Wednesday, May 1, 2019

NEW: DOJ confirms Barr is bailing on House Judiciary Committee tomorrow. "Chairman Nadler’s insistence on having staff question the Attorney General, a Senate-confirmed Cabinet member, is inappropriate.”


In new letter, DOJ tells Nadler that subpoena for full Mueller report and investigative files "is not legitimate oversight" and that his requests are "overbroad and extraordinarily burdensome.”


Nadler says Barr's refusal to testify is "part of the administration's complete stonewalling of Congress." "He's is trying to blackmail the committee ... we cannot permit the administration to dictate to Congress how we operate."


JUST IN: Barr says he didn't review underlying evidence of Mueller report before making obstruction call on Trump


Barr says that someone took notes of his call with Mueller. Blumenthal asks to see the notes. Barr says no. "Why should you have them?"


After questioning William Barr @senkamalaharris: "This Attorney General lacks all credibility and has I think compromised the American public's ability to believe that he is a purveyor of justice."


Barr just told @KamalaHarris that neither he nor Rosenstein looked at the evidence that underlined the report. Yet, she notes "you made the decision not to charge the president" without looking at the evidence.


WATCH: @SenKamalaHarris: "Has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone?"


.@SenKamalaHarris: Have you or Rosenstein reviewed the underlying evidence for the Muller investigation? Barr: No. WHAT?????


James Comey: How Trump Co-opts Leaders Like Bill Barr


AG Bill Barr: "I am not going to abjure the use of the word spying, I think, you know, my first job was in CIA. And I don't think the word 'spying' has any pejorative connotation at all."


Sen. Amy Klobuchar tells AG Barr that his 4-page letter was "clearly a summary and that's why Director Mueller called it a summary." "We must hear from Director Mueller."


I'm gravely concerned that the 14 criminal referrals from Special Counsel Mueller related to the investigation are under the supervision & control of AG Barr. He's virtually disqualified himself to be the kind of person we can expect to stand back & make sure justice is served.


The silence...


WE


Barr to Senator Leahy: "Well OBVIOUSLY the Trump team were expecting to benefit from whatever Russia was doing..."


Agreement reached to have Mueller testify on Russia probe: lawmaker


THIS WEEK -- Attorney General William Barr testifies on Mueller Report before Congress – LIVE on C-SPAN3 & @cspanradio:


Fmr. CIA Director John Brennan: “I’m still waiting for those Republicans to realize that the ‘Trump ship’ is a sinking one, and there are still rats on that ship and there are individuals who are not going to separate themselves from Trump, but they do so at their own peril.”


NEW this am: ⁦@SpeakerPelosi⁩ assails Trump for ‘unconstitutional’ acts in new messaging campaign, accuses him of distorting checks and balances w/stonewalling tactics


"We need to destroy the Republican Party": A conservative luminary calls for a clean slate


Today POTUS retweeted 59 accounts that replied to a Bongino tweet about Biden/firefighters in order to prove he (POTUS) has support from firefighters. Sad showing. Let's look at those "followers" being promoted by the President. There are some interesting bio clusters


THIS WEEK -- Attorney General William Barr testifies on Mueller Report before Congress – LIVE on C-SPAN3 & @cspanradio: Wednesday, May 1 (10am ET) at Senate Judiciary Cmte Thursday, May 2 (9am ET) at House Judiciary Cmte


A.G. Barr testified under oath that he didn't know if Robert Mueller supported his conclusion about the report. Reports now say that two weeks earlier Mueller had expressed his displeasure to Barr. Is that a problem?


Rangappa v. Cucinelli, in two parts: Part I:


Trump just retweeted a “supporter” who quickly changed its name to ‘Fuck Donald Trump’


The President just retweeted 50-some tweets by bots or accounts that have been recently created and almost exclusively share the same pro-Trump content.


BREAK: Julian Assange has been sentenced to nearly a year (50 weeks) in prison for skipping bail


William Barr made $1.2 million in private practice in 2018. He makes $210k as Attorney General. He took a million-dollar pay-cut for this.


READ: Barr's prepared remarks in testimony before Senate Judiciary panel


If #Venezuela’s #Maduro falls, what does Moscow stand to lose? Plenty.


William Barr torched by Harvard Professor, legal scholars over "indefensible" Mueller summary: AG "must be impeached"


We got ahold of 500 pages of emails + receipts between the federal gov't and Mar-a-Lago. It shows how much $$ is spent there when @realDonaldTrump visits. The takeaway: When the gov't and taxpayers pay a bill, Donald Trump’s club reaps the revenue.


Nixon’s Attorney General, John Mitchell, was convicted and went to prison for perjury, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.


