What is William Barr up to?

 

We learned recently that Attorney General William Barr upgraded U.S. Attorney John Durham’s position as investigator into alleged improper actions in the probe of possible dealings between the Trump administration and the Russians, to that of Special Counsel, to prevent the Biden Justice Department from ending the probe for lack of point. But while Barr could giveth, he could also taketh away: he confessed in an interview with the Associated Press that he has seen no evidence of election fraud that would overturn Joe Biden’s election, which naturally infuriated Donald Trump—following which began whispers that Trump might fire him early.

Then there was the news that Justice Department officials expelled a Stephen Miller mole from the building for illegally demanding confidential information from the ongoing Russia probe. Also, The Hill reported that Barr knew of a federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes last spring, but he saw fit not to announce it publicly before the election—even as Trump was whining that the Durham probe didn’t have an “October Surprise” to drop. Barr even suggested that there likely wouldn’t be any significant revelations to report in regard to Biden or Obama administration officials anyways. Furthermore, for all of his sad sycophancy, Lindsey Graham threatened but never followed-through on an investigation of Biden’s son.

Now, Barr has already told us that he does not care what people think of him, or what his “legacy” will be, because everyone dies and by then he’ll be well past the point of giving a damn. But his recent actions—or in Trump’s opinion, inactions—begs the question of what exactly he is up to. By artificially extending the Durham probe, he probably knows that Durham is having a hard time justifying the use of taxpayer money. Perhaps he just wants Durham to be a thorn in the side of Biden administration—or maybe he thinks it would be better for everyone if Durham announces the “results” of his probe in a less hostile environment.

This of course is just speculation, and Barr may still have a few more dirty tricks up his sleeve before January 20. But on the other hand, Barr didn’t seem to be in too much of a hurry to help Trump in his crazed efforts to overturn the election. Perhaps Barr has lines even he won’t cross, perhaps he actually cares just a little bit about his “legacy.” Maybe he thinks that Trump hasn’t been appreciative enough of all the shady dealing he has done on his behalf, just as Trump didn’t appreciate all the nasty things that Jeff Sessions did for him—especially the “gift” of his  aide, Miller.

Or maybe with all the attacks on the Constitution and the rule of law since the election, it was just too insane even for Barr. After all, Barr did everything he could to white-wash Trump and his crimes, marching right up to but not quite going over the edge of the chasm where morality and ethics go to the Devil. Perhaps Barr wanted Trump to win the election on his own “merits,” and in failing to do so, Trump proved himself unworthy of any more of his assistance. Or we can “speculate” that is what is going on here. Who knows? What we do know is that on Monday the Electoral College will meet, and this national nightmare will be over.