Barr On Durham Probe: ‘We Are Trying To Get Some Things Accomplished Before The Election’

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 28: Attorney General William Barr appears before the House Judiciary Committee on July 28, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. In his first congressional testimony in more than a year, Barr ... WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 28: Attorney General William Barr appears before the House Judiciary Committee on July 28, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. In his first congressional testimony in more than a year, Barr is expected to face questions from the committee about his deployment of federal law enforcement agents to Portland, Oregon, and other cities in response to Black Lives Matter protests; his role in using federal agents to violently clear protesters from Lafayette Square near the White House last month before a photo opportunity for President Donald Trump in front of a church; his intervention in court cases involving Trump’s allies Roger Stone and Michael Flynn; and other issues. (Photo by Matt McClain-Pool/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Attorney General Bill Barr said Wednesday that while he didn’t want to do anything to “affect the election,” he’s trying to get parts of the Durham probe completed before then.

Before the House Judiciary Committee last month, Barr declined to promise that he wouldn’t release the report before the election.

“We are gonna proceed with this investigation and not put it on hold right now during election season,” Barr said Wednesday on an interview on “The Buck Sexton Show.”

“We’re all aware of the calendar and we’re not going to do anything for the purposes of affecting an election, but we are trying to get some things accomplished before the election,” he said.

He declined to answer Sexton’s question about if the probe is in its final stages, but promised that “people will be held accountable” if prosecutor John Durham finds that any criminal laws were violated.

The probe has become increasingly colored by partisanship as President Donald Trump openly hopes for, and pins Barr’s legacy on, Durham finding evidence to discredit the origin of the FBI’s investigation into his campaign. And, as Trump has made clear, he wants that exculpation before the November election.

“Bill Barr can go down as the greatest attorney general in the history of our country, or he can go down as an average guy,” Trump said Thursday, about the probe’s findings. “We’ll see what happens.”

“(Barr and Durham) have all the answers,” he added. “It goes all to Obama, and it goes right to Biden.”

Witnesses who sat for interviews with Durham told CNN that they sensed investigators were under pressure to deliver findings before the election.

Barr has repeatedly broken with Justice Department practice by speaking out and opining about Durham’s ongoing investigation. During a Fox News interview, he called the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign “one of the greatest travesties in American history.”

CNN also reported Thursday that Barr initially wanted Michael Mukasey to head the probe. Mukasey was attorney general during the George W. Bush administration, and, later, a law partner of Rudy Giuliani. Mukasey has advocated publicly for the Mueller probe to be called off.

During his interview with Sexton, Barr added that he and FBI Director Chris Wray have been discussing “checks and balances” to install in the FBI to avoid replicating the “abuses of the past.” He did not, however, discuss last week’s report from the director of national intelligence that found that Russia is supporting efforts to damage Joe Biden and boost Trump during the 2020 election.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. ‘We Are Trying To Get Some Things Accomplished Before The Election’

    Indeed…like FALSELY and MALICIOUSLY discrediting Biden through Ukraine!

    What does Pirro know about “something’s going to happen before the election and he (Biden) is not going to be in the ticket”?" - that she could not help herself but blurt it out (just like Roger Stone on Wikileaks)?

    Video link :point_down:
    https://twitter.com/fred_guttenberg/status/1293727163426975745

  2. Barr On Durham Probe: ‘We Are Trying To Get Some Things Accomplished Before The Election’

    Let me just name a tiny subset:
    Obfuscation
    Misdirection
    Corruption
    Vote Suppression
    Whitewashing
    Suppression of Free Speech
    Undermining the USPS to damage vote counting

  3. Let me guess: Barr’s going to release a “summary” of Durham’s report before the election.

  4. And WHY would you say that, given longstanding DOJ policy NOT to affect or interfere with elections?

    House Judiciary should call him and grill him over this one remark. For five or six hours, Without a break for lunch.

  5. He’s not going to release anything before the election, but he’ll talk about his report like it’s the most salacious thing every with charges pending after Nov 3, all because he doesn’t want to charge anything before the election for fear of effecting the outcome.

    This guy’s schtick is so transparent.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

197 more replies

Participants

Avatar for heart Avatar for ajm Avatar for playitagainrowlf Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for turdburgler Avatar for sparrowhawk Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for lastroth Avatar for donnyyoung Avatar for esva Avatar for pine Avatar for pshah Avatar for tena Avatar for jinnj Avatar for rocklaverve Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for tiowally Avatar for news247 Avatar for brian512 Avatar for justruss Avatar for paul_lukasiak Avatar for powwow Avatar for dogselfie Avatar for kovie

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: