In a column and a video essay, Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano weighed in on Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the Mueller report. As The Daily Beast reports, Napolitano blasted the top lawyer’s “dumb and insulting” attempt to spin the special counsel’s document.
The legal expert discussed Barr’s congressional testimony, as well as his four-page summary of the Mueller report. Barr, according to Napolitano, knew about the special counsel office’s complaints pertaining to his interpretation of the findings related to possible obstruction of justice by the president, but withheld that information from Congress.
Mueller “made a permanent record of his complaint about Barr’s sanitized letter, and Barr hid that record from Congress,” Napolitano said.
“What’s going on here?” the judge asked. “It is clear that Barr’s four-page letter, about which Mueller complained to Barr and some of Mueller’s team complained to the media, was a foolish attempt to sanitize the Mueller report.”
According to the legal analyst, Barr was “deceptive” during his testimony, during which he spun the Mueller report in order to protect Donald Trump.
Furthermore, by ignoring House Judiciary Committee’s subpoena for the un-redacted Mueller report, Barr “dropped the ball again,” according to Napolitano, who described the attorney general’s attempts to spin the Mueller report as “dumb and insulting.”
“It was misleading, it was disingenuous, it was even deceptive. Also, because Barr could argue that all or nearly all of the Mueller report would soon become public, it was dumb and insulting.”
The Fox News host also addressed House Democrats’ claims that Barr — like President Trump — committed obstruction of justice, arguing that even the attorney general himself regularly prosecutes defendants for doing what he himself has done.
As The Daily Beast notes, Napolitano expressed his opinions about Barr’s handling of the Mueller report in a column and subsequent video essay on Fox News’ streaming service, but not on the network’s cable channel. This perhaps comes as no surprise, given that President Trump — an avid Fox News watcher — is apparently not on very good terms with the judge.
Napolitano: If the White House Ignores Court Orders, THAT Would Be a Constitutional Crisis https://t.co/UYVmEFSIXi pic.twitter.com/srWiF1OZeF
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) May 9, 2019
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Napolitano’s willingness to criticize the administration does not sit well with the president, it seems. Not one to take criticism lightly, Trump, in late April, publicly insulted and ridiculed Napolitano, alleging that the Fox News legal analyst is becoming increasingly “hostile” due to the fact that a friend of his had not been issued a presidential pardon.
Furthermore, according to Trump, Napolitano asked to be appointed to the Supreme Court, and because his request has not been fulfilled, he has become antagonistic toward the administration.
