CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is a little late to the party on this one; it was Tuesday night when reporters and pundits were lighting up social media over a letter from Robert Mueller to Attorney General Bill Barr that was evidently leaked to the press on the eve of Barr’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
As Twitchy reported, the “bombshell” headline implied that Mueller was unhappy with Barr’s summary of his report, but anyone who read beyond the headline learned that what bothered Mueller was the way the press was misreporting Barr’s four-page letter:
covering ourselves in glory lmao pic.twitter.com/IXCUdo0Rv8
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) April 30, 2019
So Mueller did think Barr’s letter was accurate; he just thought the media coverage was getting it wrong. Frankly, it was probably President Trump’s loud and proud victory lap that bothered Mueller and the press.
But now Toobin has weighed in, and according to The Hill, Toobin says the letter was “scathing”:
“That is a scathing, outraged letter,” Toobin said of the Mueller letter. “Accusing the attorney general of completely distorting and lying to the public about what Mueller spent two years on.”
“I mean, that is not a polite letter among old friends. That is an accusation of political interference in Mueller’s work,” he continued. “That is not a routine letter in any sense of the word.”
Toobin went on to say Mueller was claiming that “the fix was in.”
“Let’s be clear about what Mueller is saying,” Toobin concluded. “That the fix was in and he is saying that Barr deliberately distorted his conclusions for the political gain of the president. That’s what that letter says in plain English.”
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Thanks for translating it for us — we guess when Mueller wrote that he didn’t think Barr’s summary was inaccurate, he really was accusing Barr of deliberately distorting his conclusions for political gain. Got it.
Scathing? On what?
— Common?Conservative (@JR22457950) May 1, 2019
It wasn't "scathing" it was whiny.
— RCarls (@RCarls1) May 1, 2019
Ooohhh toobin says something bad about Trump appointee, stunning
— prettyboyflash (@pacer502) May 1, 2019
Toobin is a donkey, so…..
— Conservative Babe (@cutiepatutee) May 1, 2019
True AG Barr declined a victory lap
when he found out the target was the media.
Why this bothered Toobin is hard to fathom.— Harold Truman (@Maggiesdad34) May 1, 2019
Toobin? Really? The conspiracy theorist?
— FLOrangeQueen (@FLOrangeQueen) May 1, 2019
And again. https://t.co/eKyr2GzhUK
— Federalist Musket?? (@Patriot_Musket) May 1, 2019
Orchestrated.
— I Hate The Media ?? (@ihatethemedia) May 1, 2019
“When you have lost Toobin” – nobody ever
— cobracommander15 (@cobracommandr15) May 1, 2019
CNN! pic.twitter.com/17jhzYBd4j
— Jack Battier (@OneEyeBlackJack) May 1, 2019
Let all the media jackals and their political cousins rant. For the first time, I'm >51% optimistic that those behind the attempted coup will be brought to justice. We finally have a real AG who doesn't give one happy damn about the Democrats' histrionics.
[Follows appreciated!]
— ?????????? (@Chop0Matic) May 1, 2019
Democrats lost an election they rigged. And now Democrats have lost an investigation they rigged.
It must suck to be a Democrat! ?
— Scott (@RAWHM1000X) May 1, 2019
Excellent point:
Most interesting aspect of this Mueller letter/call to Barr is that Mueller didn’t find Barr’s write-up inaccurate, but was so bothered by the media narrative. On what planet should a special counsel care about a media narrative? Tells you everything you need to know.
— Jedediah Bila (@JedediahBila) May 1, 2019
Related:
It’s Mueller time … again! Report says Robert Mueller wasn’t happy with AG Barr’s letter, but… https://t.co/Oi9KqaENjt
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 1, 2019
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