The young man who accused Buttigieg of sexually assaulting him fully recanted his accusations on Tuesday, saying he was tricked, enticed and even intimidated in a "despicable" setup by two of the most notorious smear merchants in politics


A man armed with a pistol opened fire on the final day of classes at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, killing two people and leaving four others wounded -- three of them critically, authorities say


There is no escape for Assange. He is to be sentenced this morning for jumping bail. JAss also faces an extradition hearing tomorrow. For whom the bell tolls Julian, for whom the bell tolls :)


Guaido's high-risk gamble in Venezuela flopped. Now what?


Breaking News: Robert Mueller wrote a letter to the attorney general objecting to his characterization that the Russia inquiry appeared to clear President Trump


Sen. Chuck Schumer: "We agreed on a number which was very, very good -- $2 trillion for infrastructure. Originally we had started a little lower. Even the President was eager to push it up to $2 trillion."


I am monitoring Fox News while eating fast food and tweeting. When and if the time comes for the United States to act, someone else will tell me what to do.


New Zealand police charge man over possession of explosives in Christchurch


Rpts: Mueller objected to Barr's characterization of his report's findings on Trump


The world's largest ice shelf is melting much faster than we thought


‘Barr must be impeached — if he doesn’t resign first’: Harvard Law professor says there are only two options for Trump’s AG


Van Hollen calls for Barr to resign


My mother recieved a "Congressional Census" in the mail that was pro Trump from the @RNC @GOP. When I called the number listed below they told me that my mother had to fill this out and send it in with a $15 processing fee.


When was Attorney General Barr going to tell us this? Or was he going to go through Senate Judiciary Committee testimony on this subject covering this letter up? The man’s credibility is in free fall


Now do Russia


BARR! - Randy Rainbow Song Parody


Warren after reading Mueller Report: time to open impeachment proceedings


William Safire in New York Times, October 1992, about Attorney General Barr, whom he called “the Coverup-General”:


The tragic shooting at #UNCC is at least the 39th instance of gunfire on school grounds in 2019.


Russia Requests Interpol Action On Bill Browder, For Seventh Time


Something I'm hearing from lots of former DOJ/FBI folks tonight is just how rare & significant it is for a DOJ official, especially an institutionalist like Mueller, to "go to paper" like this. "We are conditioned not to" do that, Chuck Rosenberg told me.


New York probing Trump's finances in wake of Cohen testimony


Democrats say DOJ holding up Mueller's willing testimony: report


Rosenberg on Mueller Barr letter: 'You don't go to paper lightly'


Mueller expressed displeasure to Barr over handling of report


JUST IN: @HouseJudiciary Chairman @RepJerryNadler Statement on Mueller’s Letter to the Attorney General.


Don't forget: Reports from NYT, WaPo, and NBC News at the beginning of the month foreshadowed this moment when these outlets reported that some members of Mueller's team thought that the report was more damaging than Barr revealed.


The Trump administration is being ordered to widen its search for records on two DOJ officials who worked with the commission on election fraud


Excellent article in ⁦@Forbes⁩ by ⁦@Bromund⁩ about why Russia should be suspended from Interpol for their seventh abuse of the Interpol arrest warrant system in my case.


Mueller expressed displeasure to Barr over handling of report


Presidential candidate Julian Castro: Barr should resign or face impeachment inquiry.


U.S. attorney general recuses self from T-Mobile, Sprint merger probe


Rosenstein resigned 24 hours before this massive Mueller bombshell. Tea Pain don’t believe in coincidences, do you?


Nadler statement: "The Department of Justice has ... been reluctant to confirm a date for Special Counsel Mueller to testify. Given this evening's reports, I will press the Department to schedule that hearing without delay."


Federal judges have repeatedly been impeached and removed from office for committing perjury, “making false and misleading statements”, “impeding an official investigation”, and “lying under oath”. Those descriptions seem to fit William Barr tonight.


Now it is confirmed Mueller objected to the “context, nature, and substance” of Barr’s misleading summary of the report. And the false public narrative it allowed the White House to create. No one can place any reliance on what Barr says. We need to hear from Mueller himself.


Why would Bill Barr flush his reputation & credibility down the toilet? I don't care. What we should care about is that he is still in charge of @TheJusticeDept. Bill Barr should resign and then apply to be the next White House press secretary, where he can lie all he wants.


This is exactly why I said Mr. Barr should never have been confirmed in the first place. At this point he has lost all credibility, and the only way to clear this up is for Mr. Mueller to testify publicly.


"That’s it, Democrats," writes @TheRickWilson. "Put just one Trump minion in jail for contempt, and you’ll show that you’re using the power the voters gave you. It’s that, or you can just shut up and watch AOC assemble Ikea furniture on Instagram"



Barr misled Congress and the American people to protect the President. There must be consequences. We must see the letter, get the full report and docs, and hear directly from Mueller.


The point made in my new piece is simple: Democrats either take scalps of just call it a day and let Trump wreck the Republic. You know who Barr and Trump are, now. Proceed accordingly.


