental agencies set up to protect us are failing. The Office of Legal Counsel memorandum is at the heart of the destruction. We saw this play out during the Mueller investigation where that memorandum forbade the special counsel from indicting a sitting president, or worse, from investigating a sitting president for crimes. The DOJ memorandum clearly violates the principle of equal justice under the law and gives the president the right to commit crimes while in office.
I don’t see how we can have a democracy when the president is above the law. Somehow we must change this memorandum in order to protect our country from within and without.
23
this! very good comment.
1
At the end of the day, the Republicans make sure that all the Trump operatives in the 2016 election will be pardoned, exonerated, or whatever which results in these people getting away with everything.
This happened with Iran/Contra. This happened with the lies that got us into endless wars. They will get away and continue to perform their malfeasance for the Republican Party. Rinse and repeat forever.
7
Barr has been Republican lickspittle since the days of the Iran Contra scandal. He is 70 years old, and doesn't have more time on this earth. He has no reputation or honor to defend, and history is going to remember him as a corrupt lawyer willing to do anything to serve his clients. And, Trump has a lot of money with which to pay him off once he is out of office and disbarred. Why does anyone think that Barr was ever going to be an honest or even a competent AG? More to the point, why would any lawyer continue to serve in a thoroughly corrupted Justice Department?
18
@Joe
Barr probably thinks he has more time on this earth, as do lots of other 70 year olds, including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg and DonaldTrump. Your argument about Barr would stand just fine without the ageism.
2
he should never have been confirmed considering the part he played in the Iran-contra affair.
3
Trump continues with his Russian inspired model for corruption. A very similar crisis is occurring in Poland where a hard right government is persecuting career judges who do not share their political views. I don’t think it’s unfair to label this movement and Trump with it as Neo -Fascist.
11
I am so afraid they are really going to try to lock up his perceived enemies.
1
I believe Barr is not being bullied by Trump because he doesn't need to be bullied. He thinks like Trump, anticipates Trump's wishes and fulfills them.
16
When will we have had enough of Trump or will this last for at least another five years?
8
The choice is even more clear to me now. Bernie 2020.
6
@Kristin : ANYONE who is the Democratic nomineee...We vote for that person. We vote BLUE no matter who!
Conspiracy time:
Quid: I'll let you say mean things about my Tweeting if...
pro
Quo: you investigate the Flynn case.
9
bingo!
Barr is like the frog that waited too long to jump out of the pot of boiling water. Too late, he's cooked.
9
'The Ukraine won't open investigations that benefit Trump politically? Fine, I'll just do it myself.'
-Bill Barr probably
7
I never imagined that sliding into a Banana Republic was this easy. One mad man is apparently all it takes.
17
@Margaret, yes all it takes is one megalomaniac in position of power. King George III lost a significant war and colony because it.
And it gets more corrupt by the second. So, Barr is complaining that Trump is making it difficult for Barr to defy our democracy and constitution. The utter nerve!
Lock him up
10
This reporting shows last night's ABC interview for what is really was: pure posturing.
William Barr must resign.
16
I didn’t go to law school like Mr Barr but I know when something doesn’t smell right. This president and his administration reek. This is the most corrupt president and administration in our history.
10
I guess life imitates art. Sounds like an episode from Billions where AG Waylon "Jock" Jeffcoat meddles in the cases of the US Attorney for the Southern District of NY, Chuck Rhoades.
1
This sounds like a two sided quid pro quo negotiated between Trump and Barr.
5
I recently viewed a video of Trump decrying Stone's treatment.
He was obviously agitated, but spewing lies and mis-truths and other nonsensical sentences.
But, I could feel how those in the room would be intimidated.
He probably would have exploded at any questioning of his view.
Maybe someday, at the risk of being banished from the press room, those reporters present will vocally call out his lies.
It may take a phalanx of reporters to take the place of the banished. But, if that what it takes to call out his lies, so be it.
The man is a buffoon and reporters present rarely raise objections to his real-time buffoonery.
Shame on the press, really.
6
We belong on the streets. Not on the Times editorial page. We are losing the battle against Trumpistas.
11
@wilt YES. Aux barricades! Dare I write "À la lanterne!"? Perhaps that's premature. Where is our 'yellow vest' movement?
2
Gees, if I'm ever found guilty I hope I get a second mulligan trial by my President.
3
Vote Mike Bloomberg in and he will take care of the mess.
7
this is how democracy dies.... not with tanks in the streets,
9
Lemme see if I got this straight.
Flynn, a guy with 30+ years in the intelligence business until Obama had to fire him as Director DIA over the way he treated some of the people who worked for him, and as the National Security Advisor-designate, calls then Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak from his cell phone and basically tells Kislyak not to worry about the sanctions.
Then he lied about it to senior administration officials.
Like, he didn't know the FBI has had every Russian phone tapped since 1930?
Then he agrees to answer questions from the FBI and is subsequently charged under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 for making false statements.
Here's a link to his plea agreement which Flynn and his attorneys signed on November 30, 2017. (Any idea why the DOJ requires a defendant's lawyers to sign a plea deal?)
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4318155/Flynn-Plea-Agreement.pdf
Go ahead and give it a quick read. It's only 10 pages long, and there's lots of while space on every page.
I would say Flynn's beef is with his counsel.
“[A]ny lawyer worth his salt will tell the suspect in no uncertain terms to make no statement to the police under any circumstances.”
- Justice Robert Jackson, Watts v. Indiana, 338 U.S. 49, 59 (1949)
Cheers
3
Everyone goes under the bus when Trump is at the wheel. Barr is bus fodder. He knows this.
1
Has anyone done the calculus?
I mean, how many hours has Drumpf spent:
-lying on twitter
-playing golf and lying on his score card
-asking what a word means
-asking for a repeat of the answer to what a word means
-plotting to get his henchmen off
-plotting to get his ex-henchmen fired
-practicing 'yer fired' in front of a mirror
-approving drafts of fake videos
-talking to Russians on a cell phone in a room with no witnesses
-deciding which desserts to eat
5
This is the same Flynn who was mentioned as a treasonous traitor by the judge presiding over the case? Our government thinks that his case might need looking into? Yes, because he hasn't been locked up yet.
5
Please stop tweeting, Mr. President. It’s making it much more difficult for me to do your bidding!
The DOJ needs a long period of quarantine !
One way is to outsource the DOJ .... an entirely non-American legal team, that is the only way to clean up this mess !
2
This is ridiculous, absolutely insane! And it's exactly what we KNEW would happen if Trump was "acquitted". He's unleashed his anger and his perceived power, and he is interfering in cases that he has no business concerning himself with, undermining the rule of law.
So, tell us Sen. Collins, Sen. Murkowski, Sen. Sullivan and all the rest of you Republicans who leaped like lemmings into the Trump's sea of deceit - do you still think he's learned his lesson? What's next for this POTUS and his lapdogs? How much more do we have to take?
10
so if Flynn had been found innocent I'm sure POTUS would have reopened the case too ?? Not !!
5
Did Michael Flynn ask Kim Kardashian to intervene with Trump?
3
What next?
Barr calls for opening an investigation into Hillary? Again.
3
Trump and Barr outed Jessie Liue, a Senate approved top prosecutor and Barr installs his henchman, Timothy Shea! What a farce!
All those working for Trump/Barr at the what is now, the Trump Department of Justice, need to remember that one day Trump/Barr will be ousted and they will have to face their colleagues in the Judicial community!
THIS is corruption!
5
we know that aspects of the justice department are inherently political. its leaders are political appointees, and the occupant of the oval office sets its agenda. beyond that, however, the business of the department should proceed according to statutes, regulations, and internal policies. and it must be conducted without violating the ethical norms that bind its attorneys.
presidential interfering in individual cases - for leniency or its opposite - turns the justice department from an arm of the government into an instrument of one person to be wielded at his pleasure, a de facto law firm representing one client, when the department exists for the people at large.
5
@Andie - excepting of course cases of prosecutorial discretion, such as DACA. If we accept your arguement to its conclusion then there should have been mass resignations from DOJ when the President voided stacks of law and enforced Prosecutors blind eye.
1
In the show trials in Stalin's Soviet Union (1936-38) is was clear that "the accused" were enemies of Stalin and the state were presumed guilty and the prosecutors jobs were simply to demonstrate the guilt.
In our current justice system "the accused" are friends of Trump and the Republicans so any prosecutor that has the temerity to prosecute them is guilty and must be replaced.
