Bill Barr: Ha Ha, Just Kidding! I Won't Recuse Myself In Epstein Case

By Susie Madrak — July 10, 2019

Via Bloomberg, the news that Bill Barr will not recuse himself, as we wondered yesterday, from the Epstein case:

Attorney General William Barr won’t recuse himself from involvement in the new charges filed against alleged sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein by federal prosecutors in New York, according to a Justice Department official.

Barr made the decision on Tuesday after consulting with career ethics officials at the department, said the official, who asked not to be identified discussing a sensitive matter.

Given that the FLA phase of the Epstein case is inextricably intertwined with the current NY prosecution, Barr can’t ethically remain involved in the NY part and recuse only from the FLA part. At a minimum, it’s an “appearance of conflict” problem. Ethics 101! https://t.co/RZwm2XGldJ

— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) July 9, 2019

This is the same little trick he pulled with the Mueller report: He "consults" ethics officials, but since we don't know what they told him, we don't know that he took their advice.

In keeping with Bill Barr's preference for being a political and legal advocate for President Trump rather than acting as an independent law enforcement official: He says he won’t recuse himself from involvement in new charges filed against Jeffrey Epstein https://t.co/OwRUzFu3qJ

— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) July 9, 2019

“There's going to be legitimate, real litigation about how the nonprosecution agreement plays into the case," says former SDNY-er Rachel Maimin, who was part of the Michael Cohen prosecution team. https://t.co/5EWaF23T7s

— erica orden (@eorden) July 10, 2019

Exactly. Which is why Barr should recuse from SDNY as well as Florida retroactive review. Artificial line he’s drawn. Kirkland & Ellis’s conduct with the FL USAO is at issue in both.

— Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) July 10, 2019

William Barr should recuse from all Mueller-related cases. https://t.co/nfvR5XG5Es

— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) July 9, 2019

NBC News has confirmed that Attorney General Bill Barr did not recuse himself from the current federal criminal case proceeding in New York against Jeffrey Epstein, but he did recuse himself from a 2008 plea agreement with Epstein in Florida. @Tom_Winter explains: pic.twitter.com/2CxEbR1yj3

— Velshi & Ruhle (@VelshiRuhle) July 9, 2019

But Barr doesn't limit his questionable behavior to the Epstein case. This week, he tried to undermine Robert Mueller's appearance before the House by forbidding two of Mueller's former deputies from testifying, and went along with Trump's insane request to impose his will over the judge in the U.S. census case. He is indeed Trump's Roy Cohn:

DOJ Instructs Two Mueller Deputies Not To Appear For Closed-Door Testimony https://t.co/et1fk5G20M via @TPM

— Debbie (@Dangchick1) July 10, 2019

JUST IN: Barr says Trump admin can legally add citizenship question to census https://t.co/OFvFrceSB7 pic.twitter.com/s6mYnPwXhb

— The Hill (@thehill) July 8, 2019

House Democratic leaders plan to move forward with criminal contempt proceedings against A.G, Barr and Commerce Secretary Ross for defying congressional subpoenas for documents related to the 2020 census, senior Democratic aides tell Politico. https://t.co/mZUXnFlzA7

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 9, 2019

i mean this whole census Q charade is astounding. but today, we have federal judge basically saying the DOJ is now a clown car; that Barr isn't even pretending to be following the law any more; https://t.co/dFWSpaK3TN

— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) July 9, 2019