By Aaron Blake Aaron Blake Senior political reporter, writing for The Fix Email Bio Follow March 25 at 6:00 AM A big question hanging over William P. Barr’s nomination to be attorney general this year was whether, once he got the job, he would do President Trump’s bidding. Barr had made statements critical of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation, and he even wrote a long memo rejecting the need for the obstruction of justice portion of Mueller’s inquiry.
Then he explained. “In making this determination, we noted that the Special Counsel recognized that ‘the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference,’ and that, while not determinative, the absence of such evidence bears upon the President’s intent with respect to obstruction.”The first is Barr’s rationale.
Gene Rossi, another former federal prosecutor, said the lack of an underlying crime does matter. “However, the existence of an underlying crime is not an essential element of the crime of obstruction. End of story,” he said. “To the extent the attorney general suggests such an element, he is dead wrong.”
The same goes for longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, who has been indicted in connection with attempts to contact WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign. Stone’s indictment notably said that “a senior Trump Campaign official was directed to contact STONE” about the matter. Some have suggested that it might be Trump who did that directing. Even if it wasn’t, Mueller clearly sees an actual crime here, which Trump’s actions vis-a-vis his investigation could affect.
“You don’t need to be guilty of an underlying crime to obstruct an investigation — especially one that might, and in fact did, implicate a number of close associates and aides,” said Jens David Ohlin, a law professor at Cornell University.
What kind of foolishness: his rationale was to keep his good government job. Not really something that requires a great deal of analysis.
attorneygeneral William Barr needs to ReleaseTheFullReport
Give it to the WaPo. It can always find 'experts' who say just what the Wa Po wants them to say
BarrIsDirty TrumpNotExonerated
So royally f’d up.
The beauty of Trump is despite this ruling by Barr, DT is so freakin stupid with no grace ...it’s only a matter of time until his next big screw up He can’t help behaving badly and going down in flames 1 investigation down 12 to go Next — SDNY Resistance
He was hired to exonerate trump
blinktip Helsinki, for Christ Sake. Helsinki
Nice ! Is this a post script to your misleading front page headline. YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
Barr is the dying vestige of white male entitement. He's Trump's knight in shining armor. Trump didi't actively collude with Russian hacking, but he did actively benefit from it and denies they did it. Now he's paying Putin back. 'No collusion' doesn't clean up Trump's mess.
blinktip How does Barr feel about working closely with Russian investigators? We heard Trump welcomed Russian investigations into Americans that are considered enemies of Russia. 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
And those legal experts work for CNN.
Because Barr did what he was hired to do?
Sure, like these “experts “ said there was obstruction and treason. Who could ever believe their opinions again? Not me!!!
fbcooper1 Is it really that difficult to figure out? How about this: that’s why he was picked for the post!
He did the job he auditioned for and won. He all but stated that he would do something like this. No one should be surprised.
It’s not legal, it’s political. Let’s hear what Comey and McCabe have to say, if and after the full Mueller Report is released for all to see.
gaslightingus2 Barr is a privileged corrupt man
Barr’s attempt to exonerate crooked trump is dishonest!!
Reasonable experts say it's time to move on! Law makers have been 'shutdown' in a tangled web long enough. What's worse is they like being stuck in the mire.
He didn't exonerate him the praised protected MUELLER report did. Stop!
WMM_podcast WMM_podcast HuffPost GOP Obviously the US decline in the world is not as important as party loyalty. Barr has to be known as a patsy because he had already written his opinion before...basically saying “a Republican President is ABOVE the law.”What a sorry state America is in!
Investigate Barr now.
This question was asked before he was hired & he ignore or refused to answer in his confirmation hearings.
The CORRUPTION in this Administration is destroying the MORAL FIBRE of the USA!
If he did.
Analysis: hold the corrupt media accountable for their failed coverage
Legal experts that we chose is How the headline should read.
armandodkos
‘Legal experts’? Dangerously close to FakeNews. It’s hysterical to watch you ‘insiders’ crumble!
Hey, it worked for Trump 🤷🏻♀️
What legal experts? The only department to bring chargers is DOJ -Congress can only make referrals. The authority rest with DOJ. Can’t be an expert if you don’t know that fact. Must be on CNN or MSNBC.
Here's some legal analysis: William Barr is a traitor to the United States.
People can't confirm these Legal experts is exist in only The Washington Communists Post reporter's Brain or not. Even if they exist, They are Democrats(=Communist) Legal exparts. TheWashingtonCommunistPost FakeNewsMedia Democrats Communist EnemyOfThePeople
Either way...
VoteTrumpOut
No, no they don't
You don't say
If there was no crime how can you obstruct? Trump was right to criticize a witch hunt. Now time to make these people accountable for a false investigation.
Promises made, promises kept! When the Justice Department is focused solely on subverting the truth and blocking transparency, there is no longer the hope of justice. There is only half-truth and blatant corruption.