Putin must be enjoying the spectacle.
19
@Fred
Putin must be pinching himself in disbelief at how well this has worked out for him.
1
I am a Yankee Doodle Dandy, born on the Fourth of July. I weep for what once was our country's shining example of democracy. I mourn for the loss of civility and common decency. I fear we are heading into an irreversible decline of our morals and values. I pray we can get ourselves out of this mess. We must resist the powers that be, because as of now they are corrupt, and only concerned with their own success.
14
President Obama warned Trump against not merely the General but his son as well. Trump as always knew better -- or was he part of the conspiracy to profiteer in Ukraine? We'll never know now, nor would it make any difference to the Republican Senate. That has been proven. We know that Trump was not elected by the people, three million more preferred Mrs. Clinton. We do know that Russian interfered and that Trump "won" only because of the "strategic" counts in the Electoral College. Trump may legally be President, MAY be, but he certainly is not legitimately elected and he has been impeached. Barr may be trying to save the tatters of his reputation -- or simply divert attention. Tell me, which shell is that pea under? Or is there one at all? The entire Executive has been corrupted, obviously both Congress and the Judiciary are at risk. How long can our government last?
14
Barr wants Trump to knock it off with the tweets, not because Trump is bullying him into doing something he doesn't want to do, but because Trump is drawing unwanted attention to the things that Barr is already doing, and it complicates things.
Barr claims that Trump hasn't asked him to interfere in any cases, not because they haven't talked about it, but because Barr offered to interfere before Trump could ask.
Barr expressed irritation at the President because a self starter such as himself doesn't appreciate being publicly asked to do the things that he is already doing.
18
The NYT could do this country a great service by interviewing statured constitutional scholars and others who can advise us what to do when the GOP and the president are defying the constitution and gutting our democracy.
The Democrats in Congress don't have the grit or the numbers to stop Trump, Barr and others from behaving like gangsters. Voting is too far away, and the electoral college, voter purges, gerrymandering and voter suppression makes voting an imperfect remedy.
It is time for Americans to do what the citizens of Hong Kong, France, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela and many other countries have done by doing en masse general strikes?
What can save this country from the criminal cabal headed by Trump?
8
@Steve Davies You seek the final word on Constitutional grounds. And well you might (although we all know pretty well already where things stand on that basis). But recall that we had a definitive declaration by a historic multitude of the nation's best and brightest mental health scientists and practitioners, that Mr. Trump is mentally unstable far beyond what is acceptable for a White House visitor, let alone its resident. And all of it was quickly washed away by the unceasing tidal wave of lies big and small. We live in an age where the first and only communications parameter of importance is how many people one can reach via Twitter. (And STILL that platform is treated like a totally non-public facility.)
It is truly amazing (and horrifying) how easily a single person can destabilize, degrade, and disable a seemingly solid and enduring democracy. Trump is like a virulent bacterium that gets into the system. If it is caught early and fought aggressively with the right antibiotics, it can be defeated. If, instead, it is allowed to remain in the system and spread unchecked, before long the whole body is so sick there is simply no curing it.
12
Yet the real story this week is that in the end the Justice Department requested a reasonable sentence for Mr. Stone, and Mr. Barr schooled overzealous prosecutors in the importance of evenhandedness, integrity and respecting the chain of command. The only scandal, yet again, is that so much of partisan Washington is willing to throw mud on this progress in the name of damaging this White House. WSJ
6
@RP Prosecutors have sentencing guidelines. For these 7 charges, the top sentence could have been 50 years. Judges use other prosecutors to understand the sentencing guidelines. What you or any individual thinks is not the point. 4 prosecutors resigned in protest, which means that the DOJ as a whole is in revolt. That is a very very very very very disconcerting, and upsetting scenario.
Trump is not the arbiter of sentencing, and he does not get to ask for differing justice for his friends, than any other individual.
7
Suddenly everyone loves "career prosecutors". As long as they are prosecuting Trump associates that is. Hypocrites through and through. Barr actually seems like he is trying to chart a law based neutral path though the jungle of partisan warfare.
6
@Daphne the neutral path is to not interfere with cases in progress. Full stop. This man is not neutral, he is not trying to do anything but the corrupt thing. What he is doing still qualifies as corruption even with the corrupt Chief Justice's legalizations of bribery and gerrymandering.
1
@Daphne "[t]rying to chart a law based neutral path though the jungle of partisan warfare" sounds so good one might think it's substantive. Please remember that none of this is about gratuitous dislike for Donald Trump but rather objection to his corruption, dishonesty, autocracy, malfeasance and disregard for the national interest in favor of his own. All documented, by the way, not imagined. That has always been the case. So to the extent there's partisan warfare it's by those who would - for whatever reason, wittingly or not - shield him from accountability and block our country from safety.
1
I expect to see ICE praised next. Hey they are career law enforcement agents. And what was the problem with broken windows and stop and frisk again? You have already praised the architects of the Iraq war as unsung heroes. What next?
2
When will it end?
Do these folks actually think that anyone is fooled by acts such as these?
Their efforts are so sophomoric, as though they are still adolescents lying to their parents, thinking that doing so will change the fact that they wrecked the car.
We are in that car.
We all suffer their accident, supporters and adversaries.
The present president does not have a dog. Oh wait...yes, he does: William Barr.
3
Bill Barr feels he has nothing to lose and everything to gain. At his confirmation hearing he had stated that he was planning to retire and was seeking no more jobs in government when the sky had simply opened and the job landed on him. He was simply lying and acting(we are now too familiar with his class acts). The president had been eyeing him for the job for sometime and wasted no time to show Jeff Sessions the door. Barr's whole family works for the POTUS so he indeed has plenty to lose if he goes against him. Barr has chosen loyalty to an authoritarian president instead of his country. But then,he does not have to update his resume. This maybe his last government job. In the private sector he might be welcomed as a hero.
3
Alarm is going off. Are there any GOP senators ready to finally, finally, admit that Trump hasn't "learned a lesson"? Will they take action?
The alarm is going off. Yesterday Trump tweeted a corrupt proposal to the New York governor.
Wake up! Corruption is destroying the Constitution!
5
@Ricardito Resisting, did it ever occur to you that the Republican senators want it that way? That they want the country corrupted and the Constitution destroyed?
I used to think some of them had principles, but they just pretend to have principles long enough to distract the press while they light another arson fire in the People's House. The Republican Party has so fully embraced corruption and destruction of the Constitution that it's getting hard to remember when they weren't trying to cheat in an election, hand favors to friends, or voting to embolden a would-be dictator.
After a while, you stop believing this is all inadvertent on the part of even the most moderate Republicans. The party has sold its soul and its supporters, like those two women in Kentucky the Times interviewed, believe that destroying our country is doing god's work.
2
So you don't forget please mark your calendar on November 4 to get out and VOTE! We can do this together.
4
Former FBI Jeffrey Jensen is hired by Trump in 2017 and is now being used by Barr to "review" the prosecutorial work submitted for Flynn's postponed but upcoming sentencing. First Stone and now, Flynn. Barr does not support the professionals at DOJ and is putting his "full" weight on the scales of justice as a favor to Trump. When and where does this corruption cease? November is too far away.
6
Vote blue this November. No matter who is running. The house is on fire and it's all hands on deck.
9
This action makes it quite clear about where Bill Barr's loyalties lie, with Donald Trump.
3
Boy, I hope if I ever get in trouble I have endless “reviews” of my case from well-connected pals.
4
Is our nation's only hope the military? Any effective political opposition will be throw in jail or said to be killed by the Ukraine.
What a waste of money. It is time to stop pretending that we still have a legal system that is even close to being unbiased or fair. Everything is corrupt. Get what you can, while you can, and do not get caught.
4
As long as it is a true outsider, not a bad idea. But given Barr and Trump, seems unlikely that they won't choose somebody who's in the tank with them. Shameless and shameful.
Little or no justice at Justice these days.
5
He should also check into Caroline Baumann's firing. Did Trump want to see a right winger in her job?
What Barr did not tell us, is that this outside prosecutor is on Trump's payroll.
5
Why waste time looking for a prosecutor who will tell him what Trump wants to hear when Barr could simply appoint Giuliani and Dershowitz? Giuliani is a crack corruption fighter and Dershowitz never heard of a crime so heinous (see People vs. O.J.Simpson) that it wasn't protected by the Constitution.
Looks like the fix is in... Trump acting as high judge is beyond insane.
