Attorney General Bill Barr directed Justice Department officials to draft legal memos undermining the campaign finance hush money case that brought down Michael Cohen and implicated President Donald Trump, according to a report in the New York Times.
Barr had the Office of Legal Counsel draft the memo, the report said. And the prosecutors reportedly “resisted” the effort. Since the case is finished — and Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 — there isn’t a whole lot Barr could do to affect the case. It may raise questions about whether Trump could be criminally prosecuted for his related conduct once he’s out of office.
The report reveals new depths Barr has undertaken in his crusade to provide Trump the full protection and exoneration he desires from his attorney general. Barr’s efforts on this front, which include his lies and spin about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, his interference in the sentencing of Roger Stone, his push to drop charges against Michael Flynn, and the investigation of the Russia probe led by U.S. Attorney John Durham, have already been extensive and widely criticized. Continue reading.