Barr should be removed for this alone
by digby
Not only does Barr hesitate, but watch closely what Barr ends up narrowly saying: Barr says only that presidential campaigns offered dirt from a “foreign intelligence service” should report to the FBI. He seemed to wait and dodge to avoid saying “foreign government.” NUTS. https://t.co/TpWxxGonXV— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) May 1, 2019
I guess it speaks to my continued naivete but I find this absolutely shocking. Barr had been asked in an earlier round about whether or not a there was anything illegal about foreign nations infiltrating and the American political system and he hedged. Coons followed up with this question and Barr’s answer was chilling. He knows foreign government can hear him and he knows they are going to hire cutouts and intermediaries again — and he wants them to do it. I wish I knew why these people are so sure that foreign adversaries are going to help Republicans, which they obviously do, but I’m almost afraid to dine out.
And for those who think Barr is some kind of goodwill ambassador for legitimate international understanding when he says there’s nothing wrong with political actors being paid by foreign interests to infiltrate political campaigns, he also hinted that he was interested in looking into foreign influence in “the government.”
If he goes the way of the partisan “purge” of the top brass of the FBI that had been alarmed by Trump’s relationship with Russia, that really is McCarthyism, only this time it will be purging those who are concerned about Russia rather than those who are sympathetic to it.
This guy is something else.
.