2
Ok. Nevermind. The whining WAS political theater. I think Barr could be the AG in the Philippines or Venezuela when he's through with this stint.
8
Michael Flynn looks like an angry man. He always looks angry? Why? Family problem? Financial problem? Everything can be resolved in America. I enjoy reading cheerful news. Today is the Valentine Day.
1
Maybe Flynn didn't see a hoax, but a crime.
Good for Barr again.
Things go well when the boss checks.
The Deep State (= anti-Trump and -Republican civil servants, with their consequent double standard) is a major problem in this country.
By the time it takes to make a decision on Mr. Flynn he will have died of natural causes !
Remember the good old days when AG Loretta Lynch talked with Bill Clinton at an airport where everyone could see that they were chatting. The media blew that up to the extent that she recused herself from the Hillary email case. Now wehave barr and trump. Thanks.
9
Anyway both Flynn and Stone will walk with a Presidential pardon coming soon after the elections, win or lose.
7
So astoundingly corrupt!
Barr, in referring to Trump's interfering tweets, I believe, is distracting from their further disregard and abuse of our U.S. Constitution as they deliberately proceed to deconstruct of our democracy.
The Republican Party is in on it, though they may find the mayhem and chaos disconcerting. If they were not in on it, they would have impeached Trump.
They bring to mind that biblical phrase about "whited sepulchres". "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness."
4
Sending in someone for a special case from Main Justice was once quite common. It was a career enhancing move to get one of those assignments.
As an example from a popular movie, there is the famous Wilford Brimley character from the Paul Newman movie, Absence of Malice. There Brimley as the man from Main Justice came to find out what was going on, and settle things. It was the heroic finale that rehabilitated government after its abuse of the Newman character.
I experienced this in quite a different way, as a man from Main Justice came in to promote himself at the price of victimizing various convenient targets.
It happens. It can be good or very bad indeed. It is the Justice Dept, in its reality a very biased and political arm of government never to be trusted.
4
I'm still baffled at these comments. Nothing Barr is doing is precluding sentencing for Flynn (which, btw, was recommended to be between 0 - 6 months of jail time), and the fact that the central effort of Flynn's lawyers is to say that prosecutors and his prior attorneys collaborated against him and basically tricked him into pleading guilty.
Flynn never went to trial, he is still fighting to overturn his plea, if he were sentenced, the sentence would have most probably included no jail time. So they are reviewing the case in light of political sensitivities.
All these comments claiming this is the start of some gross erosion of our justice system, the harbinger of transformation of our republic into some third-world autocracy, are just so overblown.
The actions of the AG worry me far less than the comments on this article do. I fear we've far passed the point of any reason or neutrality, and lost any sense of trust in anyone not of the same political persuasion. It makes me fear for my country and our future.
5
@PB
All the commenters here care about here is venting Trump hate. No price is too high no sacrifice (of others liberties) too great.
4
Your man Flynn led crowds shouting to lock up Hillary Clinton. It’s legal, but there are consequences. Don’t expect us to be nice. You reap what you sow. And Flynn is a Turkish foreign agent and has direct ties to Putin. You should fear for your country. I do too.
1
There is no country. Keep pretending otherwise.
This administration does not act in good faith.
Ms. Liu should get her old position back. Barr acted underhandedly -- got her to leave her position under (what seems like) false pretenses. Best to watch how many others they could remove in the same manner.
If there are other loopholes yet to be used by this administration, perhaps it's time for some loophole investigating. Then again, Ms. Liu, a lawyer, should have been able to see it ahead of time -- obviously Barr did.
3
While the Justice department is coming under scrutiny because Trump can't convert them into yes-puppets, Barr is playing his own game leveraging his buddy network to push aside a deserving and accomplished female attorney. This happens every day, but when done with tactics that appear to extend control and intimidation rather than foster trust inside and impeccable independence outwardly to everyone isn't this one more Good Ol'e Boy move by a very connected and powerful autocrat? If Justice is intent on poking holes and blaming the Russian facts on Trump's vast list of former US intelligence enemies there is one thing the President could do to help: call his buddy Vlad and get 5 of the indicted conspirators to be deposed under oath in US custody. Justice, the CIA and FBI can all be there, with a new special council chosen by Barr Congressional chairs, but preference to Schiff and report delivered to Congress and Justice with scrubbed to public, no spinning. They need to agree to no political pressure and full subpoena power to be in advance, along with any new grand juries spun up along the way. This isn't directed at Trump, we need clarity and to stop trying to make up fiction to cover the known facts. We the people deserve that and immediately. At this point I think the Biden family deserves it as well.
This investigation should last 2 days max. All the outside prosecutor has to do is call in Flynn and ask him why he pled guilty to the charges?
3
Everyone deserves a second and third chance? Is that the view here? I don't know, if I pleaded guilty to lying the way Mike Flynn did, what recourse would I have?
5
It's becoming obvious that Barr's motive is to lift the Trump cloud off the GOP—by chipping away at previous cases that criminalized the Trump administration.
Slowly, but surely, he's trying to build the case for saying, "See? We (the GOP) were the good guys all along. Trump wasn't so bad. That's why we stuck behind him." This is why he appears to do Trump's bidding most of the time, but will bark back at him occasionally.
Ultimately, Barr going to try to (in the eyes of the public) invalidate every recent black eye on the GOP—not specifically Trump. He took the job to bail out the party, not the President. And he'll engage in whatever deception he has to to achieve that. Watch it happen.
1
To review what? Flynn is and was represented by counsel throughout the proceedings. He plead guilty and his motion to vacate the guilty plea based on prosecutorial misconduct was denied by the Court. What are these outside prosecutors looking to review? You vote for Trump again and you vote to bring down our democracy as we know it.
11
It is interesting that Flynn was recommended to go to jail while McCabe is not going to jail for similar crimes. No wonder Trump is expressing his dismay, wondering, is there a double standard?
4
@Alex K One did it. One didn't. Not much to wonder about.
6
Uh, McCabe did not commit treason acts.
1
Easy. Same Justice Dept. Same AG. Flynn pleaded guilty. McCabe is innocent—they investigated him, but were unable to find enough to bring charges. There’s no comparison or analogy here.
3
It seems to me the Trump-Barr entanglement is unique not because of the particular details of Barr's intervention, but because it's visible.
Does anyone doubt that well-connected people routinely get an easier ride from the justice system than the poor or anyone who happens not to be white?
2
When you work for a large corporation and your division carefully investigates and reports a conclusion; when the CEO assigns someone from the outside to review that conclusion, it means you gave the CEO the wrong answer.
6
Why are people outraged that the second place finisher in the 2016 presidential election has seized power so enthusiastically? The US Constitution is a document riddled with hedges against democracy and all of what is unfolding was written between the lines by the foundering fathers.
2
Remember that the judge in this case, at the first sentencing hearing, characterized Flynn's allocution as almost or actual admission of treason. But clearly Barr and Trump know the Republican senators think that selling our national security for personal and political gain is just fine. So it goes, no one will stop them.
4
Barr is creating an Injustice Department to,oversee the Justice Department.He obviously does not trust the lawyers already in the system so has devised a way to surveil their work and to add an intimidation factor.This is not how the Justice Department is supposed to operate-who gave him the authority to reorganize the American system of justice on the Federal level?Everything is precedence-does this give every aggrieved defendant the right to as to have his case “reviewed”?Has he ever heard of Ed Meese and John Mitchell , attorneys general who succumbed to political meddling?So many questions-so few answers!
6
In comments below there is a fear of using the term fascist to describe Trump. At least in one's scholar's terms Trump is an "aspirational" Fascist. In that case we assert that the US doesn't have fascist institutions, not yet. At best, Trump may hope. People describe Trump in anodyne terms as being guilty of executive overreach or weakening norms by attacking the judiciary and the legislature, the press, minorities, even his own Party and appealing to a mythical past, forgetting all the while that when you add it up all those factors it's pretty clear to see that Trump is exactly that figure who meets the standards for fascist leadership. I don't understand the timidity in reaching that conclusion. I suspect that it's more self-protection (i.e., a belief that this cannot possibly be happening in the US) than clear-eyed analysis. This is not "Third World" behavior as many assert. Trump's actions form a pattern of fascist behavior.
1
Another project like the Durham one intended to discredit
the Mueller report. Eating at the edges of Mueller's work
to please Trump who insists it was all "hoax," no matter what
the overwhelming evidence of Russian meddling.
