While the attorney general William Barr’s Justice Department has yet to release any version of the Mueller report to Congress or the public, he has been feeding info on the 400-page document to Donald Trump.
According to a report in The New York Times on Wednesday, some findings in Mueller’s final report “will not be news to President Trump,” because the White House and DOJ have already had “numerous conversations” on Mueller’s conclusions.
As a result, the president’s legal team has been able to get out in front of the Mueller report – which is expected to be damning – and craft a rebuttal.
More from the report:
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Justice Department officials have had numerous conversations with White House lawyers about the conclusions made by Mr. Mueller, the special counsel, in recent days, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The talks have aided the president’s legal team as it prepares a rebuttal to the report and strategizes for the coming public war over its findings.
A sense of paranoia is taking hold among some of Mr. Trump’s aides, some of whom fear his backlash more than the findings themselves, the people said. The report might make clear which of Mr. Trump’s current and former advisers spoke to the special counsel, how much they said and how much damage they did to the president — providing a kind of road map for retaliation.
The discussions between Justice Department officials and White House lawyers have also added to questions about the propriety of the decisions by Attorney General William P. Barr since he received Mr. Mueller’s findings late last month.
In an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, American Constitution Society President Caroline Fredrickson said it looks like Trump and the DOJ are “coordinating” in “another act of obstruction.”
“We should all be offended that this White House is coordinating with the Justice Department in what seems like another act of obstruction.” –@crfredrickson #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/6EckYNXHfc
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) April 17, 2019
Barr is a shameless Trump hack
There was already little remaining doubt that Bill Barr’s purpose as attorney general isn’t to protect the rule of law; it’s to serve as a shield for Donald Trump.
It was obvious in the four-page whitewash that he released last month after Mueller concluded his investigation. It was obvious in his refusal to release the public-facing summaries crafted by Mueller’s own team. It was obvious in his decision to repeat Trump’s conspiracy theories about his campaign being illegally spied on.
And it’s also obvious from today’s news that Barr is planning to hold a press conference on Thursday before anybody has seen the report – a clear effort to dodge accountability and further muddy the waters surrounding the Mueller’s findings.
The latest reporting that Barr’s Justice Department has been briefing the White House on the Mueller report in advance of its release only confirms what we’ve already known: Bill Barr is a shameless Trump hack who can’t be trusted.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
