I don't get, why would Barr cover up?

[Cary]

He is so stupid to think he has a chance of keeping the report under wraps? How arrogant is this man? One way or another it will all come out and Barr is disgraced. The audacity and stupidity of Republicans takes my breath away.

[Shell_Seas]

1. Because they are Republicans.

[SharonAnn]

46. And he's a very conservative Catholic I think. Fascist friendly

Very conservative Catholic men seem to be so drunk on authoritarianism and their God-given "rights" that they're extremely Fascist friendly. It's a special kind of sickness.
Spain under Gen. Franco
Peru under Fujimori
Chile under Pinochet

[hlthe2b]

2. Arrogance and the most partisan ideology. He got by with doing similar during Iran Contra so...

[JaneQPublic]

16. Bingo. (nt)

[2naSalit]

35. Must have burned through all that ca$h

and needs to get some more dirty money for retirement and just to be in the game.

[Docreed2003]

62. +1

Exactly this....he's got a lifetime of experience covering up heinous shit

[stonecutter357]

3. why would Barr cover up? He is a RWNJ .

[Hugin]

4. Either someone has something on him or they've promised him something.

Nobody does something like that out of pure ideology.

[NewJeffCT]

12. Barr's son works in the White House

and his daughter works for Treasury.

Maybe one, or both, had their jobs/reputations threatened? Or, maybe they were promised promotions?

Also possible Barr thought he could tie up the full release in the courts until after the 2020 election and he can quietly resign not long afterwards.

[Hugin]

31. Interesting line of thought, NewJeffCT.

Things to ponder...

Especially, given the the Trump/Kennedy/Kennedy's son as Trump's "Personal Banker" @ Deutche Bank conjunction.

[Pachamama]

15. +1000

My thoughts too - why would a man his age come out of retirement so suddenly and to place himself in this position?

[mitch96]

38. +1 Follow the money and power....

Either he and his got a big payoff or someone in his family/friends got a cush position..
It would be interesting to see his or his families bank accounts for a influx of $$$..
Then again Kompromat could be a reason also... Lindsay are you listening???
m

[democratisphere]

5. rethugs think they are untouchable.

They are about to find out they are not.

[Cary]

49. Sure seems like it

Rule 1: Never f*** with the spooks.

[pdxflyboy]

6. Yes Hugin

That’s exactly what I thought, also.

[MyOwnPeace]

7. Barr still

drinks the Kool-Aid. He "knows" his boss will cover for him when the pressure is on!
(Ask Sessions how that worked out for him...........)

[Freethinker65]

8. Because that is what Trump hired him to do

He got the job nomination by pledging loyalty to Trump, not by pledging to be an independent national AG.

[MiniMe]

9. How do you think he got the job as AG?

He wrote something that said the Mueller probe should be stopped. tRump seems to only do things that benefit himself

[Recursion]

10. They will probably succeed at keeping the report under wraps

I doubt we will ever see it

[Jarqui]

11. He's a lawyer.

He knows he can appeal legal action right up to the Supreme Court.

He's probably trying to run out the clock before 2020 - throwing all kinds of "legal questions" at the judges along the way to the conservative SCOTUS.

He should fail. I hope he fails.
But they have quite a few cards yet to play to drag this out.

[TxVietVet]

19. I'm hoping the investigators expose the investigation.

I pray we have another Daniel Ellsberg.

[Jarqui]

27. I think it's a long shot but I was hoping for that very thing ...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11980729

[kentuck]

13. He's ideological...

He truly does not believe that a president can obstruct justice.

[jcgoldie]

14. I think they were betting on a pretty big bounce...

They did get really favorable coverage in the media for a week and ran around doing victory laps to influence the narrative. Usually when details trickle out in the aftermath of a big story like this their impact pales in comparison to the effect of the initial story. They are probably correct in that assumption unfortunately, but on the bright side the fake summary doesn't seem to have moved the needle much for him in the polls. They have definitely been successful in muddying the waters so that instead of shocking headlines over Trump's crimes uncovered by the vaunted Mueller investigation we are more likely to get trickles and a bunch of he said she said that dulls the impact.

[TxVietVet]

17. Conservanazis believe that they have the right to rule over the US.

They believe that they are above the law. They are granted these rights under their god and conservanazism. When they are exposed for their hypocrisy and immorality, they believe that their party will save them.

Conservanazis cannot live under the same rules that they want to be applied to other citizens.

[SharonAnn]

47. Especially true of very conservative Catholic men. And some women.

[empedocles]

60. Saw reference to Barr's wife and bible study [you tube]

Bible study may be fairly 'serious' stuff - not common among Catholics I don't think.