5
I would not be surprised if I woke up one day and saw news that the American military took over the U.S. government. It's getting that crazy these past couple of weeks. It's really worrisome.
4
Russia, Russia, Russia was a hoax; it never happened. Mueller found no evidence of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia. It poisoned the body politic in this country on an enormous scale. Trump being a wholly unsympathetic character didn't help but he did not start it. The FBI inspector general has told us some bad actors in the FBI fudged it. The FISA Court Chief Judge publicly chastised the FBI - pretty big stuff coming from the FISA Chief Judge. Flynn is charged with process crimes in an investigation into something that didn't happen. Appoint independent prosecutors to review all of it - every layer, every case wherever it goes.
3
@MKM
I am guessing you did not actually read the Mueller report.
1
@Mkm
Russia, Russia, Russia was not a hoax.
Every intelligence and law enforcement agency agrees that Russia maintained a broad campaign to interfere in the 2016 election, and that they are doing the same for the 2020 election.
It would help if we clearly distinguish between the debate over the trump campaign's alleged involvement in that effort (not proven), and the fact of Russian attempts to influence the election (arguably clearly proven).
1
So, instead of draining the swamp Trump is making it bigger and "better" than it ever was before. This administration has to be colluding with our enemies; it is doing nothing to shore up Rule of Law or "support and defend the Constitution." Rather, the administration -- with the support of cronies and sychopants in Congress and on the Supreme Court -- seems to be setting up this country for a bloodless coup where Russia and China end up controlling us at home and curbing our influence on the world stage.
2
How long until elections are suspended (meaning the present administration has to continue on)? Are not all the judges and their employer Trump puppets?
1
Summation of Barr's interview;
Mr. President, please realize that your comments make it difficult for me to carry out these unethical and illegal orders against your enemies.
It also makes it more difficult to keep your friends out of jail.
Nothing more, and nothing less.
6
Can we look forward to reversals for decisions on the illegality of Trump University and the Trump Foundation? The declaration that Trump and his family will henceforth now and forever be resolved of any crimes, past or future?
1
When it seemed no one could make Jeff Sessions look good, here comes Barr - a man with absolutely no respect for the law, our democracy or decency.
3
Ok, I am a brit, not a US citizen. But isn’t the corruption issue blindingly obvious by now? What on earth will it take for Republicans to admit their error? I have no side in this but the whole world can see the US is led by a mob boss and his henchmen. Come on America, you are better than this.
We would be at riot point under these conditions.
4
Yesterday's remarks by Barr were a setup for this; and this is a setup for a pardon of Flynn.
4
When/If we ever get back to point where we have leaders with integrity, I hope that all of these guilty parties who are leaving a massive stain on our country are all prosecuted and made to pay for their crimes. Barr needs to be near the top of the list too. What they have done is beyond disgraceful.
1
I feel very bad. I can’t watch or listen to the United States. I stopped watching your news casts. When there is even a hint of Trump on the TV(Canadian included) I switch immediately. Everyday, as your readers have pointed out, it’s never ending lying and obvious corruption. I only on occasion watch the late night shows. It’s not funny anymore.
3
As Maddow said last night, we no longer are just being threatened by Trump and his minions. The threat is gone and we are living right inside the clear and present danger. The threat part is over and the nightmare is upon us. The end of America is here now.
2
Curious is that the case and sentencing reviews Barr is doing seem to be the very cases Trump has weighed on.
3
The silence of Republican politicians is deafening. How I wish John McCain were here. Their complicity is stunning. Yeah - Trump learned a lesson ... just not the lesson spineless Republicans in the Senate told themselves so they could sleep at night.
4
It's past time to march on Washington to insist on trump's removal. How about Moveon.org get started with a date? We need to do this now.
2
“grilling”
I am sure if the tables were reversed and the prosecutors were investigating Trump allies they would be questioning.
Not sure why a leading news organization like the Times would not want to see investigation into the FBI and intelligence services in regard to these political investigations of the Trump campaign.
If the government agencies were dirty it should be revealed.
Do not be fooled. This smacks of the Mueller investigation that, after 2 years of judicious diligence, was hand delivered to a guy hand-picked by Trump to squash and prevent the entire report from being made public. This is solely a move to convey much needed credibility for an unscrupulous hack political party currently without a shred of it. When it's all said and done, this credibility seeking overture will go the same way and given the same consideration as the Mueller report and the Senate impeachment trial - straight in the garbage can where Trump wants it.
2
So much for Barr rebuking Trump. It was a cover-up. They are working together to free criminals. These people were found guilty. It would be better for democracy if Trump just pardons them all. This is poisoning our judicial system.
Transparency in the judicial system is what differentiates the third world from the first; democracies versus totalitarian regimes and, ultimately, where world capitals go to invest. I guess we are not it anymore. Trump and Barr as Maduro and Cabello.
2
Barr is like a well-trained lap dog.
I have nothing else. Heard this on the way home from work today.
We are rolling into becoming a banana republic.
Drain the swamp? It's been expanded under trump.
2
Here he goes again. Barr will give Trumps allies special treatment. Why is there a need to look into Flynn's case other than to protect him? Adults have done their job. Barr is acting more like how Putin's Russia would, rather than how the United States should act. Something smells, and we all know it.
3
The prosecutors that are to review these cases are being handpicked by Barr. That’s all we need to know.
3
Consider the fact that there are numerous cases of incarcerated individuals who can prove their innocence and yet cannot get released because of legal and judicial rules that prohibit the release of an innocent person unless a flaw can be found in their original trial.
But if you are a part of the Trump/Pence/Barr Crime Syndicate, even a guilty verdict is no problem in getting your case or your sentence reviewed by the powers that be!
4
And Hero of the Resistance, Future President - Mike Avenatti is found guilty on all charges - faces 42 years in prison, but probably will get probation - because that is the way the legal system rolls.
@Tom I can’t help but wonder if Avenatti was set up for taking on Trump
The article does not mention that they withdrew Ms. Liu's nomination for her Treasury post earlier this week.
2
This is a coup, by Trump to take control of the Department of Justice! We can thank Susan Collins, and all the Senate Republicans!
3
I can tell from all the NYTs followers' comments that exasperation with DT is reaching a pinnacle. When I take a step back the reason is not because of the significant differences between Trump and the Leftist Liberal but the commonalities. The left's sentimetns and stance are like a spoiled child. They basically refuse to consider any opposing perspective because of their right or wrong mentality. They believe they are right and no one is going to convicne them otherwise. They dig their heels in a either pout or lash out when they are crossed. This is essentially the same profile for DT; hence the insurmountable conflict.
So much for Barr's statement yesterday that Trump was interfering with Barr's ability to do his job. The only "reviews" we hear about are those related to Trump's convicted cronies. One guess why.
Barr is nothing more than Trump's lackey and he knows it.
1
"I will not be pressured", since I am doing it anyway. Cheers - W. Barr
2
The injustices of the current Justice department, the AG and the President are emblematic of what happens when a minority is allowed to control a democracy.
Many people are waiting and hoping and campaigning in an effort to change federal office holders, especially the President. But the problem we have is also structural. The structure, including the oldest still functioning constitution in the world, badly needs repair and amendments. It's necessary but insufficient to vote blue for relief. If you argue "that can never happen" or simply ignore the constitutional problems, you are part of the problem for now and for the future.
32
@Alan - The title of oldest, still-functioning constitution in the world is contested, depending on your definition of constitution. The constitution of San Marino, a sub-nation inside the nation of Italy has a constitution that goes back to the 1600s. It is written in six books, thus some quibble that it is not a true constitution. But it is a code written down that governs how the state governs. I wonder if it is more specific than the US Constitution is proving to be.
@Alan
"The injustices of the current Justice department, the AG and the President are emblematic of what happens when a minority is allowed to control a democracy."
Not sure what you are getting at. In our system of democracy, it is possible to win the presidency without winning the popular vote. In part, that is because the electoral college is not representative. In part that is because of a lot of dirty Republican tricks the aim of which is to disenfranchise Democratic voters. The illustrative body called the Electoral College was established of course with the sole, principal purpose of winnowing out candidates like you know who. We also have a bunch of stuff, largely helpful, the purpose of which is to protect the rights of the minority from the overbearing will of the majority. It is true that a majority of Americans agree with the aims and values of the Democrats. It is also true that a large enough proportion of Americans really liked the lies, demonization and fear of you know who, to get the you know what elected. All that said, I still don't know what you are getting at.
