What could Mueller have done differently? He could have recognized that Barr wasn’t trustworthy, given that Trump had nominated him for the attorney general job largely because Barr had expressed hostility to Mueller’s investigation. Mueller could then have acted accordingly.

He could have insisted that Barr release a summary written by Mueller and his team. Mueller may not have had the statutory power to insist on such a release, but he did have the actual power. If Barr had refused, Mueller could have made clear that his own summary would leak to the press, in short order. Yes, that’s how politics sometimes works.

I understand why Mueller took the gentler route. He and Barr had been friends for years, and Mueller has a reputation as a tight-lipped rule follower. In this case, though, his boy scout nature allowed him to be manipulated.

It’s impossible to know whether it will ultimately matter. Maybe an accurate initial summary of Mueller’s investigation wouldn’t have changed Americans’ view of Trump’s behavior. We’ll never know. In that way, Barr has served Trump very well — as his fixer, rather than as the nation’s top law-enforcement officer.

Barr’s rough day

Barr went before the Senate to testify yesterday, and he didn’t do well.

“How can Bill Barr possibly continue to lead the Department of Justice, the only federal agency with a moral value in its very name, after this shocking performance?” asked Lawfare’s Susan Hennessey.