Thread by @SethAbramson

Want to hear something most folks have forgotten about?

Know where Barr was in the hours before Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were arrested, just as the two Trump co-conspirators were dining with Rudy Giuliani (holding one-way tickets to Vienna in their pockets)?

Barr was at SDNY.

Can't help but wonder if Barr was telling SDNY the case wasn't ready, and it should let Parnas/Fruman go to Vienna?

Know who was in Vienna? Fugitive Dmitry Firtash.

Know who worked for him? Parnas, Fruman, and two of Barr's personal friends: Trump lawyers DiGenova and Toensing.

Word to the wise (in this case @SenKamalaHarris): Barr talks to Trump all the time, but I'd look into whether anything Trump wants to get to Barr that he can't say directly goes through DiGenova/Toensing. I suspect that—as Parnas alleges—Barr is essentially on Trump's legal team.

Parnas/Fruman were dining with a Trump lawyer and about to flee to Vienna to meet their boss—represented by 2 Trump lawyers—and Giuliani was planning to join Parnas/Fruman in Vienna. Barr is pals with all 3 Trump lawyers. And he's at SDNY as SDNY is having Parnas/Fruman arrested?

Parnas says his *entire defense strategy* was orchestrated via a cabal of Trump and Manafort attorneys (seven in total). Three of those seven attorneys are personal friends with Bill Barr. And Bill Barr is harassing the would-be Parnas/Fruman prosecutors at SDNY on their big day?

Given that Barr has provided Giuliani privileged access to him repeatedly—on Ukraine; on Venezuela; apparently on Turkey—and that Giuliani was *with the soon to be defendants* as they were about to be arrested, why was *Barr* with the lawyers about prosecute them?

Fishy—as—hell.

Was it Barr's job to tell Giuliani not to get on that plane? Was it Barr's job to ensure SDNY didn't arrest Giuliani? Was Barr "reviewing" the Parnas/Fruman case the same way he did Cohen's case—trying to scuttle it? Was he reporting events to Trump in real time? We need answers.

To get more specific about all this: the WSJ has Barr at SDNY physically on Thursday, and in touch with SDNY on Wednesday—arrest night. It quotes an anonymous DOJ official as saying Barr "supported" the prosecution, but we know by now not to trust anonymous sources at Barr's DOJ.

The WSJ claims that Barr dropped in on SDNY by happenstance, as *by chance* he was going to be in NYC anyway. No—I'm sorry, but no. If Barr was getting a tick-tock of the case from Manhattan on Wednesday (and why was that, exactly?) him going there hours later wasn't mere chance.

There's a small number of cases any AG can personally follow minute-by-minute. Barr was told of the arrest before it happened—meaning he'd selected the Parnas/Fruman case to personally monitor. You don't go to where the prosecutors in such a case are—at *that* moment—by chance.

Here's where WSJ gets iffy. Barr was "making a previously scheduled visit" to Manhattan. So... Barr was *in Manhattan* on Wednesday, then? And getting briefed by the Parnas/Fruman prosecutors (or spies at SDNY) while the arrest was being coordinated? And all this is coincidence?

So we've got Barr in NYC and in contact with SDNY as Parnas and Fruman are being arrested in DC; and Barr in NYC and physically *at* SDNY on Thursday, the day they're unsealing the indictments. You've got someone on DOJ who won't give their name saying Barr "supports" SDNY. Okay.

Guess where Parnas and Fruman were meeting with Giuliani pre-arrest? The Trump International Hotel in DC—the very spot where three of Barr's friends (Giuliani, diGenova, Toensing) had spent *more than half a year* meeting several times a week to plot Parnas and Fruman's crimes.

Seems like all the bases are nicely covered? One Trump lawyer (Giuiani) is with the suspects; one Trump lawyer (Barr) is with the prosecutors; two Trump lawyers (diGenova, Toensing) represent the man the suspects are fleeing to. All four Trump lawyers are *friends*. And *then*...

...immediately *after* the arrest, Giuliani, diGenova, Toensing, Sekulow, Cippollone, Gale, Downing, and Dowd—if you're counting at home, that's *6* Trump attorneys, Manafort's attorney, and Giuliani's attorney—are in communication about how to keep Parnas quiet. I mean... Jesus.

Remember, of the Group of 8, 3 are friends with Barr, 1 *represents* a friend of Barr, and *6* work for Barr's *boss*—who Barr has been overseeing cases to aid. We *also* know *3* (Giuliani, diGenova, Toensing) are regularly in contact with Barr. Did they speak October 9? 10? 11?

Can I just say that—if you're sitting at home and thinking that this sounds like the most poorly written "B" mafia movie ever—you're *not alone*? There's no federal prosecutor with any conscience whatsoever who looks at this fact-pattern and doesn't think... "Special Prosecutor."

PS/ All this ends with Barr firing Parnas' ultimate prosecutor (the SDNY chief) 8 months later, after Parnas has said he wants to cut a deal and flip. And we already know Barr selected this case to oversee. Maybe this explains why Barr doesn't want SDNY to cut a deal with Parnas?

PS2/ Barr has repeatedly violated protocol to let Giuliani, diGenova, and Toensing *lobby him directly* on events *related to the Parnas case*. So why, if he's selected that case to oversee, wouldn't be brief *them* on it, and *Trump* on it—though they're all *witnesses* in it?

PS3/ So Barr is meeting privately with witnesses in the Parnas case as he's overseeing it; those witnesses are communicating information to Barr *relevant to the case*; and those witnesses also tried to give Parnas a Trump attorney (Dowd) who told him to stay quiet. Got all that?

PS4/ It's in *this* context we say Barr *happened to be in NYC* and *in touch with SDNY* the day of the Parnas arrest, and so *happened* to be available to run events at SDNY *personally* the following day, when the indictments (in a case his pals are witnesses in) were unsealed.

PS5/ All that is only 0.3% of the story.

And as many of you reading this already know—and I hope will forgive me for reminding everyone else here—I was so concerned about these major-media-reported events that I put the other 99.7% of the story in a book. amazon.com/dp/1250272998?…