The '60-day rule' for elections Barr may be willing to bend for Trump

[dalton99a]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/02/opinions/william-barr-bend-60-day-rule-honig/index.html

The '60-day rule' for elections Barr may be willing to bend for Trump
Opinion by Elie Honig
Updated 11:37 PM ET, Wed September 2, 2020

(CNN) If there was any question before about whether William Barr could be willing to use his power as attorney general to tilt the scales in the upcoming presidential election, there shouldn't be anymore. Barr appeared to confirm as much in his interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN Wednesday: that he would be willing to breach longstanding Justice Department norms -- that is, the unwritten "60-day rule" -- to advantage the re-election campaign of President Donald Trump.

In essence, unless it is absolutely unavoidable, the Justice Department will refrain from announcing new charges or from taking overt investigative steps (such as executing a search warrant) that might impact an upcoming election. As the Republican-appointed Mukasey stated while serving as attorney general, "Simply put, politics must play no role in the decisions of federal investigators or prosecutors regarding any investigations or criminal charges."

But contrary to Justice Department practice under both political parties, Barr is keeping the door wedged open to deliver Trump a September or October surprise.

Barr had already signaled that he will not respect the 60-day rule as it relates to any potential indictments resulting from the ongoing investigation by John Durham into the origins of the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. When asked during his House Judiciary Committee testimony in July 2020 whether he would observe the 60-day rule relating to the Durham investigation, Barr responded flatly, "No." Barr reiterated in his interview with Blitzer that he is aware of the rule but does not believe it necessarily applies to the Durham investigation. He said: "I will handle these cases as appropriate, and I do not think anything we do in the Durham investigation is going to be affecting the election."

For an example of the perils created by violation of the 60-day rule, look no further than 2016 when FBI Director James Comey announced the outcome of the Hillary Clinton investigation in July 2016 (outside the technical 60-day period) and then announced a reopening of the investigation in October 2016, just days before the election -- a move the Justice Department inspector general later found to be a "serious error of judgment" that violated "longstanding Department practice."

[EarlG]

1. Barr is OBVIOUSLY going to announce some bullshit investigation in October

at which point we're all supposed to shout, "my goodness what a SURPRISE!"

The best pushback to this is to just keep reiterating that it's bound to happen, and that when it does it will be obviously partisan political BS. If the expectation is already set, it won't be a surprise.

[Laelth]

2. I agree. n/t

-Laelth

[lagomorph777]

7. Of course he will. Comey did it and Barr is at least twice as evil as Comey.

[Initech]

9. Yeah they got away with this crap in 2016, but this isn't 2016.

We know Trump and we've seen Trump and his dirty tricks in action. Whatever he comes up with in October hopefully won't be a surprise to anyone.

[MurrayDelph]

10. I fully expect a last-minute shitshow from them.

The only way anything they do could be considered an October surprise would be if it involved Barr acting on the side of ethical behavior.

[rso]

3. Barr

The best way to inoculate against anything Barr may announce is to pre-empt it by frequently acknowledging that it is an election-related ploy. If it becomes something that everyone expects in advance, Barr may decide that it’s not worth taking a chance and to face future obstruction charges when Donnie is out.

[Wounded Bear]

4. They already broke it against Hillary...

not surprising they would do so again to help Trump.

[Chipper Chat]

5. Barr may be willing to bend OVER for trump

[lagomorph777]

8. 1. Ewwwwwww. 2. I don't think that works, given the shapes involved.

[2naSalit]

6. You can bet he'll pull some kind of...

Shit from his ample ass and say, "Happy Halloween!"

Fuck them, disobey them, jeer at them and vote against them, whatever your reasons, just vote against them or you can kiss all your freedoms good-bye.

I can totally relate to this right now...

[kairos12]

11. Count on, and plan for this.