1
@Alan -- Alan, amending the constitution is not that easy. The Equal Rights Amendment, passed by Congress long ago, has been 3 states short of ratification since 1979 (35 of 38 needed). Under the right circumstances, Trump and Republicans could amend other parts of the constitution in some way to consolidate power in the executive. On the other hand, Democrats, under the right circumstances, might get rid of the electoral college. The balance of power (and ethics) in the U.S. resides in the distribution of party affiliations in each state that could vote to ratify (or not).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_state_legislatures
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/us/politics/equal-rights-amendment.html
1
The integrity of Institutions is entirely dependent upon the integrity of the people who man them. Institutions, per se, are not, regardless of their historical stature, sacrosanct, imbued with some untouchable rectitude. This vulnerable tenderness, if you will, is now blatantly obvious even in our Constitutional Republic.
As long as the DOJ remains under the auspices of the Administrative Branch, it will remain as Ripe Fruit for the consumption of a power-hungry tyrant such as Trump. The inherent power of this Department, the very “Strong Arm of the Law,” is far too great to be so vulnerable to wonton malfeasance. The DOJ should be removed from the Administrative Branch’s grasp and placed in position similar to that of the Federal Reserve. Perhaps the Head of the DOJ should be nominated from a list of names proposed by the president, selected by the Supreme Court, and contingent on the approval of the Senate.
Whatever viable arrangement can be fashioned, this obviously needs to be the direction undertaken to prevent the possibility of future calamity which threatens our very Way of Life.
18
@Russell Ward
No!
The AG should be nominated by the ABA.
1
"Barr Installs Outside Prosecutor to Review Case Against Michael Flynn."
These de facto attacks on and interference with the career prosecutors who have managed the cases of Trump's friends and associates are yet more unprecedented actions taken by this attorney general which are not consistent with our system of democracy which depends crucially on the uncodified but indispensable tradition of an independent nonpartisan DOJ. Barr's actions appear to be based on partisan or other personal motivations. And it is up to Barr himself to prove otherwise, which he has manifestly failed to do. Obviously what Barr should do but never would do is look into why the attorney general of the United States whitewashed the Mueller report, and actually dropped the Mueller charges himself--in which, we recall, the Republican Mueller presented ten clear instances of obstruction of justice, and recommended that Congress take them up and address them via impeachment.
Barr's recent actions look to have the sole intentions of political vengeance, intimidation, and the maneuvering of lackeys into key positions of responsibility. Madame Speaker: Impeachment is once again undeniably in order, for both this attorney general and his president. The Senate failure to convict has given them license. We are witnessing new impeachable wrongdoings at a rate of at least one per day.
21
@Robert Ya think??
Prosecutorial overreach should always be addressed, whether it's a result of highly publicized crimes such as the "Central Park jogger" case or overly harsh sentencing recommendations for political foes of the Washington "establishment".
For your reporters to suggest that the recommended sentencing from the Justice Department legal team for Roger Stone's crimes were "within sentencing guidelines" is highly misleading and out of context.
I am no supporter of Donald Trump nor of Roger Stone, but I don't want a bunch of self important lawyers deciding to make "an example" of people on the other side of the political fence.
Donald Trump's tweets are certainly intemperate and ridiculous and inappropriate . But I really don't think William Barr is afraid of losing his job.
4
The sentencing guidelines are not biased or arbitrary (unlike your opinion). They are based on legislation and precedent, and incorporate aggravating and mitigating circumstances to arrive at a just sentencing recommendation or actual sentence. The original prosecutors followed these guidelines in determining an appropriate recommendation for Stone’s sentencing AFTER Stone had been found guilty by a jury of his peers. You are entitled to your opinion. You are not entitled to make up facts that contradict reality.
18
By a jury of his peers? How about "biased peers".
Is this not a blatant admission by Barr that “justice” is whatever Barr (and presumably Trump) say it is???? Regardless of the fact that prosecutors or perhaps grand juries have made charging decisions under the standing rules of procedure, trials or plea negotiations have taken place also presumably under the standing rules of procedure in federal courts, federal judges have considered motions and ruled on them, judges and/or juries have weighed evidence presented under the rules and have considered and arrived at verdicts and sentencing decisions thinking they were operating in accordance with the US Constitution, Barr and company are now taking charge of these cases over and applying their own judgments and decisions on all the issues in those cases. How is this defensible and how is it consistent with any possible understanding of the Constitution and with the prevailing understanding of what the United States stands for as a nation???? Where are American attorneys, judges, law school deans, law professors, and ordinary citizens???? Can someone simply waltz in and decide that everything that used to apply no longer applies and institute his own system of “justice” based on political loyalty and cronyism??? It’s very difficult to believe that we are going to roll over and give up our country without even so much as a fight. Who needs prosecutors, judges, and juries? Trump and Barr will handle it all themselves.
13
To be an absolute ruler, the ruler will have to breakup, undermine the branches of government, including his.
Well, 45* undermines his branch on a daily basis. Legislative branch, 45* has the GOP Senators in his pocket, evident post impeachment. Now, 45* is after the judicial branch, and it’s unclear how that will end.
Where are those great legal minds out there that can shed some light on how to get out of this rut.
14
If it's Barr's choice who the prosecutor is, I have zero expectation of fairness. That's the problem with all of Trump's and McConnell's machinations - no one believes in the integrity of our institutions anymore.
13
There are 100,000s of inmates in prisons across this Country that, in their wildest dreams, would never imagine that the Attorney General would appoint outside attorneys to investigate the prosecutors of the convicted. 1984 here we come.
17
With more moves like this, Trump will be able to say on the campaign trail that he is the real justice reform candidate. All criminals get early release, unless they are Democrats, in which case the maximum isn't good enough.
9
Banana Republics do not make stable governments.
A "majority" representing 15 million fewer voters than the "minority" have rammed the following through the senate:
- The denial of a Supreme Court appointment to President Obama
- The approval of two Supreme Court justices to President Trump
- The impeachment acquittal of a clearly lawless president without hearing any witnesses
All this is set against the background of a vulgar, vindictive and highly divisive president elected by 2.86 million fewer votes than his opponent.
The Trump/McConnell GOP may be inviting a cataclysm in this country if they continue their current legislative tyranny.
19
Barr needs to be investigated by the House - the only valid branch of government we have right now in WDC. And then disbarred.
15
The GOP: did they ever stood for freedom and democracy? just asking
3
Dear Americans, you all seem outraged by this (as you should), but you are the ones letting your country fall into tyranny. Why were there no massive demonstrations when the senate refused to call witnesses? The GOP gave carte blanche to Trump, but you gave carte blanche to the GOP.
17
I can see why Barr was upset. He was in the back room metaphorically "drowning all of Trump's legal babies" in the dark of night. Now Trump's tweets have brought a spotlight the fact that Barr has turned the justice department into a banana republic style enforcer for Trump.
9
I’m fine with another look at Flynn. Maybe they’ll find the motive for nearly fours of lying and coverups.
I can dream can’t I?
1
How do we know this Barr appointment of an outside investigator is on the up and up? I am very suspicious of Barr and his actions as our Attorney General.
5
And I quote
I will not be pressure by anyone....
3
When is it time for the people to take matters into their own hands?
5
The Times' editorial writers. Savage, et. al wrote: "Mr. Barr’s intervention was preceded by criticism of the original sentencing recommendation by Mr. Trump and praised by him afterward,..."
This rendition of the timeline is demonstrably false as interviews of Mr. Barr and other officials in the DOJ has demonstrated. The NYT should not be a source of "fake news". A retraction is in order.
2
There will always be autocrats who hijack the power of the state to settle personal scores. In the fine example set by a Kenyan autocrat who died last week,
Donald Arap Trump strikes again.
America, have we no idea how far we have fallen?
4
Is Barr undermining his Department to create a basis for Trump to pardon his allies who have been or will be convicted of crimes ?
2
Trump with the unlimited authority he claims can pardon all of his corrupt pals despite their guilt and convictions. Wait for it. Trump has gone wacko with power. Barr does not have to act at all!
Barr has made the DOJ into a political weapon. Last weeks rebuke was nothing more than a smoke screen. Thus is just crazy. Meanwhile the GOP continues to play the same game. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. I have never been more concerned and scared for the future of our democracy.
