Attorney General Barr is the most dangerous man in Washington
Prior IG Conclusions Impede Current AG Barr… A “conclusion” is not always the same thing. In logic a “conclusion” implies: deduction, inference, interpretation, reasoning, opinion, judgement, decision, diagnosis, verdict, determination, assumption, presumption, supposition, conjecture, surmise. Notice that it is not “definitive” or “unassailable.”
When fulfilling a contract, a “conclusion” connotes: end, ending, finish, close, closure, termination, wind-up, cessation, culmination, finale, denouement, coda, peroration, epilogue. “Over and done” when an “end” is declared. Notice that it is not “definitive” or “unassailable.”
In concluding an agreement, a “conclusion” is: negotiation, brokering, settlement, settling, clinching, completion, arranging, accomplishment, establishment, resolution. Notice that it is not “definitive” or “unassailable.”
Inspector General Horowitz is conducting an investigation which is NOT comprehensive because he can not go beyond the DOJ and FBI employees. The job of the IG is limited in its scope and reach. The fact that IG Horowitz can not establish intent is beside the point. He has undoubtedly been able to establish “complicity.”
Attorney General Barr is the top cop in the United States of America. When he determines to look into who, what, how, where, and when he can go wherever his leads take him. Add “why” to that list and there is every reason for knees to shake.
This “intent” business is a canard. Comey used it for Hilliary. Yesterday Mueller used it for signaling the House Democrats to bring on the impeachment process. Can we prove that Comey “intended” to give Hillary a pass or the Mueller intended to trip up the president? No. So we are all in the same boat with IG Horowitz if that is the only boat afloat.
I do not think that AG Barr is “impeded” in the least. He will accept the report of IG Horowitz and use it for what is useful and disregard the whole “intent” part. That is because the Grand Jury will weigh the intent and and indict accordingly. Grand Jurors do not have to play by the arcane rules of “civil-rights” regulatory mumbo-jumbo. In fact, the Grand Jury isn’t even informed of how the clockwork is constructed which guides the Inspector General. In-house DOJ rules are of no interest to the Grand Jury or the courtroom jury.
Attorney General Barr is free to charge his special investigators with establishing facts, theories and compiling evidence. AG Barr is completely free to step outside of the protective civil service cobweb and go straight for the truth. As in the case of both Comey and Mueller, “intent” is never decided by the prosecution. It is decided by the jury. If a case rests upon intent and is so weak on the evidence of intent, then it is a loser.
Example: (Washington Post): “the inspector general wrote there was ‘no evidence’ that Strzok and Page ‘attempted to circumvent’ the FBI’s data-retention policies.” That is purely a reference to “intent” which led to a “conclusion” by IG Horowitz. On the other hand, a jury would consider the multitude of condemning and biased e-mail between Strzok and Page and smell the “intent” in a nano-second. (With the exception of a dedicated hold-out who is bound and determined to torpedo the trial.)
Attorney General Barr is in the position to accept all manner of internal reports and blow them off as butt-protecting, inside the institution chaff. He is the most dangerous man in Washington. He knows the game, he knows the law, he knows a good DOJ and a good FBI as opposed to the current mess. He has nothing to lose and he has the will to obey the rule of law; even if it rattles the relationship between his wife and Mueller’s wife and their cooperative Bible study. That is to say, Attorney General Barr is not a bit concerned about the Old Boy’s Network.