Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

Just the first few of these do not make Barr look at all good: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/u...gtype=Homepage

Yeah, Sebby's gonna say "we couldn't prove a crime" is the same as "not a crime" but it isn't.

Re: "Psst... Rosenstein is Pussy Galore. Pass it on..."
 

Go here and follow the thread:

https://twitter.com/KevinMKruse/stat...18835246551041

Re: "Psst... Rosenstein is Pussy Galore. Pass it on..."
 

This is your greatest find. This is awesome.

Re: "Psst... Rosenstein is a KGB Plant. Pass it on..."
 

On the other hand, other people think Barr lied. E.g., from Twitter:

Maybe it's not a "lie" if he is just intending to do everything but lie to defend the President, and he inadvertently crosses it. Fortunately, we know that Barr is worried about his reputation and what others will think of him in the future.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

I was driving to a meeting and stopped for coffee and missed some of start. I heard that he said "no collusion" a lot. The part I did hear sounded boring. He's clearly trying to defend his positions and protect Trump.

But it might be because Trump didn't do something which a prosecutor would find warrants or merits prosecution.

I know it's heresy here, in the hair on fire world of Trump haters, but Trump acted like Trump in response to the investigation. Which is to say he reacted like a dumb thug. Barr characterized this as emotional, "frustrated." I think that's a half truth. Trump is not only emotional, but dumb. I think Trump is a reactive child who reacts like a fool when criticized. He's just too stupid and immature and ADD-addled to develop real intent.

Barr is protecting Trump, but strangely, Trump is probably worthy of protection here. He's a dimwit doing as dimwits do, not a master villain, or even a Nixon.

Re: "Psst... Rosenstein is a KGB Plant. Pass it on..."
 

Here's what I wrote before I heard any of Barr's press conference:

The reality is, Trump opportunistically exploited Russian interference. And this is not a crime. What you have here are pissed off voters who still can't accept that he won pissed off now a second time because what he did wasn't technically criminal. "It ought to be a crime!" Right. I hear ya. Go pass a law.

I've not read the report and cannot do so. How close was I?

Re: "Psst... Rosenstein is a KGB Plant. Pass it on..."
 

The press conference and the report were each utterly damning in their own way. If you want to fixate on the question of whether Mueller or DOJ should have brought more criminal charges, you can focus only on that, but to me it's more important to have a public accounting of what the President and his people did.

You evidently are more bothered by (some) people reacting to Trump than by Trump. If that's where your contrarianism takes you, well, I guess you're stuck there.

Re: "Psst... Rosenstein is a KGB Plant. Pass it on..."
 

You read it already?

Re: "Psst... Rosenstein is a KGB Plant. Pass it on..."
 

Go to the table of contents, find the section on Manafort's contacts with the Russians, and start there if you really want to know. Of course the juiciest bits are redacted.

Re: "Psst... Rosenstein is a KGB Plant. Pass it on..."
 

My Twitter is full of people sharing excerpts. I have a job and haven't read it. The excerpts are awful for the President.

Re: "Psst... Rosenstein is a KGB Plant. Pass it on..."
 

Ken White's account is (always) worth a read:

https://twitter.com/popehat

He's a former AUSA whose overall views are probably highly simpatico with Sebastian.

Re: "Psst... Rosenstein is a KGB Plant. Pass it on..."
 

It will be the weekend before I get all the way through it.

Because every now and then I have to put it down, curse out the fuckers under my breath, and cool down for a little while.

Re: Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same
 

A very small detail, but one that I find hugely problematic: Trump's personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, says that he saw the Mueller report on Tuesday afternoon. I think there's a case to be made that DOJ can share the report with the White House (and before Congress sees it), because constitutionally, the Attorney General serves the President. But Sekulow serves Trump personally, not the President. Government officials should not be privileging private parties, even high-ranking government officials, particularly when they are denying access to Congress. If Sekulow saw the report -- and for that I'm relying on Jonathan Swan at Axios, who says that Sekulow told him he did -- then there is no excuse for withholding it from Congress.

Re: "Psst... Rosenstein is a KGB Plant. Pass it on..."
 

I think he should have his name legally changed to Popehat at this point.

Re: "Psst... Rosenstein is a KGB Plant. Pass it on..."
 

It's funny when people @ him thinking he is the Pope.

I found him years ago because he was blogging about the Prenda scheme. Good times.