4
Less than 24 hours ago he was on tv protesting against tweeting interference and promoting his independence. We, the people, do not all suffer from attention deficit disorder. He could have waited at least 24 hours between dropping the McCabe investigation, and trying to spring Flynn, who, if anyone forgot, is a self confessed felon awaiting sentencing, just like Roger Stone. I suppose he had to make good with his boss. General, your timing is horrendous and your limbo act sets a new barr, pun intended, for lowness.
5
Trump’s DOJ: helping out friends and punishing enemies ...
3
Fine.
Let the American Bar Association select the outside prosecutor.
7
It feels as though a coup has taken place in Washington. Barr has sold and we don't know what's next.
5
I hope all the career prosecutors just resign en masse to protest this atrocious political interference in their department. Of course, that would leave the field open for the appointment of more of Pres. Trump's toadies and sycophants. What a mass!
7
@Linda
Unfortunately, what's next is Trump will pardon all of his cronies and the rest of Washington will say,"Oh,well." This is a nightmare and I can not even converse with a Trump supporter because I feel he/she has caused this mess. I am waiting for an announcement that the November 2020 election will not take place-Trump is here to stay. Next, he will change term limits as he follows Putin's Playbook.
1
The don't really resign, they are still on the government payroll. So much for taking a stand.
2
In making his guilty plea, Flynn admitted - under oath - that he committed the crimes that he was pleading guilty to. He cooperated with the government and was on the glide path to walking without any jail time. For some reason, he got himself one of those AAAAggressive Lawyers who gave him some bad advice and now, he's on the glide path to spending some quality time as a guest of the Federal Government. It's amazing that someone who had achieved a lot in his career can be so stupid. Or is it just arrogance?
5
Time for the House to step in and investigate this in order to start impeachment proceedings against Barr.
Trump is a scofflaw who just recently said he has "absolute" authority to do whatever he wants. We don't have a king in this country - he works for us. The GOP needs to stop cowering & hiding and stand up for the Constitution and our country and quit supporting the criminal in the Oval Office.
7
Trump is doing his best to turn America into a banana republic. Nobody knows what he will tweet next at 3 a.m. while sitting on his golden throne. Least of all Trump.
7
What we find here is a bunch of Trumps surrogates have divested away their own duty and respecting their own job. These folks are interested in carrying dirty water for this most corrupt individual pretending to be our president.
4
Barr is being the lap dog of Trump. His talk yesterday about not bullied was nothing more then just pandering to Trump.
4
This is the reaction of an insecure, paranoid, egotistical , sexist, racist, lying incompetent who is unlawfully using the power of the executive branch to go after truth tellers and critics., reminiscent of Germany in 1934. He MUST be stopped!
6
By the same token, I expect the next Democratic president and that administration's Attorney General to investigate why no criminal cases were initiated, or no indictments issued, by this administration vis-a-vis certain of its members (and a number of Members of Congress who appear to have perjured themselves and violated the Constitution). And I expect a full DOJ-sanctioned, independent review of every statement and action by Mr. Trump, while occupying the presidency and before, to identify any and all instances of illegality (in any form). The Coliseum will still be there when a blue-clad emperor takes the place of the red-capped one.
13
What bothers me is that he is scheduled to appear before the House Judiciary on March 31st. That is such a long time from now. He should be appearing for questions by next week.
13
There is no law preventing the President of the USA from interfering with the Department of Justice; the USA is one of only a small number of "westernized nations" which believe in the "rule of law" in which the Head of State can interfere with the Federal prosecution of defendants.
A.G. Barr would have broken no laws if it had been proven that he had interfered with the prosecution of a "good friend" of President Trump, had he been directed to do so.
The USA should enact laws which will ensure that the President cannot interfere with the prosecution of his political allies, or instruct the DoJ to prosecute his political enemies.
4
If Democrats win the Presidency in November, Donald Trump should seek political asylum with Edwin Snowden in Moscow.
News reports have only breached the surface of the scandals were Trump's administration has thought itself above the law. The country was denied a full investigation by Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon and probably responsible for the rise of Reaganism in the 1980s.
Democrats should not just move on, as Fox News will ask after inauguration day 2021. A full accounting and reckoning should be the first order of business.
19
How can an outside prosecutor review the case, when most of the information is redacted? So, the outside prosecutor can view the information, but congress cannot! wow
14
Maybe it would be better to just drop the cases against all Trump collaborators. Then bring them back up when the swamp gets actually drained. I'm afraid the way things are going, our provisions against double jeopardy will keep us from ever seeing justice against these guys!
3
The belief in the strength of those institutions that would prevent what is now taking place was nothing more than a salve to quiet the chatter. The judiciary is the first to be eviscerated. Three to four of the Judges that have been selected by Trump have by review of legal oversight where seen to be wolfely inadequate and lacking in the necessary experience to fulfill their duties. One can only imagine what will be left of the Republic by the of this year.
I can only conclude that Trump is fully aware that his second term is now on shaky ground so he is preparing the stage that will enshrine him as leader for life and remove any possibility of an upcoming election. And his AG is his co-conspirator.
6
There has been a coup in the United States. The Executive has taken over the Legislature and the Judiciary. Any illusions that we still have a separation of powers, three co-equal branches, and checks and balances have disappeared. We are now ruled by Emperor Donald Trump and have only ourselves to blame. At some point, as the federal judiciary drags its collective feet or capitulates and Senator McConnell castrates Congress, the marches have to begin. I was there in 1968. Will enough people rise up in 2020?
34
@Didier Being a decedent of the working Irish, I'm thinking more and more like the Molly Maguires
Why are the leaders in this country mute on the antics of Trump and his followers like William Barr. I guess they are going to Florida to pay a half million to sit down to dinner with Trump and plan his re-election. Please publish the guest list for this and similar events and let us know who these people are. I would like to know which wealthy and powerful people support Trump. I would not want to do business with them or accept their advice on any matter of importance to me. Of course, anyone who supports Trump could do the opposite. With the names in the open, we can be fair.
12
On first hearing of AG Barr's mild chastisement of Trump's attacks on DOJ, I was hopeful that the foundation of Trump's Wall of Impunity had developed a crack.
Today's news suggests that Barr's push-back was more window-dressing than sea change. Barr's apparent concern was mainly about how Trump's public comments might sink the leaky public relations boat of his corrupt presidency.
Seems like Barr's discomfort really was about how hard his boss was making cleaning up his recently past mess while Barr is still busy trying to clean or cover up the Trumpster's ongoing efforts at urging others to participate in his massive RICOized reelection campaign - or at least not to squeal when they come across evidence of the president's lawlessness.
It's interesting to note the Trump, who seems to have quite a list of enemies he's been keeping, could have announced his entire Retribution List right at the beginning and been done with it. Instead, Trump seems determined to draw out this process as long as possible. He wants each severed head announced individually as it's placed on a pike on the drive leading to his Excellency's tax-funded abode in order to achieve maximum effect against his enemies as each twists slowly in the wind.
9
Mr. Barr has fooled no one with his declarations of being “his own man” and refusing to be bullied. However, with the resignation of the four prosecutors and these new revelations about interference in the Flynn case, and apparent turmoil all over the DOJ, and an out of control president, I think it’s possible that William Barr is seriously starting to panic that he has lost control over events in his Justice Department. He should resign before a Trump fires him.
9
Another BIG THANKS to Senate Republicans for giving Trump the green light to continue on his merry way towards a consequence free dictatorship. Yes Susan Collins, he sure learned his lesson: That he can get away with anything as long as he's got a Senate majority.
17
We should not be surprised that this criminal cabal is trying to destroy the Justice Department.
They started with the FBI; they have outed intelligence sources, and now they're coming after main Justice.
What can we do about it? I'm looking for strategies.
7
Can't they even wait a few days between outrageous acts? Does everything have to happen at once? The answers are actually quite clear: no and yes. Anyone still talking about Roger Stone? Nope, that's over and done with. Moving on. Next week, expect another string of outrageous acts.
12
William Barr is sending a strong and powerful message to the American public and the world. He is saying that under Trump's new "Justice Department," co conspirators, are going to be able to vindicate each other. He is giving the American people a lesson in how a totalitarian regime works.
10
Reading our outraged comments we need to do something, but we need a leader. Perhaps our democratic candidates if you are listening should call a protest rally day to be sponsored in the Washington Mall with simultaneous protests around the country. But we must all turn out in support.
7
Actually, we have four systems of justice. One specially reserved for young black men and women of color; a second for "ordinary" white people, albeit with a patriarchal bent; a third for the masters of the universe, the ultra-rich, and the wealthy-enough-to-afford high priced lawyers (and their lawyers too); and the fourth for Donald J Trump, for whom "justice" is served only when he is treated as above the law, just as the Attorney General allows.
