I was able tonight to be in attendance on a college campus to hear former two-time Attorney General William Barr speak before hundreds of people. I believe the students had the opportunity to hear him earlier in the day. So I just want to give some of my impressions of a man after hearing him speak in person....a man who I had read an awful lot about in the past few years. He has a book coming out in a few weeks....and if you are interested in his life I'm sure it would be a good read.
The setting was three chairs.....a table....and bottled drinks. William Barr would simply answer questions. It was very informal....with a fair amount of humor....in front of an audience that obviously had great respect for Barr's lifetime of achievements.I took copious notes....in the darkened auditorium....and I have them here....but William Barr's life was not why I traveled about an hour to hear him. I knew that the Durham probe would come up....and the Mueller investigation. I pretty much knew what he would say....but I was more interested in if he opened up a little bit....in a the friendly confines of a conservative Christian college....and it appeared to me that he did just that to some extent. So hear are a few comments on those issues.
I thought that the former attorney general did a job on Robert Mueller....and that surprised me a little bit. Whenever he mention Mueller it was not only critical but a few times abusive. I doubt if it mattered at all in William Barr's mind that Mueller was a legitimate hero in Vietnam....and respected for decades....where Trump has ridiculed this type of patriotism his whole life....until he took on the mantle of patriot hero....and has not been respected in any way for honesty or ethics. As for Barr himself....he mentio
ned in the talk that he was quite happy that his draft number was over 300.
Barr took great issue with the fact that Mueller appointed well-known liberal attorneys as his assistants....which Mueller did. These comments by Barr disappointed me for I didn't think that they were well-thought out. His point was that these liberal lawyers would be out to get Trump....and the public would pick up on that. Mueller indeed wanted lawyers who were going to dig....but isn't that the point in an investigation? Had he chosen conservative lawyers they would have been just as passionate to conveniently miss evidence. Who has John Durham chosen for his team? I have no idea....but I would like to know....and if they are as one-sided and passionate to dig in their investigation....would William Barr take issue with that? I doubt it very much.
The other area was on Russian collusion charges brought against Trump. Barr's very strong opinion was that the charge of collusion was ridiculous....fair enough....but Barr's mind worked like this....since there was no collusion.....then obstruction charges were also out of order....because they came out of the collusion charges. When all this was going on....with Manafort and others....and Trump would tweet his code to potential witnesses against him....I could hardly believe that he would think that he could get away with it....for it was so obvious that this was obstruction of justice....and that is what Mueller strongly implied in his report....probably not thinking for a moment that people like William Barr would refuse to acknowledge it. That was Mueller's biggest mistake....the man was too trusting of republicans doing what was right.
William Barr has a long history of stellar....at times exceptional service to our country....and the high point was in his refusal to join Trump's Stop The Steal movement which led to the January 6, 2021 insurrection....(which wasn't talked about tonight).....but in so many other ways he has proved to be just one of the boys. By neutering Robert Mueller he gave Donald Trump new life to torment America and the very system of law of which Barr claims to be protective.
The other area was on Russian collusion charges brought against Trump. Barr's very strong opinion was that the charge of collusion was ridiculous....fair enough....but Barr's mind worked like this....since there was no collusion.....then obstruction charges were also out of order....because they came out of the collusion charges. When all this was going on....with Manafort and others....and Trump would tweet his code to potential witnesses against him....I could hardly believe that he would think that he could get away with it....for it was so obvious that this was obstruction of justice....and that is what Mueller strongly implied in his report....probably not thinking for a moment that people like William Barr would refuse to acknowledge it. That was Mueller's biggest mistake....the man was too trusting of republicans doing what was right.
William Barr has a long history of stellar....at times exceptional service to our country....and the high point was in his refusal to join Trump's Stop The Steal movement which led to the January 6, 2021 insurrection....(which wasn't talked about tonight).....but in so many other ways he has proved to be just one of the boys. By neutering Robert Mueller he gave Donald Trump new life to torment America and the very system of law of which Barr claims to be protective.
Update.....March 10: It will take a while to finish William Barr's new book....One Damn Thing After Another....for it is 565 pages....and I am highlighting on every page....and penciling in comments. My impression so far....after about a third of the book....is that when he relates things that happened....decisions that he made....that only he could be privy to....he sounds like the smartest man in all of government....but when he writes about things that I know about....(having read over ninety books so far on Donald Trump....Barr having probably read....zero)....he doesn't seem overly gifted.
