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Home » Bill Barr is testifying today in the Senate

Bill Barr is testifying today in the Senate

The New Neo Posted on by

You can read about it here.

An excerpt:

Mr. Grassley said it was ironic that Mr. Trump has now been cleared of conspiracy with Russia to subvert the 2016 election, but the Clinton campaign who hired a foreign national — Mr. Steele — who relied on information that may have been planted by Russia has not faced the same scrutiny.

“That’s the definition of collusion,” Mr. Grassley said.

Mr. Barr said he doesn’t yet have conclusions, but said there is a real possibility that Russia used Mr. Steele as part of its disinformation campaign.

“That is one of the areas that I’m reviewing. I’m concerned about it, and I don’t think it’s entirely speculative,” he said.

Also see this:

During testimony on Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General William Barr expressed his surprise that special counsel Robert Mueller did not come to a conclusion on whether or not President Trump had obstructed justice. Barr had expected a decision from Mueller, which is the norm.

Barr told the senators, “We did not understand exactly why the special counsel was not reaching a decision. We don’t conduct criminal investigations just to collect information and put it out to the public. We do so to make a decision.”

Yes, Mr. Barr, that’s how it’s usually done unless a prosecutor knows he can’t make a reasonable case against a defendant, but is interested in maintaining pressure. Particularly if the defendant is President Donald Trump, whom you hate, and you’re hoping that if the case is left open, others will pick up where you left off.

[ADDENDUM: Also see this.]

Comments

Bill Barr is testifying today in the Senate — 36 Comments

  3. David R. Block:

    Ooops! Fixed. Thanks!

    Memo to self: Haste. Makes. Waste.

  4. Do these ignorant Dems not realize that Putin is watching them and saying that his plan to destabilize America is working better than even he predicted?

  5. No, expat, these Dems don’t care. Destabilizing America is their goal. If Putin also wants that, so much the better.

  6. More likely collusion with a British agent, an indebted post-coup Kiev, and perhaps an empathetic Russian resistance.

  7. Maizie Hirohito, as Ace calls her, is a complete fool. Kamala Harris did her presidential campaign no good today. Joe DeGenova said tonight that Hillary is already making excuses for losing in 2020 and he said that Harris is an example of why.

  8. Maizie Hirohito has got to stop her sneak attacks unless she wants someone to drop the big one on her.
    twice

  9. Lots of posts at PowerLine on Barr’s grilling.

    A few of my favorite comments from their community:

    reaalistx • 2 hours ago
    Quote of the Day:
    “He’s [Barr] trying to blackmail the committee into not following the most effective means of eliciting the information we need,” Nadler said. “He is terrified of having to face a skilled attorney.”
    Nadler, of course, is an attorney. Kamala Harris is a former attorney general. Numerous other Democratic Congressmen on the committee are attorneys.
    I guess that Nadler is admitting that the elected Democrats on the committee are incompetent attorneys.

    George Wickham • 3 hours ago
    So if Barr is investigating democrats’ role in the Russian Hoax and the democrats are threatening to impeach Barr, wouldn’t that be considered obstruction of justice?

    CapnRusty • 3 hours ago
    Strozk and Page should be charged with insurance fraud.

    cronus titan RalphF • 3 hours ago
    Tyrion Lannister could not be reached for comment.

  10. J. E. Dyer has done some analysis of the intent of the Democrats reaction to Mueller’s letter.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/05/01/muellers-letter-to-barr-drops-and-its-very-informative-but-not-in-a-good-way/

    “So the gist of Barr’s original highlights memo to Congress was validated by the 448-page report.

    Since “no obstruction” was what the media were reporting the whole time – even the media that didn’t want to report that – it doesn’t appear in hindsight that the media coverage was misguided.

    It does now appear that the Mueller letter was written because the man who signed it wanted a specially selected 19-page release, in order to lead the media coverage away from the accurate conclusion.”

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2019/05/01/orchestration-nyt-wapo-a-mueller-letter-and-11-house-dems-promptly-calling-for-ig-probe-of-barr/

    “A number of commentators pointed out when the Mueller report was released that its volume on “obstruction” was a playbook for dogging the Trump administration with the threat of endless probes and potential attempts at impeachment in the balance of Trump’s term. It incorporates a great deal of gratuitous detail – including hearsay that would have tough sledding in court – and ironically makes its own best case for why no obstruction charges could be contemplated. With all that gossipy detail, Mueller couldn’t locate a solid predicate in law for bringing obstruction charges, and Barr didn’t find one either.

    It’s a political document, not a legal one.