Something I'm hearing from lots of former DOJ/FBI folks tonight is just how rare & significant it is for a DOJ official, especially an institutionalist like Mueller, to "go to paper" like this. "We are conditioned not to" do that, Chuck Rosenberg told me.


BARR: I don't know whether Bob Mueller supported my conclusion.


On April 20th, I asked Barr, “Did Bob Mueller support your conclusion?” His answer was, “I don’t know whether Mueller supported my conclusion.” We now know Mueller stated his concerns on March 27th, and that Barr totally misled me, the Congress, and the public. He must resign


I knew Barr's son-in-law was an attorney in the WH, but totally missed part of this Feb story about Barr's daughter Mary Daly leaving her job in the deputy attorney general’s office... for a gig at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)


Attorney General Barr misled the public and owes the American people answers. It’s time for DOJ to release the full report & all underlying docs — and finally allow Mueller to testify. Americans deserve the facts. Barr must stop standing in the way.


Swalwell: "If Barr backs out this Thursday, he’s gonna get subpoenaed. If he doesn't answer the subpoena, he’s gonna face contempt. I actually think he should face impeachment if he’s just gonna say, I’m not gonna follow the law ... there has to be consequences."


If Mueller has told Barr that Barr has mishandled the findings of the investigation, should Barr really be overseeing all of the prosecutions that derive from that inquiry that are still open criminal matters?


Dear @TheJusticeDept @Kerri_Kupec: You seem to be lying. The Mueller letter, according to the @washingtonpost, specifically criticizes Barr's March 24 letter. Release the Mueller letter. Release the unredacted Mueller report. Let the people decide for ourselves without your spin.


Nadler statement: "Attorney General Barr also should not have withheld this letter from Congress for as long as he has. I have demanded a copy from the Department of Justice. I have asked that it be delivered no later than 10:00 tomorrow morning."


"He had an airplane on the tarmac…He was ready to leave this morning as we understand it, and the Russians indicated that he should stay."


ANY competent public corruption prosecutor would bring obstruction charges against Trump/and win. Only reason Mueller did not was because of the flawed DOJ restriction against indicting a sitting President. He said so (below). Congress now has a constitutional responsibility.


This is an extraordinary move for Bob Mueller. He doesn’t do things like this. Apparently he didn’t appreciate having his hard work falsified. What ever made Barr/Rosenstein think that the whitewash would hold, unless they planned to suppress the report??


What I fear is that it's set up to set the stage for Mueller to be forced to quit to get him to stops his work on the counterintelligence case. Barr's an old spook. Went to night school to become a lawyer while working at Langley. I'd bet money Barr leaked Mueller'letter.


Pressure from the White House for Congress to vote on the new Mexico-Canada trade deal has been increasing as the time window for a vote closes


In light of Mueller's letter, the misleading nature of Barr’s 4/10 testimony & 4/18 press conference is even more glaring. Barr must bring the letter with him when he testifies in the Senate tomorrow. And it’s time for Mueller to testify publicly. Now.


Nadler statement: "The Special Counsel's concerns reflect our own. The Attorney General should not have taken it upon himself to describe the Special Counsel's findings in a light more favorable to the President. It was only a matter of time before the facts caught up to him."


AG Barr has lied to both the House and Senate. Let’s call it what it is. He’s only in the job to protect @realDonaldTrump. As far as I’m concerned, he should not be the Attorney General.


Hey, Pinocchio, where do you think you’re going?


Sen. Van Hollen calls for Barr to resign


House Democrats tell The Daily Beast they’ve been told Mueller is willing to testify before them about his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election but that the DOJ has been unwilling to set a date for it to happen


I note with interest AG Barr’s 4/10 Senate testimony. “Q: Did Bob Mueller support your conclusion? A: I don’t know whether Bob Mueller supported my conclusion.” Now it appears that Mueller objected in this 3/27 letter


"Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has hired Patrick Fallon, former chief of the FBI’s Financial Crimes Section, according to two sources familiar with the move."


"There is enough there that we should open the impeachment proceedings now, in my view." — Sen. Warren calls for opening impeachment proceedings against President Trump


The Committee has formally referred Erik Prince to the DOJ for consideration of a potential criminal prosecution for false testimony. Special Counsel Mueller’s report strongly indicates that Prince’s testimony before the Committee was materially false.


House Democrats tell The Daily Beast they’ve been told Mueller is willing to testify before them about his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election but that the DOJ has been unwilling to set a date for it to happen


Fmr. acting U.S. solicitor general Neal Katyal: "We are seeing interference by the attorney general becoming a matter of public record … everything Barr has done has now set up Congress to investigate … they have no choice."


Students being led by an officer down sidewalk of UNCC campus


Trump admin muddles through chaotic response to Venezuela turmoil