Abortions? 'Ends justify the means'?

[berni_mccoy]

18. There is an old saying in the Army...

"If you ain't cheatin', you ain't trying."

That's the reality of it. These people will lie, cheat and steal to get their way. Why would Barr make any exception to that rule?

[Cary]

50. Why risk it on this moron?

[ChicagoRonin]

20. A less evil but still terrible possibility

I think a large number of people in any community, in any peer group, in any profession has a reflexible need to maintain and protect the status quo. And I'm not just talking about those receiving an outsized amount of privilege and benefits. There are those who truly believe that established order and structure must be maintained at all costs for the greater good (Though they don't realize their concept of "the greater good" is entirely subjective and possibly selfish). They don't like things being ruffled by challenges to their idea of authority (even if corrupt in practice), the disruptive nature of scientific discoveries or technical innovation, or radical attempts to redress long-standing inequities.

And so, it is in their nature, to delete, deny, subtract, redact, suppress and inhibit anything they deem discomforting. Every inconvenient truth, every fact that doesn't support their worldview or policymaking, every contrary opinion.

[marylandblue]

23. This.

Especially when it comes to leadership. People will follow a bad leader to the death simply because he is the leader and they are the followers.

And sometimes, they don"t even die. So don't assume this strategy is a failure just because it seems so strange.

[doompatrol39]

41. "Though they don't realize their concept of the 'greater good' is entirely subjective...."

"...and possibly selfish."

We're seeing that in real time, right here on DU.

[DeminPennswoods]

21. Ironically when Trump picks himself up and dusts

himself off like nothing happened, whatever good part of Barr's reputation there is will be in tatters, never to be regained. He wull live out his life in infamy, like Robert McNamara.

[unblock]

22. your question presumes his goal was to keep it all a secret. that's not his goal.

he knows it will come out, just as the iran-contra story eventually came out.

his goal is to get away with it.

all he's trying to do is set the stage for barely politically viable pardons and contain the electoral damage for republicans.

he'd keep it secret if he could, but he's ok with it coming out if it has to.

he can still help the criminals get away with it, and that's what he aims to do.

[JHB]

24. "Brazen it out" has been a winning strategy for a couple of decades now

Those decades happen to span Barr's entire career.

Time for it to end. Long past time.

[ScratchCat]

25. Its because the goal is to protect the GOP

They allowed Trump to get the nomination, and its all about protecting their brand. The last POTUS to face impeachment had a (D) next to his name, and they want to keep it that way. Keep in mind that their fervor for the Clinton impeachment was influenced by Nixon(R) being the last to face it. Its all a "game" to them where "their side" has to be portrayed as "the good guys". Everything else be damned, "we are the good guys, you are the bad guys". Its not just "political differences" with most of them - they have framed the conversation with the terms that everybody who doesn't agree with them are "bad people". So here you have a report which will show that the GOP should have never allowed Trump to even be the nominee, and therefore.... "protect the brand, Billy, protect the brand".

[Buckeyeblue]

26. I'm confused about that too

It would make sense if 45 was an establishment candidate. But he continually insults the establishment. I would think Barr has deep loyalties to the Bush family. But maybe he doesn't. Maybe this is all hubris on his part to see if he can make it go away. Never discount the influence of the ego....

[Paladin]

28. Never overestimate a trump employee. (nt)

[catbyte]

29. I think the goal was to discredit the actual findings, so if and when the full report is

released, people who don't pay attention won't notice or won't care.

[Firestorm49]

30. Would Barr be guilty of conspiracy in a coverup of vital facts from the Mueller report?

[janterry]

32. What he did in Iran Contragate worked

I have no doubt that every word that he is writing is true. Sure, he's manipulative. But he's also smart -

I really hope he fails this time around.....but I'm just going to wait and watch, for now.

[Yavin4]

33. They got away with cheating Gore in 2000.

They got away with being asleep at the wheel before 9/11.

They got away with starting a war in Iraq on bald face lies.

They got away with the financial crisis and bank bailouts.

They got away with not working with Obama on addressing the fiscal crisis of 2008 and the healthcare crisis.

They got away with Trump working with the Russians.

They got away with the worst president in the modern era.


What on earth makes you think that they won't get away with suppressing this repot?

[tblue37]

37. And Barr got away with the Iran-Contra coverup. nt

[Yavin4]

43. I tried to limit the cheating to this century

Otherwise, I could back to Nixon, and I would still be writing the post.

