Barr was also the guy who stood up to Robert Mueller and brought the Russia nonsense to an end without necessitating a Presidential political action like firing Mueller (which would have made Trump into Richard Nixon in the eyes of the press and 70% of the country). More importantly, Barr immediately put a stake through the heart of the budding effort to pursue obstruction of justice charges for which Mueller's team had left ample opportunity. He has appeared several times before congress with devastating effect to his critical questioners.
I suspect Barr's team is doing its investigative job. We may find that there is nothing meaningfully chargeable in the whole surveillance scandal. Bureaucrats may indeed have acted on a democrat generated document. But I suspect their individual actions, based upon limited specific knowledge, were by the book. I also suspect that the individual steps taken by even senior leaders are largely explainable based upon what they knew and when they knew it. Any premature and not fully vetted accusations would have been seen as pure politics. Barr, to his credit, seems to have little interest in such theater.
Barr has also appointed Durham a special prosecutor. That insures the investigation goes on into the next administration, and if Durham can make a case, it protects him with regard to recommended actions and charges.
Barr seems to apply the same standards to the President. He, like a few of us here have opined, has not seen anything illegal of sufficient magnitude to overturn a state election certification. I have no doubt that Barr is personally better informed on the magnitude of potential problems than most. The President obviously doesn't like that, and as with others, sees disagreement as disloyalty.
As an aside, that is a pretty self-destructive leadership technique. Over time, one does end up surrounded by loyal subordinates - who unfortunately will tell the boss only what he wants to hear.
And no Barr did nothing to avert the mail-in ballot catastrophe that cost Trump this election. Not his job. That failure falls squarely on the state legislatures for not acting (obviously no democrat majority one would) and possibly the senate for not at least attempting shine daylight on the subject.
It is often good to remember a comment by Ronald Reagan:
"The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally – not a 20 percent traitor.”
Barr was at least such an ally to the President. It would be good if the Trump purists occasionally kept that in mind about their fellow conservatives as well. Our adversaries seem to have no problem maintaining focus on their political enemy.
