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 ...
I sincerely hope, for all our sakes, that you are correct.
ReplyDeleteIt's not me. I'm just passing on the rumors. However, yes, I AM correct about Barr. Now refresh and read the addendum if you haven't yet.
DeleteSpeculation could start with small fry. Brandon Van Grack comes to mind. Since the end of the Flynn case--for practical purposes, it's just drawn out--we haven't heard word one about Van Grack. And just because he's a small fry compared to the big players on Team Mueller doesn't mean he couldn't have very valuable information for Durham and Jensen. Often how it works.
ReplyDeleteWithout a transcript,, I can't remember what I saw about the Flynn hearing, but it seemed like DOJ was mentioning Van Grack in a way they hadn't before in discussing the history of the case...piqued my curiosity at the time. Maybe somebody else noticed?
DeleteSWC speculates that it isn't Van Grack, but that it's a Team Mueller lawyer who stayed on with DoJ (that does include Van Grack). Here's his reasoning:
ReplyDelete"... the issue is that several SCO attorneys were assigned from other DOJ offices/divisions, and went back to their prior jobs. The ones who wiped their phones are subject to IG and OPR scrutiny for that action.
"Interviews about that subject were likely done some time ago, as I do not believe the logs showing the actions would have been publicly released if that was not the case. SCO attorneys who left gov't service upon departing the SCO would not have been subject to being questioned.
"But if one of the SCO attorneys still with the gov't was asked about having done so--AND DIDN'T TELL THE TRUTH--well, you can see where that ends up. Some of those guys are in their 30s--30+ years of practicing law ahead of them. How much does this one indiscretion cost them?"
This is a perfect example of why people who think there should have been indictments for this yesterday if not earlier don't understand what's going on.
First, the 302 where Jensen interviews the CROSSFIRE RAZOR FBI Case Agent -- who worked under Mueller's SCO for a time and interacted with the SCO prosecutors -- was released last week, and this evening we have rumors flying in the DC criminal lawyer gossip pool that an SCO prosecutor has "flipped" and is cooperating with Durham.
ReplyDeleteCause => effect?
Barnett's cooperation may have given Durham leverage on a SCO prosecutor, who, facing a choice between bad and worse, chose the lesser of two evils and cooperated with Durham, likey on something other than Flynn -- were it not, then it would be Jensen, not Durham for whom the prosecutor would be cooperating.
Thus suggests Durham's investigation has now broken through into the heart of Mueller Jihad, and has a cooperating prosecutor who can tell him who was naughty and who was nice.
Hoping we will see a cascade from this, as the conspiracy and its cover-up begin to crumble.
This might also explain the delay in Durham bring charges.
Perhaps Zelinsky since he's now hog tied by the fiasco of sentencing Stone and the inability to backup his claims. Is he still w/DOJ?
ReplyDeleteCurious too, perhaps this is a plant by AG Barr & Durham to stir up the SOC gang. Imagine the texts and phone calls taking place this evening amongst the SOC team. Wonder if any are "wired" under a secret investigative nature to capture their conversations. Wouldn't put it past Barr or Durham to stir the pot and see what shakes out.
ReplyDeleteWhat is SOC?
ReplyDeleteSCO = Special Counsel's Office
DeleteMy error.
DeleteAnother intriguing aspect of this is the potential for a cascade into the Democrat Media. Rats, meet sinking ship. If the conspiracy really starts to unravel, does anyone think that the DM won't take their orders to throw the Heroes of the Resistance(tm) like Comey, Brennan, et al, under the bus in order to protect Obama and Hillary, and Biden? Suddenly there will be a flood of shocked reporters breathlessly talking about the rogue agents that betrayed Obama. The defensive perimeter will be drawn tighter. May it be like Custer's.
ReplyDeleteCardillo on Howie Carr radio show now ...
ReplyDeleteHis tweet had nothing to do with the "flipping" story.
Rather, it was about a federal agent close to AG talking w/Cardillo -- agent was "very optimistic," complete faith in Barr and Durham and their investigations.
His sources have concluded there are indictments, but the worry is "line prosecutors" in DOJ are former coworkers with many of the likely indictees, and are reluctant to greenlight, or work hard on such prosecutions.
Tells story about a high profile investigator from NYC now deceased, who refused to work with Weissmann, and be used to "frame people." This conversation was in 2015.
Does not believe indictments will come before the election.
Thanks. Barr is still dealing with the aftermath of 8 years of Obama and Sessions' complete failure to even begin cleaning house. People don't understand what a monumental job Barr has--not only reforming DoJ, but pursuing the Russia Hoax and all the other major cases he's faced with: anti-trust against big tech, sedition against Dems, terrorism against Antifa/BLM, etc.
DeleteWas replacement of these "line prosecutors" in DOJ sabotaged only by Sessions, or did Senatorial wheels
Deletealso stop DJT/ Barr from making &recess* appointments, e.g. to stop key Senators' culpability being exposed by new DoJ blood?
This esp. applying to the SSCI?
Typo: "*recess* appointments", not *&recess* appointments".
DeleteI gather that the Cardillo here is John, of NewsMax.
If indeed this problem of these "line prosecutors" owes to Senators' blocking *recess* appointments,
I must wonder if that was so baked-in, that no matter what DJT offered to such Senators, they'd still balk.