Maybe former attorney general Bill Barr is not a snake in the grass.  He comes pretty close, though, to being a worm in the grass.  For evidence, please see the text of his conversation with journalist Bari Weiss. 

In this interview, Mr. Barr makes sure to badmouth Donald J. Trump as his "own worst enemy," as someone who doesn't take advice.  The text of the conversation caught the eye of this observer for Barr's rather belated comments on Russiagate, on James Comey, and on the Deep State (and the concomitant Democrat bias of the media).

Concerning Russiagate, at one point in the conversation, Barr called it a "farce."  In the following excerpt from the Weiss interview, he was rather more blunt and accurately so.

AG BARR: I think it ended with Bob Mueller's testimony over the summer of 2020. It really collapsed at that point. I've been surprised that the mainstream media and the people who fanned this to the point of hysteria haven't come back to say: "Yeah, there was a big lie in 2016 that has hurt the country and distorted our politics and foreign policy throughout the Trump administration. It was unjust. It was wrong. And we made a mistake." Very few, if any, have come out to say that. 

Of course Russiagate was "a big lie," created by Hillary Clinton, abetted by her allies in the Democrat party, by her NeverTrump supporters, and by the dishonest media.  But when this "big lie" was megaphoned throughout 2016 and into the first months of the Trump presidency, where was Bill Barr to rally Americans around a besieged president hounded, falsely, by a coup-seeking "resistance"?  Where was Bill Barr rallying, at the very least, the Republican members of Congress to defend a patriotic president against foul, false, frenzied lies?  Now Barr says Mr. Trump is his own worst enemy?  I accuse Bill Barr of the sin of omission, leaving a terribly wronged president to stand alone, to defend himself, against vicious, venal, vainglorious enemies.

Look now what Bill Barr tells Bari Weiss about the firing of the nausea-inducing head of the FBI, James Comey.

BW: If the firing of F.B.I. Director James Comey wasn't obstruction, how would you describe it? Do you think that it was unwise? 

AG BARR: I would describe it as something that should have happened long before. Everyone I knew in Republican and Justice Department circles, including me, was advising Trump at the very beginning of his administration to fire Comey before we even knew his role in Russiagate. It's because Comey, in my opinion, has some of the personality characteristics that can lead people, like J. Edgar Hoover, to run the FBI according to their personal whims.  I thought it was dangerous and that he should go. 

Where was Bill Barr in the spring of 2017, when Comey was dismissed by President Trump?  Look at the question from Weiss suggesting that the firing of Comey was "unwise."  And see Barr's answer now.  But where was he when the Clintonistas were calling the dismissal of Comey an impeachable act, obstruction of justice?  Where was Barr rallying Republicans in Congress around the White House, defending President Trump against the lies, falsehoods, and anti-democrcy propaganda of political enemies intent on overturning the legitimate result of the 2016 presidential election?

Now here's what Bill Barr had to say to Ms. Weiss about the Deep State.  Look how he tried to dismiss its significance but had to agree to its existence.

AG BARR: Yes. I think it's overdone, as many conspiracy theories are. But there definitely are people in the government, as there are in many of our institutions, who are very willful and are willing to sacrifice the values and processes of the institution in order to achieve some higher political end. And they do it. There are pockets of them in the Department of Justice and unfortunately, some in the FBI.

Unfortunately, in discussing the existence of the Deep State, Bill Barr felt that he had to pull his punches — or simply preferred to use a euphemism. Balderdash.  The Deep State refers to individuals who use their positions in public service to undermine the duly elected president to promote private policies that serve their ends, often betraying their oath under the Constitution to faithfully to serve the common good.

Bill Barr, your comments to Bari Weiss suggest that you served President Trump far less nobly than honor demanded.  You accuse him, now, of not taking the advice of others.  But from whom did he receive the advice he needed to withstand the daily assaults from lying Democrats, from despicable NeverTrump Republicans, from the likes of a Fiona Hill, from a media establishment that has descended into the propaganda pit of an American Pravda?  Bill Barr, you turned your back on Donald J. Trump when he needed truth-recognizing, and telling, allies the most.  Now you indicate that the appointment of special counsel Mueller was a mistake, made manifest by hiring Democrat zealots on his partisan staff.  Bill Barr, where were you in May 2017 to rally Republicans against the Mueller appointment, calling it a special counsel to propagate a "big lie" for partisan purpose?

Nowhere to be found.  I guess the media onslaught was too much for you to protest.  And you left President Trump to the lying hyenas, alone.  Shame on you.

Image: Office of Public Affairs via Flickr.