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Thursday, April 11, 2019

Media Fails the Barr Exam

By now, you surely must have heard that in testimony yesterday in a senate committe, Attorney General Barr said that there was spying by the Obama intelligence agencies on the Trump campaign in 2016.  He went on to say that the question is whether or not there was a proper predicate for that spying; in other words, was there a valid legal basis for this action to be taken?  Barr also said that government spying on a political campaign was a "big, big deal."  Barr went on to say that he was looking into the spying.  In response to another question, Barr confirmed that he was not saying that the spying was improper; that was the reason why further investigation was required.

These simple statements led to a meltdown by the media and many Democrats.  My home state senator Richard Blumenthal was outraged by the statements.  He called on Barr to retract them and further said that Barr's statements violated the Constitution because it prejudged the outcome.  (Huh?)  It's pretty funny; for the last two plus years, Blumenthal has been telling us all about the clear evidence of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016.  It was the ultimate in pre-judging, and it was totally wrong.  The Mueller investigation found no evidence of any collusion.  Blumenthal actually was just sputtering mad because the Attorney General had the nerve to tell the truth about Obama administration spying on the Trump campaign.

The media took a different tack.  First, they softened what Barr had to say by changing it to his announcing that there might have been potential spying on Trump.  That's not what Barr actually said, however.  Barr said that there had been spying by Obama on Trump and that there needed to be a further investigation to determine if that spying had been legally proper.  Some media outlets said that Barr had walked back his comments; that was just a lie -- Barr didn't soften what he said in any way.  The media also went to town smearing Barr.  Barr was "hand-picked" by Trump, they said.  Well, of course he was; the Attorney General is always chosen by the President.  Barr was just a partisan hack.  Remember, Barr was approved to be Attorney General unanimously when he was first selected.  He has a spotless record of achievement and was considered one of the best lawyers in DC.  That makes his descent to "partisan hack" after uttering a sentence the media didn't like all the more astonishing.

The reality is that neither the media or the Democrats like have the truth put before them.  The Obama intelligence agencies spied on the Trump campaign.  We know that.  Indeed, that spying is why the government tricked the FISA court into issuing a warrant and three renewals for surveillance.  When the President first mentioned that he had been spied upon by Obama, the media went crazy denouncing Trump as delusional, but Trump was correct.  Everyone knows that now.  Still, to have the Attorney General calmly and clearly state the facts was more than any of these folks could stand.  They have no answer on the facts; they are undeniable.  As a result, they chose to try to attack the messenger instead.  It was a sad spectacle.

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