Posted on 12/20/2018 9:54:45 AM PST by libstripper
Rod Rosenstein says Barr's memo didn't have any influence on Robert Mueller's probe. It was so sensible, it should have.
President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Justice Department wrote a memo in June that argued against redefining obstruction of justice to include lawful actions taken by the president, according to the Wall Street Journal. The 20-page memo by William Barr was dated June 8 and sent to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Steven Engel, head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Reporters Sadie Gurman and Aruna Viswanatha reviewed the memo, although they do not reveal who leaked it to them.
William Barr, President Trump’s choice for attorney general, sent an unsolicited memo earlier this year to the Justice Department that excoriated special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into potential obstruction of justice by Mr. Trump, saying it is based on a ‘fatally misconceived’ theory that would cause lasting damage to the presidency and the executive branch.
According to the Department of Justice, Barr’s memo said he was writing “as a former official deeply concerned with the institution of the Presidency and the Department of Justice” and acknowledged he was offering his opinion solely based on public information about the probe. The media had been reporting for a year that the Robert Mueller probe was morphing from its alleged purpose of investigating whether President Trump treasonously colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election into a general investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice.
(Excerpt) Read more at thefederalist.com ...
Despite the ongoing calls from opponents of Trump for any of his attorney general picks to recuse themselves for reasons, the Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said senior department ethics officials said the memo would not pose a conflict to his appointment:
‘Mr. Barr has stated that, if confirmed, he will make any decisions based on the actual facts and circumstances of any particular matter,’ she added. But it would be too soon for ethics officials to weigh in on specific matters like whether he should step aside from the Russia probe, as he is not yet confirmed and it’s unclear where the investigation will stand if he takes office, a person familiar with the matter said.
In short, it looks like the DOJ ethics people have already determined that Barr's memo will not force him to recuse himself from managing the Mueller investigation and that there's a question of whether the investigation will continue if he takes office. Could be a big win coming here.
We hope so. Hopefully, both the FBI and DOJ will become bad spots in our history after they are destroyed.
It would turn the DOJ into the Stasi, SS, KGB and Tonton Macoute....................all in one!..................
Will destroy? Uh, a little late on that prognostication. The doh-J is no longer trustworthy in my pea brained opinion.
What's to say it hasn't already? The FBI need not Mirandize ANYONE, and/or an informal discussion and an official interrogation are classified the same to trap someone into lying. The STASI would be proud of Comey's actions.
"Cry Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war."
President Trump will rebuild things to the way they should have been.
ML/NJ
If enacting and exacting justice is the mandate, then it is long since destroyed.
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