Of everyone in his Cabinet, Donald Trump should be happiest with Attorney General Bill Barr.
After all, since being confirmed as AG in February 2019, Barr has effectively done Trump’s personal bidding at every turn.
The Justice Department has said it wants to represent Trump in a defamation suit brought against him. Barr has joined Trump as an outspoken critic of the Russia counter-intelligence operation. He suggested, again echoing Trump, that a foreign government could flood the 2020 election with thousands of fake ballots – despite no proof that is even being contemplated. He launched an investigation into the unmasking of Michael Flynn, a probe that closed without charges or a public report this month. Barr has also tasked John Durham, a US Attorney, with looking into whether any wrongdoing was committed in the origins of the 2015 counter-intelligence operation. Durham’s probe is not yet concluded but all signs point to no major indictments from it.
So, yeah. He’s Trump’s guy – through and through. In fact, as recently as last month, I wrote a piece headlined “How Bill Barr has enabled Donald Trump’s darkest instincts,” that includes these lines:
“President Donald Trump has spent his presidency looking for a co-commiserator, someone who carries the same conspiratorial and cynical view of the government and those who work within its massive bureaucracy. In Attorney General Bill Barr, he has finally found him.”
And yet, despite all that Barr has done to promote Trump’s conspiratorial agenda and the idea of the chief executive as all-powerful within the broader government, the President is still not entirely happy.
“I have no comment. Can’t comment on that. It’s too early,” Trump told the conservative Newsmax website in a Wednesday interview regarding whether Barr would return in his job in a second Trump term. “I’m not happy with all of the evidence I have, I can tell you that. I’m not happy.”
Why on Earth would Trump not be happy with Barr?
Because while Barr appears entirely willing to bend the will of the Justice Department to the President’s personal whims, he can’t – or won’t – change the timeline of the Durham investigation or its findings.
Barr, according to CNN reporting, has been telling GOP lawmakers not to expect the Durham report prior to November 3.
“If that’s the case I’m very disappointed,” Trump said Friday while co-hosting Rush Limbaugh’s talk-radio show. “I think it’s a terrible thing and I’ll say it to his face.” Added Trump of the Durham probe: “[They’ve had] plenty of time to do it. They’ve been looking at it for two years. The facts are on the table.”
As far back as August, Trump has made clear that his assessment of Barr’s job future is almost entirely dependent on whether the AG can ensure charges are brought against senior Obama administration officials for their “spying” on his 2016 campaign. (Fact check: This didn’t happen.)
“Bill Barr can go down as the greatest attorney general in the history of our country, or he can go down as just an average guy,” Trump said on Fox Business in mid-August. “It depends on what’s going to happen.”
This sort of public pressure campaign – based on conspiracy theories entirely debunked by facts – would have been unthinkable in any past presidency.
Not only is Trump totally comfortable seeking to use the Justice Department to settle personal scores, he also feels fine about making clear that if Barr doesn’t do exactly what he says – facts and the law be damned – it could well cost the AG his job.
Which is stunning. Even for Trump.
