The Mueller ‘Coverup’ Gambit Why Barr is right to release the report with redactions and publicly, all at once.By Kimberley A. Strassel
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-mueller-coverup-gambit-11554420235
The only surprising thing about the new “coverup” accusation against Attorney General William Barr is that it took it two weeks to get there. The question is whether Republicans fall for this naked effort to revive the collusion-and-obstruction narrative.
Democrats and the media are still smarting over special counsel Robert Mueller’s no-collusion findings, but their “coverup” fallback has its advantages. They can claim Mr. Barr’s four-page summary of the report is a sham, that he’s hiding the real truth. That’s nonsense, but it allows them to continue stoking Trump-Russia collusion fantasies.
It also aids the Democrats in their larger goal: getting their hands on a fully unredacted report, along with its underlying documentation, before the public can see it. That way, they could plumb the voluminous documentation for more wild allegations and personal smears—and leak away.
The “coverup” claim is only one of the levers Democrats are pulling, aided by friendly scribes at the New York Times and Washington Post, who published stories Thursday claiming anonymous members of the Mueller team are dissatisfied with the Barr summary. The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday also authorized subpoenas for an unredacted report and documents. And Democrats everywhere are accusing Republicans of hypocrisy. How dare Republicans spend two years demanding documents from the Justice Department about the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s behavior in 2016, but now accept a redacted report?
Some Republicans will be tempted to capitulate. Mr. Barr up to now has said he would release as much as he can within the law and departmental regulations. That means redacting from the report information pertaining to grand-jury proceedings, continuing investigations, sources and methods. He’s also removing details that might hurt the “reputational” interest of “peripheral” figures. This is proper—not radical or sneaky. But Republicans worry that they will never put to rest the collusion-obstruction claims until they give Democrats everything.
Memo: Even if they get everything, the Democrats will never put those claims to rest. The left is too invested. But Republicans could make matters worse—by handing Democrats the full Mueller monty, including thousands of pages of investigative material and grand-jury transcripts. Partisans will cherry-pick and leak every uncorroborated claim to fan the collusion-and-obstruction flames. They’ll mine the documents for nuggets they can turn into yet new scandals. The New York Times may have to boost its staff to keep up. CONTINUE AT SITE
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