Attorney General's pre-emptive spin on Mueller report

Thursday, April 18, 2019, 10:30 am.

We were stunned last night when the Justice Department announced that Attorney General William Barr would hold a press conference at 9:30 Thursday morning -- prior to the release of the Mueller report a few hours later.

Who does that and why?    Give the appearance of transparency by letting the media ask questions about something they have not seen or heard -- except through Barr's own four page summary of conclusions.

There is no question that this was political spin to protect the president -- from what?  What must be so damaging in the report that they are engaging in pre-emptive spin?

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, himself, tweeted out his opinion that Barr's press conference behavior was that of a Trump defense attorney, not that of an Attorney General --- the chief law enforcement officer for the American People.

As I write this, the Mueller report has not yet been released -- except to the White House lawyers.   It will shortly be released to Congress and then an hour later to the media and the public.

But we've already heard several times over weeks from AG Barr with his Trump-loyalty spin, trying to set the narrative in the public's mind before we see the actual report.

Two positives:   (1)  Barr says the report is only "lightly" redacted and the the redactions are chiefly in the category of not revealing information that could affect other ongoing investigations;  and (2)  Barr says he has no objection to Mueller testifying before Congress.

But one of the looming questions over this process is:   Why was Mueller not present this morning at the press conferenc?.

Here's an example of Barr's spin:    He said that The White House and the president had cooperated fully with the special counsel investigation.    Oh?    What about the refusal to grant Mueller's request for Trump to be interviewed in person by Mueller?

Here's another:   Under questioning previously, Barr said that he was certain that there had been "spying" on the Trump campaign.    Using the term "spying" is egregious and prejudicial.    Several former Justice Department officials say that term is never used for what the U.S. does.    The proper term is "court authorized surveillance."   For an AG who has previously served as AG to use that term can be nothing other than deliberate -- and he said it three times in that one public comment.   It was deliberate and obviously was said for the benefit of and to impress Donald J. Trump.

Many people suspected that Barr would not be an impartial attorney general;  now he has proved, beyond any doubt, that he is trying to be Trump defense attorney, not the chief lawyer for the American people.

Shame on him.   This will be a stain on his legacy.

Ralph