Legal experts: U.S. attorney general faces daunting decision on release of Russia report

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WASHINGTON - Newly installed U.S. Attorney General William Barr must walk a political and legal tightrope in deciding how much of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia's role in the 2016 election to disclose, balancing competing demands from President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats, legal experts said.

The decision presents Barr, a veteran Washington insider, with his first major test since becoming the top U.S. law enforcement official last month, a position fraught with peril. Trump fired Barr's predecessor Jeff Sessions in November after complaining for months over the decision by Sessions to recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation.

"I think Barr is in a terrible position from the standpoint of having two masters to please, each of which has a very different desire," said Michael Zeldin, a former federal prosecutor. "He has a political nightmare on his hands."

Mueller, who has headed the investigation since May 2017, is due to submit to Barr his confidential report on whether Trump's campaign conspired with Russia and whether the Republican president has unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe.

Democrats, who have expressed concern Barr will try to shield Trump and bury parts of the report, already have threatened to subpoena it and go to court if necessary to force its release. Trump may pressure Barr to conceal damaging parts of Mueller's report and release any findings that may exonerate him.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/legal-experts-us-attorney-general-faces-daunting-decision-on-release-of-russia-report/ar-BBUovht?li=BBnbcA1

The only master Barr should be serving is the American people. While the AG is appointed by the president he/she is not their servant.

The justice department should be independent.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. So I've got this wild-ass idea about Barr, and it's probably completely insane, but

what would be the best way to take down Trump from the inside of his administration? By becoming his Attorney General, that's how, and then you allow the Mueller report to become public and then disregard the previous OLC opinion that a sitting president can't be indicted.

But how do you get to be Trump's attorney general - a job that's been nothing but trouble for those who've had it, and at this point no sane, reputable lawyer would want? Say you're an old-line conservative who's been AG before and has held other high-level government jobs, and more recently has been making top dollar at a white-shoe law firm. You have perfect professional credentials but there are probably a lot of other, more reliable Trump-loving Matthew Whittaker-type stooges who'd take the job in a heartbeat. So what do you do?

What you do is, you write and send Trump a long, detailed, and completely unsolicited letter setting out your opinion that the Mueller investigation is legally invalid and the president has almost unlimited power over the executive branch. Given your exemplary professional credentials as well, which will make your Senate confirmation inevitable, Trump sees you as the perfect candidate. When he interviews you, you assure him that you would not recuse yourself like Sessions, convincing him that you'll protect him. At your confirmation hearing you come up with enough vague platitudes about following the law that even many Democrats vote for you.

And then the Mueller report comes out and it's full of bad shit about Trump and his family and other GOPers. Trump expects you to protect him, but being an old-fashioned institutionalist you don't. Instead, you make the report, except for a few classified bits, public. And then you decide that the DoJ won't be following the old OLC opinions, allowing Mueller to take Trump's case to a grand jury, which indicts him. In the meantime the House proceeds with his impeachment...

Yes, I know it's totally mad. But wouldn't it be awesome?