Attorney General William Barr’s extraordinary “preview” of the Mueller report was his latest, but perhaps not be his last, self-inflicted wound. His attempt to put an exculpatory gloss on the report may have pleased his boss, and his boss’s notorious base, but it will not have been convincing to much of anyone else. And it further demolished any reputation for independent judgment and credibility that Barr had not already sacrificed. Chris Wallace spoke for many when he pointedly observed on Fox News:
The Attorney General seemed almost to be acting as the counselor for the defense, the counselor for the president, rather than the attorney general, talking about his motives, his emotions. Really, as I say, making a case for the president.
Wallace’s candor will undoubtedly earn him a flood of unpleasant missives from the Fox audience of Trump loyalists, but the accuracy of his assessment cannot reasonably be challenged.
Reflections on the report itself will follow soon.
Thank you for this refreshing and much-needed bit of sanity.
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