Good point. I looked at it a little differently. If Powell knew of the existence of these devices and the Mueller prosecutors did not, then that would mean the DOJ is deliberately withholding information from the prosecutors.
Personally, I think the biggest bombshell came in the Mueller report when they admitted that the FBI never examined the DNC server that had allegedly been hacked by the Russians. This was explosive for two reasons:
1. If your job in the special counsel's office was to examine Russian interference in the U.S. election, wouldn't that be one of the most important pieces of evidence in your case?
2. Mueller's team actually prosecuted several Russians for interfering in the 2016 U.S. election and claimed in those filings that the DNC server had been hacked by the Russians. The formal charges filed in a criminal case are sworn statements from the prosecution team. So Mueller's report basically undermined a case that his team had already begun to prosecute.
Item #2 is critical here, because it gives someone like AG Barr all the justification he needs to cut his own prosecutors loose and treat them as potential targets of a criminal investigation.
Excellent observations.
I admit to being cynical about Barr’s investigation (because no one is ever held accountable in the DC Swamp) but at the same time I sympathize with him because of the snake pit that he’s been thrust into. It must be a nightmare of epic proportions; he not only has to unravel it all but will probably advise the president on how to clean it up. Its a herculean task for sure. And the corruption has been growing for decades so it can’t be fixed overnight.
But Barr has an historic opportunity to be a modern day Wyatt Earp. I don’t think its an exaggeration to say that the fate of our country depends on his ability and dedication to round up the seditious outlaws in DC. If he fails, the political weaponization of our federal agencies will have effectively been legitimized.
In another thread I noted that according to the NYT “Two former senior F.B.I. agents are assisting with the review”. Any idea who those two are?