My read on Barr’s statement abt having created “in the field” a process for vetting info on Hunter Biden, Including “provenance,” etc.:
1. Barr’s still eager to create at least the *appearance* that this is happening at a remove from himself. +
1. Barr’s still eager to create at least the *appearance* that this is happening at a remove from himself. +
2. Graham Is obviously serving as intermediary between Trump and Barr. Trump *still* can’t get Giuliani’s material accepted at face value by Main Justice. That Trump has to resort to Graham’s intercession *with Trump’s own AG* is striking.
3. Barr is a canny, self-protective lawyer who likely wants as little to do as possible with what Bolton called a “drug deal.” Yet he needs to “show willing” for Trump. Hence this ‘screening’ process. Barr is being painted into a very tight corner, IMO.
4. When push comes to shove, Barr may well prove willing to further the Trump-Giuliani conspiracy theory, but his statement about a screening process shows, IMO, that he’s being dragged to it, rather than jumping enthusiastically on it. End.
A glaring weakness of the earlier Trump attempt to promote allegations of corruption by both Bidens was that DOJ was nowhere to be seen. People rightly said, “if there are credible allegations, why isn’t DOJ liaising w/ Ukrainian counterparts to investigate ?”
Trump had no answer to that, despite efforts that were clear in the July 25 call with Zelensky, to push Barr forward. Now, via Graham’s embassy to Barr, he’s trying again to plug that hole and *force* DOJ to take it on.
