Thread 1/4 I think AG Barr was given an opportunity to end his career the way he had hoped to start it:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-william-p-barr-delivers-keynote-address-department-justices-china

Excerpt from AG Barr’s Key Note Address at DOJ’s China Initiative Conference 2-26-2020:

2/4 “Thank you, Jim Lewis, for that kind introduction, and thank you for hosting this event. My original career goal was to go into the CIA as a China expert, and so I focused on Chinese studies for my BA and MA at Columbia University.  I remember in one of my Government classes,

3/4 we were having a debate as to which foreign adversary posed the greatest long-term threat – Russia or China.
I recall the observation of one of my classmates in arguing that it was China that posed the greatest threat. He said, “Russia wants to conquer the world.”

4/4 We can deal with that. China wants to own the world. That is going to be more challenging to deal with.”  There was a certain truth in that.”