Whoa.
It was one week ago that the Times reported Barr was thinking of quitting before January 20. Today, at almost precisely the moment that California’s electors voted to put Biden over the top in the electoral college, Trump confirmed that the Times was right. The timing can’t have been coincidental, can it? A president who craves the spotlight at all times would naturally seethe at the thought of Biden having a big moment this evening as his presidential victory becomes official. Barr’s resignation is a way to muscle in on that coverage. Remember, this is a guy reportedly planning a campaign event on January 20 to counterprogram Biden’s inauguration. If he can’t bear to let Sleepy Joe have that moment in the sun alone, why would he allow him one today? I don’t know, maybe it’s a coincidence. Click the image in the second tweet for a full-sized version of the letter.… Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General. Highly respected Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General. Thank you to all! pic.twitter.com/V5sqOJT9PM Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14,2020 One obvious flaw in my theory: If Barr’s resignation had been demanded today by Trump rather than offered voluntarily by the AG, it wouldn’t have been so obsequious, right? It would have been grudging. So maybe this really did happen on Barr’s initiative. Or, per the letter’s reference to a meeting in which they discussed voter fraud, maybe Barr came armed with a resignation letter because he knew the meeting wouldn’t go well. That is, Trump might have told him “come see me, and if you don’t have good news about voter fraud that’ll stop this electoral college process then make sure you have a resignation letter with you.” So Barr did what he was told. It’s interesting to me that he went out of his way to note that he and Trump met today to discuss election fraud.