Do we really need legal experts to question Barr's rationale for exonerating Trump? He did it because Trump picked him to do it. End of story. This is how corrupt the Republican Party has become. No consequences and no laws.
money
Uhh he gave him a job. Maybe Barr loves Russia. SenateGOP seem to love Putin.
No they dont. Move on
Legal experts or the editorial staff at the Washington Post. Legal experts or all Democrats in Congress. Legal experts or the biased mainstream media. Legal experts
That's an easy one. There was no evidence, no crime. It was all made up by the Democrats. Isn't it time that you started going after them in your newspaper
🤣😂🤣😂pet Dem legal experts no doubt .
It doesn't take legal analysis. It takes eyes and ears ...and mine aren't as sharp as they were 30 yrs ago. He's doing what he was hired to do: be the AG for Trump & the GOP, not for the American people. I'm sure somehow his or his family's hands are in on the big grift.
I think it’s pretty obvious. Smfh!
That’s what Barr was hired to do.
So the Neo-Con GOP can control him now. They'll keep his secrets while he promises to be useful, and then when he's not, out he goes, and in comes Pence. They can burn him whenever they feel like it, and he knows it.
Liberal legal experts?
…because he's not guilty?
Sounds like AG Barr has something to hide.
You're just not going for things that you can make stick. Trump has done all kinds of terrible things. I've heard that sometimes he talks with his mouth full and reliable sources have claimed that on occasion he farts. Because the people of America need to know.
Translation: Everyone who tried to steal the 2016 election got to far over their skis
Our national leadership has abandoned its commitment to the rule of law. I thought the beating heart of this country was core principles and values? Soooo many questions...
And the reason is simple. Huge money laundered by the Russian mafia in the United States.
chesse47 WhatAreTheyHiding?
NO EVIDENCE..., two years, $25 million spent. Get it?
DEMOCRAT SOCIALIST Congressmen & women & FAKE NEWS MEDIA MAFIA pushed the RUSSIAN HOAX 24/7 but...no collusion found!
Same 'legal experts ' who found Trump guilty before everything started? FakeNews EnemyOfThePeople
Fake news for 2 years. Are you going give us 2 more?
Keep spinning, keep spinning.......
Why the hell are you even using the term?! As quoted from Mueller, he is specifically “not exonerated.” Get it right!!
HES A LIAR ...SUBPENA MUELLER ....
Huh? This is the Mueller report! Remember, your savor and hero?!! MoveOn
Rationalize this... The public does not care what you think as there was no collusion. Stop the pushing of lies. It is over.
They silence Michael Cohen, who agreed to testify against Trump and the mafia.
Easy. Partisan politics.
Because he didn't commit a crime. Winning the election is NOT a crime.
He was bought and paid for.
Evidence matters
Common Sense questions everyone's intelligence that actual believed the 'Russia' complete & utter nonsense. Never any facts or evidence, just disingenuous incompetent activists peddling nonsense over & over
Ex-Prosecutor of New York gathered at Trump collected a dossier about relations with the Russian mafia. Trump fired the prosecutor and appointed Special Prosecutor Muller)
We went from can I get the AG job to can I clean your butt with the report since it's so full of 💩
Analysis: Media owes America an apology
Legal experts = Partisan hacks
So, what does “not exonerated” right in the summary mean if everyone is claiming Trump was exonerated?
The truth is that he was biased before he was even hired. He should have recused himself. Not to mention that his son-in-law is a Trump advisor. It really just doesn’t look good.
Sometimes you can't follow Washington Post, and news the time .. ..
This 'parrot' is deceased....
You mean innocence?
No one cares. It’s over. You lost.
Partisan hacks are questioning Barr. They can’t accept the truth of the matter
No kidding. Why do you think Barr was hired in the first place?
He sure looks like a troubled man walking when I saw the video of him walking to the car. Body language says he's under BIG stress. I say it was pre-written for the Sunday morning talk shows and how does he explain this email from Don Jr.?
Please keep this going.
Legal experts or at least the democratic puppet legal experts also said that Trump was going down, that he colluded with Russia and on and on.
FakeNewsMedia
It would divide an already deeply divided nation. The US needs bipartisan leadership to restore and unify the country
Maybe your writers should read some real news.
Barr did exactly what Trump appointed him to do. Continue the obstruction.
Power
It’s pretty easy. You can’t prosecute imaginary crimes in real life.
Really ? “Trump hired me to do it” isn’t rationale enough
Barr reached his narrative/conclusion in two days...so quick I'm sure Trump will now authorize the full release(not the Kraft type) of the entire document.
In many democratic countries Trump would have a criminal record and been forbidden from running for office in the first place re TrumpU Fraud, Trump Foundation, NYT's Trump tax evasion investigation etc. Financial investigation is what scares Trump the most
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: Newsweek - 🏆 468. / 52 Read more »
Source: washingtonpost - 🏆 95. / 72 Read more »
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »
Source: Newsweek - 🏆 468. / 52 Read more »