    The same can seemingly be said of Mueller’s sudden concern for misguided media coverage and his 27 March letter to Barr. The professional utility of such a letter is not obvious, and the legal utility is manifestly nonexistent. The first use to which the letter – or, more precisely, the story of the letter – has been put, in this orchestrated roll-out on the last day of April, is a political one.”

  12. The clown show dos not realize 50% of the non zombies know they are disgusting fools. We are at the tipping point. Meanwhile, in VZ, the beat goes on.

  13. I think, were I Barr, I would have stood and walked.
    I might have mentioned that his interagators should have read his report before attacking him and it.

  14. I think, were I Barr, I would have stood and walked.
    I might have mentioned that his interrogators should have read his report before attacking him and it.

  16. my favorite part is when the guy that lied about being a vietnam veteran chided barr by saying history would not remember him well
    i cant remember his name
    but i can remember barrs
    it just happened yesterday
    democrats should refrain from using big words they dont understand

  17. Barr is being very kind to Mueller, when he merely says that he “can’t understand” why Mueller didn’t make a charging decision on this issue of obstruction when his mandate was to do so.

    Another way to put it is that digging very deep for two years, and looking high and low by a band of rabid Democrats didn’t turn up anything chargeable with reference to obstruction, but Mueller & Co. refused to publicly declare that conclusion.

    Instead, they wrote wrote Vol. II, which is full of all sorts of maybe, kinda, sorta, close but not quite instances of obstruction–the equivalent of a bag of party balloons–that can be inflated, one by one, and used to continue the charade that Trump broke the law.

  18. Just saw this exchange over at Townhall. As a resident of CT, I have regularly voted against all Dems in the state, but it’s an exercise in futility around here. The amazing thing is that people here continually complain about the state of the state, yet continue to vote these people into office. Now, a wonderful take down of our idiot senator:

    …”Did you make a memorandum of your conversation?” Blumenthal asked.

    “No, I didn’t,” Barr responded.

    “Did anyone, either you or anyone on your staff, memorialize your conversation with Robert Mueller?” Blumenthal said.

    “Yes,” Barr added.

    Blumenthal then asked, “Who did that?”

    “There were notes taken of the call,” Barr said.

    “May we have those notes?” Blumenthal continued.

    Barr: “No.”

    Blumenthal: “Why not?”

    Barr: “Why should you have them?”

  19. Looked at a lot of the Hearing and, boy, these Democrats are an odious crew, chief among them Hirano, and Blumenthal.

  20. Chief odioi, Blumenthal and Hirono, as a *most by means of least* kinda deal. These people are genuinely pathetic souls.

  23. The Senate Dems are not merely fools or pathetic. They are indeed odious, to the point of being evil.
    The Special Counsel was a charade, a fraud, right from the start. That’s why Sessions’ recusal was wrong and floored me. Picking active, contributing Democrats as the Mueller legal team, now that is indeed collusion.

    Barr is a more remarkable man than I remember him being.
    And Graham? These are his best moments.

  24. I daresay, few, if any, of those Democrats realize that Barr is/was under no Constitutional obligation to turn over the Mueller report, much less reveal any part of it, much less answer any questions about it.

    We are skating on thin ice as a self-governing people. Our educational system does not teach our children the bases upon which self-government depends, nor its value, and the vast majority of the nation’s parents do not instill in their children the discipline and self-reliance that would cause them to treasure and preserve it.

  25. Talk about collusion!

    I see that Biden, in his first few campaign statements, is saying that China is really no threat at all to the United States.

    I think that the evidence—apparent from any direction/situation you look at—is that China most definitely is.

    One key question that has to be answered by Biden is—how come his son Hunter Biden’s company had a billion plus dollars invested in it by a Chinese bank, and what have been and are the Biden family’s connections to the Chinese?

    See https://www.breitbart.com/radio/2018/03/20/schweizer-reveals-bidens-sons-massive-deal-chinese-company-trying-steal-americas-nuclear-secrets/

  26. At one time the US Congress was referred to as the “greatest deliberative body in the world.”
    Certainly since Trump was elected, and more likely beginning when Clarence Thomas was nominated to be a member of the Supreme Court, the US Congress has demonstrated to the entire world that it is a joke, a fraud, a scam.
    Frankly it is absolutely sickening to listen or watch them conducting a “hearing.”

