“The president is not known for the precision, judiciousness or thoughtfulness of his attacks, but he is in attack mode here and we seem to be opening a new front, as AG Barr engineers a new approach. He asked forTrump toto grant him additional, far-reaching powers for his review, and asked that the White House wait until he had taken care of outstanding business, including telling the heads of all the relevant intelligence agencies about the coming change. Thus, when the White House released the memo it landed with authority that signaled a concerted effort unlike Trump’s tweets or stream-of-consciousness comments to reporters. The document was written in legalese and issued as a memorandum on White House letterhead. For Democrats, Mr. Barr’s newfound powers served as a sign that Mr. Trump had found a new, and potentially effective, tool in his war on the so-called deep state."
At www.nytimes.com
