Barr And Durham--Has Someone On Team Mueller Flipped?
I've never lost confidence that Barr and Durham--and now with the help of Jensen and Bash--would get this sprawling Russia Hoax job done. That nobody else would be able to do a better job. I understand that there are some others who prefer instant gratification to a thorough job. For what it's worth, Undercover Huber--who does have a clue about the Russia Hoax--just retweeted this from John Cardillo:
Can’t say why without betraying a confidence, but I just had a BIG restoration of faith moment in AG Barr and Durham.
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) October 1, 2020
In addition, I just reread this article by Will Chamberlain:
How President Trump’s legal team outfoxed Mueller
The article dates to May of 2019. It covers the period beginning near the end of 2017, when Trump's legal team realized Mueller wasn't going to pack up his tent and call it a day, just because there was obviously no "collusion." Instead, Mueller fully intended to pursue an extreme "obstruction" theory, and to do that he would want to interview Trump himself.
Chamberlain's theory of what then happened is that during the first months of 2018 Trump's legal team--John Dowd, Ty Cobb, and Jay Sekulow--attempted to talk Mueller out of this pursuit of Trump, but without success. And so they turned to Bill Barr, because they believed Barr would not only be on Trump's side--he had previously demonstrated that in characteristically straightforward comments to the NYT--but because Barr had the necessary "gravitas" for the task they had in mind. That task was to get through to Rod Rosenstein--in effect, the AG for all things Russia Hoax, given Sessions' recusal.
This, of course, led to Barr's famous 19 page legal memo (June, 2018) in which he trashed Team Mueller's obstruction theory. Having had the lay of the land explained to him by Trump's lawyers (says Chamberlain), Barr stepped up and launched a full frontal assault on Team Mueller's only remaining reason for continued existence. While Rosenstein balked at reining in Mueller, this put Barr in line to replace Sessions immediately after the 2018 midterm elections. This was the worst possible outcome for the Dems. They knew Barr:
When the June 2018 Barr memorandum became public in December, many Democrats tried to weaponize it against him. But because Barr’s memo was specific to a particular statute, and was perfectly defensible legal analysis, it was hard for the Democrats to get any traction.
In hindsight, however, it’s clear that Barr was the assassin Democrats feared.
Within six weeks of his confirmation, the Mueller probe was over.
The point is not just that Barr is smart and that he understands DC politics. He's also aggressive and he takes the most direct route possible to the end that he has in mind. Knowing this about Barr tells us that the only reason for delay is that Barr is still getting his ducks in a row--and that he has good reason for doing so. It's the way he's always operated. This is why the Dems feared him when he returned to DoJ, and it's why they continue to fear him. And that's exactly what Trump needs at DoJ--someone who is feared.
ADDENDUM: While I was writing ...
Shipwreckedcrew picked up on the John Cardillo tweet, and added just a bit:
BREAKING: DC Legal Circles Rumor Says Member of Mueller’s Prosecution Team Has “Flipped” For Durham
Something has happened in the Durham investigation of the origins of the Russia rumor hoax, and a rumor circulating among Washington DC federal criminal defense attorneys is that a former member of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office has “flipped” and is providing information to the investigators regarding the work of the SCO.
This is the earliest Tweet I can find on the subject:
RUMINT: Talk From Many DC Lawyers Saying One Of Special Counsel Robert #Mueller 's Prosecutors Has "FLIPPED" & Is Now Cooperating With US Attorney John #Durham 's Investigation Into The Origins Of #RussiaCollusion Investigation. A Single Name Is Being Repeated...Developing ... pic.twitter.com/2ulUVGAlHU
— John Basham 🇺🇲 (@JohnBasham) October 1, 2020
So, as I was saying above about Barr ...