    These “hearings” are conducted in the best traditions of Stalinist show trials of the 1930s or the court proceedings conducted by the jurist Roland Freisler. Like all kangaroo courts, these hearings are conducted merely to condemn and slander the the witness in a public forum.
    The search for truth or facts is not a consideration at all; “convicting” the witness is the sole and entire goal of the hearings.
    What is more disturbing is that the Attorney General is conducting investigations to find if any members of our government have engaged in sedition, which should worry everybody.
    But it does not!
    Clearly some (many? ) members of Congress wish not to investigate any of this. Implicit in this is their APPROVAL of possibly seditious activities conducted by highly placed and powerful individuals within the US govt.
    And by their implicit approval, they themselves are engaging in a conspiracy to protect those who may have engaged in sedition.
    These elected officials – attempting to help cover up any illegal activities – should themselves be subjected to criminal prosecution for obstruction of justice and for aiding and abetting those individuals who are found to have engaged in sedition.

    Our Constitutional Republic is not long for the world if our elected officials continue to conduct themselves in this manner. These elected officials either are not aware of the level of anger and disgust amongst many ordinary Americans, or more likely, they do not give a shite.

    Let’s hope that things somehow go back to normal and Congress gets down to performing their Constitutional responsibilities before enough Americans believe that they must take action to “reestablish” a legitimate government as specified in the US Constitution.

    People can tolerate only so much – a lot in fact; but patience has its limits.

  27. It boils down to this:

    The rule of law in the USA—and basic decency—are under relentless attack from the Democratic Party.

    Although the process took off under the Obama administration, since the 2016 elections, the Democratic Party has decided to do this for several reasons, chief among them that they’ve persuaded themselves—along with quite a few others, with the help of a rogue MSM—that Trump is the epitome of EVIL and must be brought down.

    BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

    Unfortunately (because a strong, or at least a relatively sane, Democratic party is necessary for the American political process, i.e., for America itself), the Democrats seem totally unaware of what they’ve turned themselves into, in the pursuit of what they’ve persuaded themselves is “the most moral” of goals.

    And there’s absolutely no indication that they will—that they can—change their minds on this…

    …as the country continues to be torn apart because of it.

    File under: “Fundamentally transforming” the Democratic Party of the USA

  28. Brian Cates on Rod Eisenstein: https://www.theepochtimes.com/rod-rosenstein-hero_2901409.html

    The smear job underway against AG Barr is done in full knowledge by the Democrats that justice is coming to the purveyors of the RussiaTrump collusion charade, and likely more (i.e. Hillary’s felonies,etc.). The Democrats know they’re screwed, that the wheels of justice grind slow but ever so fine.

  30. P.S.–One might also ask candidate Biden why, according to the report linked below, did then VP Biden in 2016 successfully threaten the Ukraine with the loss of $1 billion dollars in U.S. loan guarantees, if they didn’t fire their equivalent of the Attorney General, who had been investigating an energy company called Berisma Holdings.

    Berisma Holdings which–not coincidentally–had hired Biden’s son Hunter, a lawyer, who reportedly had no relevant experience in the energy industry, at a salary of $50,000 per month.

    A position Hunter Biden was reported to have continued to hold until April 2019.

    See https://hotair.com/archives/2019/05/02/nyt-joe-biden-strongarm-ukraine-protect-sons-job-will-republicans-pounce/

  31. physicsguy:

    Thanks for that excerpt. Those arrogant Democrats thought they could get Barr on the stand and ride roughshod over him. But unlike them, he’s smart and confident and experienced, and especially, has the truth on his side and is not afraid to use it. We need more like him.

  32. What the House is doing is against the rules. The rules only permit house members, not their staff, to question Barr. Nadler wants to change the rules for his convenience.

  33. Apparently Maizie Hirona feels that with the retirement of Barbara Boxer, there is a great need for someone to feel her role. Congratulations, Maizie, you are now officially the dumbest person in the United States Senate!

  34. I love how the Dems are calling Barr a liar for answering the question that they actually asked. What Congressmen Crist and Van Holland asked last month was, “Did Mueller ever dispute the conclusions in your summary?” To which Barr truthfully answered, “No.” What the Dems are now pretending they asked was, “Did Mueller ever dispute anything in your summary?” To which Barr, when asked that question in the Senate hearing, gave a detailed and truthful answer.

    The Dems called that “hair-splitting.” I call it being a good lawyer.

  36. While watching the vile demonstrations of insult and slander by Blumenthal, Harris, and Hirono, I wondered if they would be so outrageously slanderous if we still had the code duello? Where can a man (or woman) go to get his reputation back when such false and malicious accusations are freely bandied about and repeated by the MSM? Would not the threat of a duel return some semblance of honor and propriety to our political discourse? Of course, Blumenthal, Harris, and Hirono may, at some point in the future, find themselves in the cross hairs of the DOJ. (If the Trump administration was reflective of the Obama years, they could almost be sure that such would happen.) At which point they would wish they had been more circumspect.

    I commend AG Bill Barr for being tough enough to shrug off such vicious attacks. He’s a far better man than I could ever be.

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