Monica Showalter has a very shrewd blog at AmThinker this morning: Barr's recusal from Epstein case should give Democrats the willies. Willies? Heh, I think I get it. Read the whole thing. Showalter's point is what a canny player Bill Barr is. And that should reassure those who have doubts about where the Russia Hoax is headed. First a lead-in, then a few key excerpts, but the whole blog is worth reading.
Attorney General William Barr recused himself Monday from the Jeffrey Epstein child sex trafficking case:
“I’m recused from that matter because one of the law firms that represented Epstein long ago was a firm that I subsequently joined for a period of time,” Barr told reporters in Southern Carolina.
Hmmm. On the surface, it sounds like the exit from the case of another Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, who recused himself from the investigation into the Russian collusion allegations against President Trump, based on his own light contacts with the Russians as Senator. Now Democrats can have a field day against Trump with the investigation entirely in their hands, right?
Don't think so. On the surface it may appear to be bad news for President Trump - another rat fleeing a sinking ship? - and the left may be secretly cheering. But if they are, they don't know Barr very well.
Barr is a canny player in ways that Sessions was not, and more likely, he's clearing the floor to keep any hint of politics out of this bona fide child-molestation case.
What's more likely is that Democrats - lots of Democrats - are involved in this and he's getting out of the way so they can go down without yellings from the left about a politicized prosecution. One can only surmise that maybe he's seen the details about whose name is going to come up, how damning the evidence is, and knows they're going to go easily based on objective facts alone. How much smarter that this not be about politics so the legal process can take its course. No Barr, no politics.
...
Now with Barr out, wanting what looks like a clear-cut slam-dunk case to be clean as heck, Democrats should be getting the willies.
So what prevented Jeff Sessions from pursuing this line of investigation and prosecution during his term as Attorney General?
ReplyDeleteSessions proactively represented himself as a "Law and Order" prosecutor of high moral character. This self created image was a point of pride for him. What exactly did Sessions do in the two years he served as AG that are noteworthy or proof of his worth? Prior AGs such as Holder and Lynch can be excused because they were sincerely corrupt, but Sessions being AWOL is particularly vile because of his presentation of decency and honor.
Trump was right. Sessions' appointment was the biggest mistake of his Presidency thus far.
Totally. Membership card in Establishment Club more important than simple human decency.
DeleteThis is part of the blow-back from Coupegate. Mueller, I am sure, already combed through all of this in his investigation. result, no threat to the President. If there was anything there, other than a few extemporaneous sound-bites, it would have been published.
ReplyDeleteOn a different note, the Brit Ambassador has refuted any arguments toward treating the May gov't with deference ref Coupegate. I can already hear the chant at the next Trump rally, Declass - Declass - Declass. Combine declassification with the revelations that may come from the Epstein case (which has many international players) over the next year and Globalist World may be in for some very stormy weather, real climate change level events.
Good point re Mueller--hard to believe he wouldn't have attempted to dig up something with Epstein if it had been there.
DeleteRe the Brit ambassador, 1) no sympathy here, but 2) in a sense this leak--assuming it was unauthorized--makes May and Kim the ambassador victims. Who would want to do business with a government that leaks like that? Trump did what he had to do.
I'm assuming the reports just out - that Barr is recused only from the SDFLA case but not the new SDNY case - are correct. If so, this puts a whole different spin on things I think, though I admit I really don't know exactly what that new spin is - it just feels good is all (lol). And PS: no, I do not like a Comey being involved. At all.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check that out. That may make sense depending on his connection to the law firm during relevant time periods. Just got back.
DeleteI think Showalter is correct- if there are high profile Democrats on the chopping block, one of the defenses was going to be that Barr is practicing revenge politics. Barr just smothered that defense in its crib. I also believe this is the reason Comey's daughter is the one being put on this case- everyone will be watching her like a hawk- she won't be able to tank the cases, nor will she be open to the charges of being politically motivated to go after Democrats. This was all a very, very shrewd process.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would worry a bit that this is in the SDNY- sure, the office probably contains lots of anti-Trump partisans, but the leadership in the office doesn't, nor is the office running rogue either from the DoJ. A recusal of Barr isn't the same situation as it was in the case of Sessions- there isn't a Rosenstein waiting in the wings to run the investigation as an anti-Trump arm of the DNC.
ReplyDeleteYes. I think Trump and Barr have supported this.
DeleteRecusal...in the face of a real conflict, or the appearance of a conflict, or in this day and age a set of facts that your opponents can twist into an allegation of conflict, is ALWAYS a good idea.
ReplyDeleteBarr is a good lawyer...he may well turn out to be a great lawyer...and he knows this. Why give the bad guys a target/distraction to shoot at. At this stage I can't read much more into his decision.
Would that Mueller and Weissmann had understood this. Their conflicts will always taint their 'report', although their report is so deeply flawed that it may not matter. But if their goal had been to produce an unbiased report, their conflicts would have been highly problematic.
Sessions' recusal is another kettle of fish. It looks to me like his casual contact with the Russian Ambassador didn't even rise to the level of 'appearance' of conflict. Even so, his recusal would not have been inappropriate if he hadn't immediately fallen into the Rosenstein/Mueller trap.
Sessions is also guilty of emasculating himself. It was one thing to recuse himself from an investigation into the 2016 election, and quite another to handcuff himself to the point where he became a liability. Barr's effectiveness on so many fronts since taking over is proof of this. And Trump has acknowledged his mistake.
If Sessions were going to recuse himself, he should have resigned. I see no parallel in the Epstein-Barr case.
Since Sessions apparently knew he'd recuse himself all along, he should never have sought the position. Terrible betrayal of Trump's trust.
Delete