11
Aren’t there laws, not just norms, being cast aside?
Is the executive branch that powerful?
The mueller investigation is deemed illegitimate and therefore undo convictions and have the opposition jailed?
Is it all going to come down to Chief Justice Roberts?
Do we need the earth to stand still?
Calling Klaatu, where are you?
3
I saw this coming shortly after Trump was elected, and I live in Canada. Trump's initial actions after being sworn into office reflected those comments and actions that only an autocrat would suggest or do. Americans need to wake up and come out in hordes for the November election to vote this criminal-minded president out of office. The president of the United States not only affects the people of his country, but also people around the world. Other autocrats around the world are following Trump's actions and pretty soon the world will be a miserable place to live in if more leaders follow in Trump's footsteps, which, by the way, are Putin's footsteps.
9
Well, I'm glad (this may sound sick) that this corruption has proved to be so over the top.
With this much evidence, a majority of Americans (I firmly believe most Americans are intelligent and reasonable) will be persuaded to recognize the dangerous levels of corruption that characterize Donald Trump's Swamp.
There have always been political shenanigans, some rising to the level of measurable, documentable corruption.
But I've never heard of anything matching Trump's epic corruption, radiating down through all branches and levels of government.
Untangling this mess will take decades. Draining the TrumpSwamp is thus shown to be immediately necessary to save America for true Americans. I don't think the corrupt minions swearing fealty to Donald Trump can be considered "true" in any sense of the word.
Do you?
8
I fail to comprehend how a Lt. General could find himself in this mess. He should have stick to what he knows best - the military and not politics.
1
Barr unchecked is the end of justice in this country. For the Justice Dept., Republicans only need apply. Federalist Society affiliation preferred.
4
Bill Barr is single-handedly trying to re-write Article II of the Constitution to redefine the powers of the presidency as he feels they should be defined. It's a shocking abuse of power. It's as if he believes he has the power to interpret the intentions of the Framers all on his own and to remake the office of the presidency according to his own peculiar and deeply misguided interpretation of the Constitution.
He's like Dr. Frankenstein, creating a presidential monster and unleashing its destructive force upon the nation.
7
Very good. A highly decorated patriot who was unfairly railroaded by justice system motivated by revenge will get a fair review. His calls to, "Lock Her Up," were welcome to American ears. Thank you.
Spoken as someone proud to call the CSA their home.
2
@Southern Boy
Well bless your heart. Flynn may have been a patriot early in his career, but the man pleaded the 5th (as he himself said only a guilty person pleads the 5th) and admitted to lying to the FBI. Trump sure didn't trust him any more.
"Commenting on Flynn's resignation, on February 14 2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer stated, "We got to a point not based on a legal issue, but based on a trust issue, where a level of trust between the President and General Flynn had eroded to the point where he felt he had to make a change ... The issue here was that the President got to the point where General Flynn's relationship—misleading the Vice President and others, or the possibility that he had forgotten critical details of this important conversation had created a critical mass and an unsustainable situation. That's why the President decided to ask for his resignation..."
CSA , ya'll lost and still can't deal with it.
@Pookie,
Maybe, but Jim Crow was just as bad, if not worse, above the Mason Dixon Line.
The inscription on the Supreme Court building in Washington proclaims “Equal Justice Under Law”. It should be updated to add “But More Equal Justice For A Few Under Trump”.
6
Trump knows he has to do everything he can to keep Flynn and Stone happy, as Bolton is going to tell it all in his book and if THEY start talking more or making a deal with the federal prosecutors, he's in real trouble. His colluding with Russia, if uncovered, will show a real conspiracy to defraud the United States of free and fair elections along with pleasing Putin over US interests, and with Bolton's testimony, the quid pro quos, not only with Ukraine, but Russia and other countries too. He hasn't obstructed justice and Congress for NO good reason! He knew he would be in real trouble if the unvarnished (not normalized by Barr) truth got out. The Republicans senators don't want to know the truth (or they would have had evidence and witnesses), as they knew would have to act and that would be bad for them holding onto power. The truth will eventually come out. It's just a matter of time. AG Barr can't protect him from the truth. Barr is beginning to realize his job may be in jeopardy if he keeps showing "his strong bias' towards the president who hired him. Thank-you Justice Department prosecutors for standing up for truth, justice, and the American way! Justice will be served eventually. The day of reckoning will come. It isn't going to go well for those who thought they could get away with murder (Kurds in Turkey, Ukraines in Crimea, and Kashoggi in Saudi Arabia) and their part in real conspiracies, not the fake conspiracy theories from FOX.
3
Old Bill Barr had me going there with his plea to be left alone to do his job -- "enough with the tweets already!" But now we find that El Supremo has no problem with being criticized by his attorney general.... What? He doesn't mind a little criticism from his appointees? Since when?
Well, of course he wouldn't be mad if the whole idea was for Barr to do a little public squawking as a smokescreen for his daily assaults on his own department and the rule of law. I'm kicking myself for falling for that one...
4
Clearly staged.
2
Arrogance and overconfidence have been the downfall of many people. Donald Trump and his cabal have already gone way too far in their debasement of the American political system. They have figured out how to game the system to their advantage. But many Americans are watching very, very closely the grotesque spectacle of governance in Washington, D.C. And the Democratic Party is mobilizing swiftly for the upcoming presidential election. So Mr. President, keep thinking you and your cabal have permanently outsmarted enough Americans to stay in power. Come November, 2020 you and your cabal's past will catch up with all of you.
3
@Howard Herman our viewpoint, coming all the way from Australia, is that you should ALL be prepared to physically march into the White house, after the elections and remove him yourselves.
Which will be we look back and say was worse - McCarthyism or Trumpism?
6
Rob, I hope we ha the chance to look back.
2
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit:
There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." Frank Wilhoit, political scientist
5
The "It's impossible to do my job!" ruse is now uncovered as the smokescreen it always was. The rule of law in this country is well on its way to being destroy by a reality TV star. Way to go, Republicans!
6
Trump and Barr view justice in the same way Trump views everything: transactional deal making or as he likes to call it, quid pro quo. Hold up Andrew McCabe’s life and reputation hostage to be released in exchange for freeing Flynn. The Faux News propaganda machine will be hard at work labeling the “libs” as hypocrites rejoicing in the dropping the case against McCabe and lamenting the reinvestigation into the Flynn miscarriage of justice. I am happy for McCabe but I think we should know if the grand jury refused to indict.
2
Ever notice how nothing ever comes of these Republican-driven investigations (or counter investigations, as the case may be)? It's always a bunch of smoke and nothing more.
1
Mr. Barr, who should be disbarred, is now the lead supporting actor in the theater of the absurd, in which Trump is the star.
The only hope is that the audience, the voters, will give this entire motley crew a/the clap and close this show that never should have been brought to stage.
2
Let's see. Flynn told the court he was guilty. In effect, he admitted lying about working for a foreign government, even as he was the highest ranking national security official in the new Trump administration. Still, I'm sure a man with his limited intelligence and his inexperience in the world was coerced into this plea. And the judge probably cast an hypnotic spell. And the courtroom must have been drenched in laughing gas. The same gas that AG Barr is now spraying around town.
4
The Flynn case is a “cause celebre” for Trump supporters, they say. I guess that means they are pumping out the propaganda over on Fox News that justice was not done. The thing is, over on Fox no crimes are ever committed by Republicans; the only people committing crimes are those who dare investigate their crimes. Before we will ever heal as a country and get back to non-partisan justice we will have to burn Fox News to the ground.
5
OK, what's the deal with this guy? Does he have a hint that there is a pink slip with his name on it? Is he trying to not look too evil before be does the perp walk out to Unemployment Avenue? Or is this a smoke screen, to look like the administration really is fair and impartial, and is worthy of all the praise that FOX gives them?
In any case, take a few minutes, or even hours, and check your voter registration status. Help a friend or neighbor do it. Post a "how to" on a blog. Make sure that everybody you know has a ride to the polls on election day.
It's that important.
3
With the disclosure of the Ukraine affair, I'm starting to understand the Dotard's strategy, which only cares about the optics of opponents' being under investigation for propaganda purposes.
This actually can be powerful - my liberal college aid son told me during 2016 that Hillary Clinton was under investigation with the FBI. Just the fact of being investigated is taint enough to warrant writing off as a viable candidate.
