President Donald Trump thought his handpicked attorney general, William Barr, would be able to help him win a second term in office, but with each day and every new poll, it’s becoming clear that Barr’s Justice Department has failed to deliver the “October Surprise” Trump had been expecting to help salvage his failing reelection campaign.
Only a few days ago, Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that he expected AG Barr to bring “charges” against former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden, who is now the Democratic presidential nominee:
“Unless Bill Barr indicts these people for crimes — the greatest political crime in history of our country — then we’re going to get little satisfaction. And that includes Obama, and that includes Biden.
“Bill Barr is gonna go down as either greatest attorney general in history of the country, or he’s gonna go down as a very sad situation.”
And yet, just yesterday we learned from The Washington Post that a DOJ probe commissioned by Barr to determine if any Obama-era officials “unmasked” members of Trump’s 2016 campaign has failed to deliver the goods Trump and Barr were hoping for:
“The federal prosecutor appointed by Attorney General William P. Barr to review whether Obama-era officials improperly requested the identities of individuals whose names were redacted in intelligence documents has completed his work without finding any substantive wrongdoing, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Trump was asked about the dead-end in the unmasking investigation and whether or not Barr would remain as attorney general if he’s reelected by Greg Kelly of Newsmax, and the president made it clear he was not pleased that Barr hadn’t been able to resurrect his sinking campaign, remarking:
“Personally, I think it’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. It’s a disgrace. I think it’s really a horrible thing that they’re allowed to get away — when they say no indictments, they actually said no indictments before the election. I had to go through elections with all those clouds over my head. But they don’t because the Republicans are so nice. Personally, I think it’s too bad. I think it’s too bad, they’re guilty as hell.”
Would Trump retain Barr if he happens to somehow win in November? The president merely responded that is was “too soon” to say what he might do.
The last Hail Mary pass that Donald Trump had left to play has now fallen incomplete and the president remains far behind Biden with just a few seonds left to play in the fourth quarter.
Don’t be surprised if over next few weeks Trump begins dumping Barr and other administration officials in a desperate attempt to pretend he’s still in charge and so he can act “presidential.”
The October Surprise is dead. The only surprise that remains is whether or not Trump merely loses or gets humiliated in a historic landslide. Either way, we’ll finally be rid of this cancer on our republic.