Барр в Риме

До того, как это все закончится, мы, видимо, увидим, как безумные теории то ли Infowars, то ли Q станут не просто мейнстримом среди республиканцев, но и реальностью DOJ, State Department и т. д.

О том, что Барр по какой-то причине пропадает в Италии уже сообщалось. Сегодня эта причина стала известна.

Barr Went to Rome to Hear a Secret Tape from Joseph Mifsud, the Professor Who Helped Ignite the Russia Probe

The Daily Beast has learned that Barr and Durham were especially interested in what the Italian secret service knew about Joseph Mifsud, the erstwhile professor from Malta who had allegedly promised then candidate Donald Trump’s campaign aide George Papadopoulos he could deliver Russian “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. The Italian Justice Ministry public records show that Mifsud had applied for police protection in Italy after disappearing from Link University where he worked and, in doing so, had given a taped deposition to explain just why people might want to harm him.

A source in the Italian Ministry of Justice, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Daily Beast that Barr and Durham were played the tape. A second source within the Italian government also confirmed to The Daily Beast that Barr and Durham were shown other evidence the Italians had on Mifsud.

Зачем Барру неуловимый профессор Мифсуд и что вообще происходит, хорошо объясняется в следующей цепочке.

Julian Sanchez:

Subtext: there's a notion circulating in the fever swamps to the effect that Mifsud wasn't actually a Russian cutout, but a CIA asset (or something) sent to set up the Trump campaign. If Barr is chasing down stuff like that, we are in a very weird place.

I don't want to jump to conclusions, but a lot of weird aspects of this seem consistent with Barr having gone full tinfoil hat. As in: The AG personally globetrotting to play Nancy Drew would make more sense if he's decided his own subordinates are Deep State agents.

More broadly, none of this is stuff you'd look at if you're concerned about procedural irregularities in FISA applications & the like. It's stuff you'd look at if you suspect the IC's entire analysis of Russian intervention is an elaborate fabrication.

Or at any rate, it's stuff you'd look at if you're dutifully trying to build a case for an audience that believes that.

I'm not actually sure which scenario is more worrying: That they're cynically pandering to a base primed to find this stuff plausible, or that they themselves sincerely believe it.

The more I think about it, the harder it is to avoid the sense they're chasing conspiracies. We'd have extensive documentation of Australia's outreach regarding Papadopolous and Mifsud, for instance, readily accessible by the AG. So what do they need from Australia?

It sounds redundant unless Barr doesn't trust the American records. Which, again, would be very strange, and I can't readily think of a reason that would be the case other than: He thinks the whole investigation was some kind of frame-up conspiracy.