Trump told Ukraine to talk to Rudy and Barr.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York subpoenaed all of Rudy’s communications.

Barr tried to fire the person leading that investigation.

Boy, that’s quite a coincidence.

Seriously, we know fully well that Barr is corrupt but operates with some detachment from the loosest cannons...

And we know Giuliani is one of those loose cannons with a bigmouth and a penchant for texting and talking way too much.

Virtually guaranteed Rudy left a communications trail where he implicated Barr - even if he and Barr weren’t conspiring directly on them.

Trump tells Rudy not to worry about X, Y, or Z because Barr will handle it.

Rudy runs his mouth off like a spittle-spraying John Gotti at the Ravenite Club.

Barr knows Rudy is just that dumb and knows a fast-forward on the Rudy investigation brings the heat close...

...and suddenly, Barr is the one with the urgency to try to fire the prosecutor.

And with Trump’s narcissistic dysfunction, Barr couldn’t tap Trump to attempt the firing himself - even though only Trump even potentially has that authority - because Babyfingers doesn’t fire people directly and wouldn’t want the poll hit.

And all of that backs Barr into a place he hasn’t been before:

Desperate to make a move he lacks the authority to pull off and staring down the barrel of personal liability if he can’t.

I’ll bet all takers a beer that we’ll hear leaks within the week that:

1) Barr was personally implicated in SDNY’s investigation

and; 2) the belief in SDNY is that the first person Barr was trying to protect here was himself

Corrupt actors do desperate things when the walls start to close in.

The attempted ouster of Geoffrey Berman reeks of desperation. It was out of character for Barr. He is corrupt as the day is long but he finds a seam and works his corruption so it succeeds despite criticism.

This all feels a little Bernie Madoffy.

A corrupt guy at the top.

A tangled con too big to manage anymore.

Coconspirators running around feverishly trying to hide evidence; insulate themselves; and get out of the blast radius.

William Barr is the Frank Avellino of the story.

Avellino and his partner were Madoff’s complete co-conspirators for decades.

Recruited investors for the ponzi. Got massive kickbacks.

When Madoff went down, Avellino largely got off scot free. Never charged. Kept hundreds of millions.

Because he was able to stay outside of the blast radius.

Barr is smart enough to keep himself out of the legal jeopardy radius as well...

...were it not for the Rudy factor.

Rudy and his big mouth are the connective tissue between Trump’s corruption and his multiple henchmen... one of them smart; one of them a buffoon.

Barr absolutely thought he could pull a Frank Avellino. Stay clear even if it all falls down.

And then Rudy’s comms got subpoenaed.

Anywaaaaaay, I’m just gonna leave this here for a future look back.

Everyone assumes Barr is protecting Trump first and foremost.

I have a feeling, this time, he’s trying to protect himself... and we’ll soon get some leaked confirmation of that.

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