Laying out the facts is one thing. Providing a defense for Trump on obstruction is another.
When Attorney General William P. Barr announced he was going to hold a news conference before the release of the Mueller report Thursday, there was instant pushback. How can the media ask questions about a report it hasn’t seen? Would this just be a whole bunch of pre-spin from a man already accused of being too friendly to the president who appointed him?
Barr’s performance did nothing to argue against those allegations.
In a lengthy opening statement, Barr found just about every way possible to say that there was no coordination, cooperation or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. He also said Trump was right about “no collusion,” expanding the Mueller report’s clearing of Trump to a more nebulous term with little legal significance.
But perhaps more importantly, on obstruction of justice, he seemed to go to bat for Trump personally, offering a sympathetic take on the president’s state of mind and cooperation. Here’s the key section, from his prepared remarks:
Let’s break this down.
The first objectionable aspect is Barr’s decision to sympathize with Trump. It was an “unprecedented situation,” according to Barr, and Trump was facing “relentless speculation.” That’s a pretty loaded term. He was “frustrated and angered by a sincere belief” that the probe was undermining him.
