Now we know William Barr was lying about another crucial aspect of the Mueller report
William Barr is a liar. That should be undeniable by now. The way he characterized the Mueller report can’t legitimately be described as spin. It was a deliberate and blatant false summary, or a great big lie. Yet, the media still assumes many other things Barr said are factual. There are several big, big assumptions everyone seems to be making without anything to go on other than William Barr’s word.
First, Barr said there are no sealed indictments related to the Mueller investigation. While some particular wording in the Mueller report appears to back this up, there is a very important distinction. The Mueller report had specific language that indicated there were no active sealed indictments for criminal conspiracy, while Barr seemed to state the Mueller investigation was all wrapped up with no outstanding matters period. Yet, this week we saw the unsealing of a fourteen month old indictment against Trump figure George Nader.
While Barr and other lawyers can surely make a case that this sealed indictment was not technically Mueller-related, to the general public, in every real sense it is about nothing else. The charges against Nader resulted from devices seized under a Mueller search warrant, and we learned Nader is still under investigation on another matter. In other words, his current arrest and charges are perfect leverage to get him to cooperate against Trump with the ongoing “Mueller” investigation, which is now still operating, but under a different moniker.
One thing we learned for sure this week: William Barr cannot be trusted at all. The media is assuming, simply based on William Barr’s word, that the Mueller investigation was not ended prematurely, there are no outstanding sealed indictments, and Mueller was not overridden on any decisions about subpoenas or indictments. Based on Barr’s track record, we should believe none of it.
Cheryl Kelley lives in the DC area with her husband and young son. She is active in government and politics.