William Barr got it right
William Barr, President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, said nothing disqualifying in his Senate confirmation hearings this week. But senior Senate Democrats are behaving as though he transgressed by omission — by not committing clearly enough to release whatever report special counsel Robert Mueller III writes at the conclusion of the Russia investigation.
“My decision is all around the report coming out,” Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said. “There has to be a commitment by this attorney general that that report will be released publicly.”
In fact, Barr was as clear as he could be. “I'm in favor of as much transparency as there can be, consistent with the rules and the law,” he told senators. “I want to talk to Mueller and [Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein] and figure out what the lay of the land is.” He added: “It's really important to let the chips fall where they may and get the information out.”
Barr repeatedly reminded senators that without access to the special counsel probe, he does not know what Mueller knows, nor what he is planning. He cannot commit in specific terms because he does not know the specifics. “You would not like it if I made some pledge to the president that I was going to exercise my responsibilities in a particular way, and I'm not going to make a pledge to anyone on this committee that I'm going to exercise it in a particular way.”
Moreover, Mueller is a special, not independent, counsel, governed by far less permissive regulations than those under which President Bill Clinton inquisitor Kenneth Starr labored. As Barr noted, the rules anticipate that Mueller's summary report will be treated as confidential and that the attorney general will prepare materials for release to Congress and the public. It was reasonable for Barr to say that he must follow regulations and procedures but will be as open as possible. If Democrats want an institutionalist leading the Justice Department, not a Trump cutout, this is what an institutionalist would say.
Feinstein is right to want as much transparency as legally possible, and Barr must honor his promise to provide it. A Thursday report in BuzzFeed, based on two sources cited on condition of anonymity, underscores the possible stakes. The report said Trump "directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow," an allegation that, if true, could well constitute a crime. Typically, the Justice Department does not release information it has gathered on people it declines to indict, so as to avoid publicly smearing them. But if a sitting president is un-indictable, crucial information relating to his involvement in a crime must be made public.
The Mueller probe is at least three things. It is a criminal investigation with the charge to prosecute those involved in the Russian plot to tilt the 2016 presidential election. It is a fact-finding inquiry that should inform Americans about that election meddling. And it is the professional examination of the president's conduct that this extraordinary period in U.S. history demands. The latter two require Barr to do as he pledged: give as much information to Congress and the public as he can.