Trump's AG pick wrote memo to Rod Rosenstein, criticizing Mueller probe - Polidicks

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/world/national-security/attorney-general-nominee-wrote-memo-criticizing-mueller-obstruction-probe/2018/12/20/72a01304-044b-11e9-b5df-5d3874f1ac36_story.html?noredirect=on William P. Barr, who has been nominated to become the next attorney general, wrote a memo to Justice Department leaders earlier this year criticizing special counsel Robert S. Mueller III for a “fatally misconceived” legal theory of how President Trump may have obstructed justice. The memo, written in June and addressed to Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, is likely to raise alarms among Democrats who have sought to protect the Mueller investigation. And it could intensify the partisan fights surrounding Barr when he comes before the Senate Judiciary Committee for confirmation next year. Barr wrote that Mueller’s apparent theory of obstruction “is premised on a novel and legally insupportable reading of the law. Moreover, in my view, if credited by the department, it would have grave consequences far beyond the immediate confines of this case and would do lasting damage to the presidency and to the administration of law within the executive branch.” Days after Comey’s firing, Barr wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post arguing that the president’s action was justified, but that was before many of the details of Trump’s interactions with the FBI director were known. The June 2018 memo makes clear that even after those details came to light — such as the president asking Comey two months before the firing to drop his investigation into Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn — Barr still considered the president’s actions justified and not criminal. “On their face, the president’s comments to Comey seem unobjectionable,” Barr wrote. The president “expressed the ‘hope’ that Comey could ‘see his way clear’ to let the matter go,” Barr added. “The formulation that Comey ‘see his way clear,’ explicitly leaves the decision with Comey. Most normal subordinates would not have found these comments obstructive.” At the end of his memo, Barr warned, “While these controversies have heretofore been waged largely on the field of political combat, Mueller’s sweeping obstruction theory would now open the way for the ‘criminalization’ of these disputes.”

For this, he should not be confirmed. Especially in lieu of McConnell refusing to pass protection legislation.

good luck with flake gone and graham running the judiciary committee.

I'm sure Mueller will convince this guy that he's not running a witch hunt, they served together before.

same thing seems to have happened with the acting AG, he's not even assumed day to day control leaving rosenstein basically where he was with sessions.

A part of me thought that these people genuinely think Trump has done no wrong. They think there's an actual witch Hunt going on and they're going to put a stop to it until they see the evidence themselves and realize Mueller's legit but they don't want to back down for fear of backlash so they stay silent. Though that's me being thoughtful of these people having integrity, I'm sure it's what you said.

They also likely can't retract their statements without harming the investigation. If some dude was full-on MAGA and then saw what Mueller had and went "Yeah goes nvm Mueller's legit this is serious" then that's basically confirming details about the investigation, no?

I wouldn't put it past Mueller telling them they can't confirm or deny anything and would stay silent. Again this is if these picks believe Trump is acting innocent

I bet you're right. In fact I bet Mueller probably shows every one of them not just the evidence against Trump, but also evidence that undoubtedly also exists against the Senate Republicans trying to dismantle the probe.

yes hello welcome to the fucking point

we know that he's had evidence for close to two years that witnesses in the republican run investigations have been lying to congress and the Republicans have refuses to use their legal authority to verify the truth. All of it is suspect because the republicans don't follow up with subpoenas on documents relavent to the testimony nor do they even bother to question the witnesses.

Republicans: "It's not fair, why can't...how come...why can't we just...ya know...i'm not saying...I don't see what the big deal is if we just...kinda...let Trump...ya know...c-o-m-m-i-t some c-r-i-m-e-s. A little bit. Maybe."