Hence it appears Jabba's goal is for AG Barr to announce "investigations" against all who have opposed and sought to undermine the legitimacy of the 2016 election through actions including putting Jabba's associates in jail for obvious crimes.
1
Justice is no longer blind. But it IS dumb. And for all of us crying now, wait and see what happens if/when our peerless leader gets re-elected. The DoJ is clearly being co-opted and set up to run interference for that process and against the day that Trump loses. Hint: he won’t lose for long. I’m afraid America as we’ve known it is done, barring the advent, and soon, of some patriotic and capable heroes.
2
Barr's interference babble is a smokescreen to create the appearance of independence. He is still Trump's errand boy. Don't be fooled for a second.
2
I would like my Senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and my U.S. Representative Roger Williams, each of whom ostensibly "represents" me and the state in which I reside, along with all other Republican Senators and U.S. Representatives, each of whom swore an oath to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, to look me in the eye and explain how this is acceptable and not an affront to the rule of law. Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Cruz, and Mr. Williams, do you care to respond or are you too busy hiding to be troubled with your responsibility to protect our republic as you pledged?
9
Welcome to Trump’s New Reality Show, formerly known as the United States of America.
4
Barr now tries to show us how impartial his Justice Dept. is by walking back his actions concerning Stone and giving Trump a lecture on a ABC TV interview, the next day announcing a special prosecutor for the Flynn fiasco. Let's not forget Barr dumbing down the Mueller investigation, and my favorite his op ed applying for the job of USAG
I don't believe the lies Barr, Trump, Pompeo or anyone associated with this administration tells us while they tear our government and it's institutions apart for their own dirty purposes.
3
Americans may want to google the historical term "Gleichschaltung".
This is the attempt to get political control over the justice system.
3
Even though i live in Canada, and am happy we are unlikely to elect a regime anywhere near as corrupt and shameless as the USA has, i still feel dirty and contaminated when i daily read about the despicable state of affairs in the only country we share a border with. The worst part is feeling powerless to significantly help improve the situation: one part of me says: There must be SOMETHING you can do that has a chance of making a bit of difference, but another side despairs, seeing a horrible wannabe racist dictator receiving an approval rating approaching 50%, and getting away with pretty well anything he feels like doing - despite the best efforts of sensible, intelligent USA citizens to keep him in check at least minimally. PLEASE: someone tell me what i can do, which has a ghost of a chance to have some beneficial effect!! Thank you in anticipation.
3
I don't know why you couldn't help with voter registration, canvassing, phone calls, driving folks to the polls, etc.
Congressman Schiff put it best: “You know you can’t trust Trump to do what’s right for the country.”
3
Barr and Trump: Two sides of the same hand hellbent on beating "the remnants of democracy" out of this country.
2
And while this is going on, you probably have Trump operatives actively working with Russian intelligence to disrupt the 2020 elections in favor of Trump. To think otherwise in this climate is to be naïve. The criticality of this election cannot be overstated. Please Vote Blue!
4
We have become a police state.
2
We Americans have allowed this to happen. We have not voted, we have not used our brains to try to understand and weed out the lies. We have not made our representatives accountable for their complete abdication of responsibility and oaths to our constitution. We now have the kind of federal government deserved from our lack of engagement, lack of selflessness and lack of intelligence. We have a chance to fix this, get out and vote, learn the laws, read the constitution, learn history, listen to your fellow citizens with open hearts and find common ground and fix this. Without action, we will fail and this country will no longer be what it once was. Ever.
4
Flynn already pleaded guilty. Put him in jail for a few months. He will be pardoned on Nov 4, win or lose.
1
Who pays for these outside prosecutors and how much do they make? Wow, so my hard-earned tax payments go to enriching these criminals as they skirt the law and undermine our legal system for the sake of our corrupt president. In the meantime, Franklin Grahm is blessing Trump and Fox News as God's agents because they promote the stacking of the court with the intent to illegalize abortion and homosexual marriage. With the religious right support and a heated economy because of running up a crazy debt, the Republicans are betting on getting re-elected. Let it not be so.
1
Like someone said just yesterday...watch what Barr does, not what he says. Here he is "doing."
3
Atty General Barr is as big a fraud as the buffon in the White House. Who does he think he is fooling with his “reviews” of the Stone and Flynn cases. Let the sentencing hearings proceed as so far the judges in each case do not appear to have been struck by Barr’s misplaced sense of professionalism.
Stone: a jury returned a verdict, now confirmed several times by the trial judge after various skewed attempts to overturn the jury’s decision. The flimflam antics of Mr. Barr and company (over a weekend no less - “Saturday Night Massacre Redux?) is a transparent attempt to thwart an independent justice system. I do believe the trial judge has the fortitude to render the appropriate sentence and deny bail pending appeal
One can only imagine what deeply disturbing information - embarrassing and/or criminal - both Flynn and Stone have on the criminal in office. Clearly they are more important to Co-conspirator #1 than Manafort.
4
Great! Maybe Trump will finally be implicated in one of Flynn's crimes....his violation of the Logan act, where Flynn undermined current US policy with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, regarding Obama's retaliation measures in response to the Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Recall Obama kicked out a bunch of Russians and shut down a Russian compound. Instead of Russia retaliating as EVERYONE expected, Russia did nothing, because Flynn told Kislyak Trump would reverse all that after Trump took office in January. Flynn did NOT come up with that idea on his own...that plan reeks of Trump.
And further recall that the White House admitted it knew about the content of Flynn's phone call to Kislyak and that it was contrary to to what Flynn had told the FBI, but still did not fire Flynn until some 11 days later ONLY when all of that information became reported on publicly. Will Trump's treason back then now come under scrutiny again? Thanks to Bill Barr, the answer is very, very unlikely.
3
Barr’s comments yesterday about not allowing himself to be bullied by Trump was just a head fake meant to set him up for this new review of Flynn’s case.
2
"Keep investigating if you are the President and do not like the verdict". Keep the cases open till you are satisfied with the result. Install some unqualified judges who you think are your fans.
Bill Maher said it best, "Trump hasn't drained the swamp, he's swamped the drain."
2
Hold it. Didn't he plead guilty three times?
3
Didn’t he plead guilty?
3
“Outside prosecutors” is extremely misleading when they are attorneys picked by Bill Barr with a specific agenda.
3
Is he checking their party affiliation first?
It reminds me of the old Robert Klein 'Hair Club for Men' joke.
'I wouldn't lie to you for a very good reason,
I am President of the company'!
What possible motive could I have?
Maine - your Senator Collins voted to confirm Barr.
Arizona - your Senator McSally voted to confirm Barr.
Colorado - your Senator Gardner voted to confirm Barr.
N.Carolina - your Senator Tillis voted to confirm Barr.
Make them pay at the ballot box in November.
6
He drives out career diplomats and national security professionals whose loyalty is to the United States of America.
He drives out career professionals who work within our justice system to uphold the rule of law.
As he and his toadies institutionalize his personality cult, anyone who puts service to country first is at risk.
Why, as I read this latest report, could I not help thinking of Stalin?
3
The Republican Party has come out as an authoritarian racist organization, these are Orwellian times- they are playing hardball and we keep playing soft and they just amass more power and money, Bernie sounds better every day as we are polarized further
1
Bill Barr is a two faced liar and he needs to go, but Trump will not fire someone as valuable as Barr has turned out to be. The art of disinformation is perfected with Trump and his favorite stooge.
1
Did he overlook SDNY and EDNY....?
The fixes are in. All hail Caesar*
Barr's recent comments to ABC News about Trump tweets = nothing more than a fig leaf.
Let me guess. Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr as outside prosecutors.
1
I hope Mr Barr also sets a prosecutor to review the firing to the Vindman brothers.
1
Congratulations America! Trump has made you great again!
You no longer have a legal system or constitution. You just have Trump and he decides everything...including who goes to jail and who doesn't. America is now great again...just like Russia, N. Korea, Saudi Arabia...
5
“ ...monitoring and control...” were they Queen’s
barrister’s, in a challenged democracy ravished by
a twittering Chosen One, who would defend the
Personally Unaccountables, who are rarely ever
charged, adjudicated and befittingly sentenced?
The entire administration belongs in a Supermax prison. I pray to God that after the next election we will see just that thing happen so as not to allow this type of blatant corruption and perversion of American values occurs again.
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If you don't think Barr is capable of being disingenuous and misleading, watch this exchange between him and Kamala Harris:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktdi_L0rYkk
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