Barr guarantees Durham investigation will dog Biden administration

[Thomas Veil]

A little going away present from Donald Trump's chief henchman...

Barr taps Durham as special counsel, pushing probe into Biden era

The attorney general revealed his latest move to dig into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.

www.politico.com

...Barr elevated Durham to special-counsel status on Oct. 19 but disclosed the move in a letter Tuesday to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

The Biden transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Democrats have long viewed Durham’s efforts as political payback by President Donald Trump and his allies, seeking to deflect from evidence that the Trump campaign capitalized on the Kremlin’s efforts.

Since May 2019, Durham has been reviewing the FBI’s decision to launch the investigation of President Donald Trump’s campaign and its connections with Russia, a sprawling probe that became known as Crossfire Hurricane and which was later taken over by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Trump railed against the investigation for years, describing it as a “witch hunt” and a “coup” attempt, and his efforts to curtail the probe led Mueller to lay out significant evidence of obstruction of justice, which helped fuel impeachment investigations on Capitol Hill.

By saddling the incoming Biden administration with a special counsel, it ensures that Biden will have less flexibility to attempt to scuttle any ongoing investigation and could hamstring his choice for attorney general. Barr has been one of Trump’s staunchest allies in questioning the Mueller probe and has largely echoed Trump’s criticisms. But Barr, too, has earned Trump’s ire of late for declining to indict his political adversaries ahead of the election.

Designating Durham as a special counsel increases the political cost of removing him for a new administration, especially given that Democrats portrayed talk of removing Mueller as a step that would bring on a kind of political armageddon. Language Barr placed in the order naming Durham as a special counsel also seeks to make it more likely that the final report of his investigation is made public.

It's Machiavellian, really. Trump tried repeatedly to torpedo the Mueller investigation, but if Biden wants to end this farce there will be political consequences.

 

[SuperMatt]

A little going away present from Donald Trump's chief henchman...

Barr taps Durham as special counsel, pushing probe into Biden era

The attorney general revealed his latest move to dig into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.

www.politico.com

It's Machiavellian, really. Trump tried repeatedly to torpedo the Mueller investigation, but if Biden wants to end this farce there will be political consequences.

Long-time professionals on this “Durham report” have resigned rather than continue to be a part of it. Did any career professionals working on the Mueller resign in protest to Robert Mueller’s investigation?

 

[JayMysteri0]

Barr gone early?

https://www.Twitter or X not allowed/i/web/status/1335723072368861187/

Not F'N soon enough. He's trying to duck getting his ass fired and embarrassed like the others.

 

[Alli]

Not F'N soon enough. He's trying to duck getting his ass fired and embarrassed like the others.

Doesn’t he realize that it doesn’t matter? He can resign tomorrow and 45 will still insist he was fired.

 

[lizkat]

Doesn’t he realize that it doesn’t matter? He can resign tomorrow and 45 will still insist he was fired.

Barr is likely wealthy enough not to have to work again. If he does fancy some particular private sector job after the one he has now, then it might matter that he quits with a public statement of reason and to get that out there before Trump claims to have fired him.

I mean Trump is burning stuff down now and he doesn't like to be alone, certainly not to become a loser alone, so it probably gets more risky by the day for his cabinet chiefs to hang out with him.

 

[Thomas Veil]

What with Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis coming down with Covid, if Barr resigns Trump’s gonna be fresh out of lawyers.

 

[lizkat]

What with Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis coming down with Covid, if Barr resigns Trump’s gonna be fresh out of lawyers.

Just as well... the way it was going for them, that pair were about to run out of credentials to appear before the bar.