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mahatmakanejeeves

(56,874 posts)
Fri Jan 4, 2019, 05:19 PM Jan 2019

...the real significance of the Barr memorandum may be ... in support of the impeachment of Trump.

.@jacklgoldsmith argues that William Barr’s views are far from crazy and have significant support in Supreme Court case law and executive branch precedent—and that the real significance of his memo may be its possible use in support of impeachment.



EXECUTIVE POWER

A Qualified Defense of the Barr Memo: Part I

By Jack Goldsmith Friday, January 4, 2019, 9:20 AM

Daniel Hemel and Eric Posner have harshly criticized William Barr’s memo on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s obstruction of justice theory. They say (in the New York Times) that the memo “seriously damages [Barr’s] credibility and raises questions about his fitness for the Justice Department’s top position” and (later, on Lawfare) that the memo is “poorly reasoned.”

In my view, Hemel and Posner’s arguments don’t support these conclusions. I’m not going to spend much time on the proper way to parse the words of the obstruction statute, as Barr and the coauthors do. I agree with Marty Lederman that much of this fine-grained analysis is beside the point because Mueller is almost certainly not considering asking a grand jury to indict President Trump for a violation of a criminal law on obstruction of justice. I instead want to focus on a few broader principles of constitutional law and statutory interpretation in Barr’s memo and in Hemel and Posner’s responses. My primary aim is to show that Barr’s views, far from crazy, have significant support in Supreme Court case law and executive branch precedent, and that the real significance of the Barr memorandum may be its possible use in support of the impeachment of President Trump. A later post will address other issues in the Barr memorandum.
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...the real significance of the Barr memorandum may be ... in support of the impeachment of Trump. (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Jan 2019 OP
Have to reread, but will follow points in hearings. Thanks. cachukis Jan 2019 #1
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