[zaj]

34. Getting the political win was a big deal...

... because most Americans only get the first pass at a story. So for make Americans now, Trump was vindicated by Mueller. And for many Trump supporters, T they believe deeply and n passionately that Trump is a victim.

That last part is always they key to hearing the meaning of Trump taking points.

If he ever loses his base he's a goner. And he knows that

[tblue37]

36. IOKIYAR, so no lasting harm will come to him. nt

[dustyscamp]

39. He knows he can get away with it

[GeorgeGist]

40. He and Mueller are besties.

😂

[COLGATE4]

42. Some compelling reasons:

1- He's an old (30 years +) friend of Mueller
2- He (Barr) has done it before. See Iran-Contra re George Bush Sr.
3- He got his job by showing Trump he could (and would) do it
4- He's a Republican

[uponit7771]

44. Barr ... COULD... be a True Believer like Hitlers homey Himmler

[librechik]

45. so far he's doing what Trump appointed him to do.

stonewall, stall, and disrupt.

[WyattKansas]

48. It is just cheesy theater to pacify the nut while the paddy wagons are circled.

Instead of ripping the band aid off with the report, the Republicans that control the report at the moment know the truth will have to come out. So, a lot of maneuvering is going on behind the scenes by Republicans to reduce their political damage and to give them a red meat screech that the Democrats attacked and got rid of another Republican President to prevent the right things being done in this country.

Why do you think Turtle is going nuclear to get as many republicans appointed as quickly as possible?... To fuck over the 99% as much as possible before the crash.

[mia]

51. That is his job. n/t

[Downtown Hound]

52. You seem to think they have some great master plan

They do not. They are reacting to fires as they pop up, and they continue to pop up. Barr covered it up because it's what trump put him there to do. That it's a pathetic cover up doesn't change the fact that it's still better for them then actually releasing the report.

Basically they're doing whatever they can at this point trying to stay above water. Because they've got nothing left.

[mercuryblues]

53. Supreme court offer dangled in front of him?

[UniteFightBack]

54. The only thing I can really think of he is trying to protect the RepubliCON establishment, not

so much rump himself, that's a byproduct. I mean all this rump scandal is bad for the party. The head of the scum party is a Russian ass-hat? I mean WTF...something must be done. Who knows maybe old mitch gave him a call and said listen apply for this job and we all know how easy we can hook this orange whale with just a little worm.

I can't imagine why else he would want to be doing all this. IT'S NOT EVEN A GOOD COVER UP FOR FUCKS SAKE.
I don't think the Mueller report can be covered up...it would have to redacted to within an inch of it's life.

Rump and corrupt co are in big fucking trouble...in super slow motion.

[Ilsa]

55. Some of these RW yahoos are so dedicated to

their ugly, inhumane agendas, they would gladly die upon the sword of temporary ignominy if their plan wins out in the end. 

If someone like Barr can lie, cheat, and steal to accomplish drowning govt in a bathtub, they will gladly say the end justifies the means, and believe they will eventually be revered.

[Honeycombe8]

56. He thought it would fly...just turning in his summary, which is all that's required by law.

But oops....the Democrats and even a lot of Republicans and the public made a stink about not seeing the report itself.

It's obvious why he portrayed the report like he did: to exonerate Trump from the stain of collusion and obstruction.

[dem4decades]

57. Republicans whores going to whore.

[Hassler]

58. Because it's worked so well for them in the past--Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Dubya...

And Barr was there for all of it.

[toddwv]

59. He's a party loyalist. He's 70 years old and he knows

that the worst think that will happen to him is that he takes a PR hit for the team and then gets a regular speaking gig on Fox News.

His job was kill the Mueller investigation, get something out in the wild that lets them pretend that Trump is exonerated, and then drag his feet about releasing the rest of the report.

[GoCubsGo]

61. Google "Barr Time-Warner merger", and it will tell you all you need to know.

That was the main reason he wanted the job, which he wouldn't have gotten, had he not promised Trump that he'd give him whatever else he wanted.

[Cary]

68. Thanks, good info

[Baitball Blogger]

63. He's an autocrat. They think their word must be accepted as gospel.

Barr overlooked one important fact: This is not the eighties.

[Cary]

66. And his cult leader is a moron

Everyone associated with him goes down.

[Baitball Blogger]

67. That too.

[jalan48]

64. I think he's doing it because it's about much more than Trump. It involves others in the Republican

Party as well. If the real story gets out to the public it could really damage the Republicans and Barr is there to keep this from happening.

[Cary]

65. It isn't going to work

That should be obvious to him.