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argosciv ago

Actually, the information is technically not "scrubbed" -- at least not from the internet abroad.

Let's go over this.

Here is the edit in question:

https://archive.fo/Fp79B

As you can see, yes, the line referring to Barr's work at the CIA has been removed from the wiki entry's text. HOWEVER...

If you look at this current snapshot of the entry, under the external links section, you will see a link to the justice.gov (DOJ) site's "Meet The Attorney General" page:

https://archive.fo/STqei#selection-11245.0-11245.31

This page is updated with details on the incumbent Attorney General, here's a link to the current snapshot which does mention Barr's work with the CIA:

https://archive.fo/4CfGY

William P. Barr was born on May 23, 1950 in New York City. Mr. Barr received his A.B. in government from Columbia University in 1971 and his M.A. in government and Chinese studies in 1973. From 1973 to 1977, he served in the Central Intelligence Agency before receiving his J.D. with highest honors from George Washington University Law School in 1977.

While it is not as specific as the line removed from the wiki entry, the fact that he was with the CIA is not technically "scrubbed", it was just not sufficiently sourced. Previously, the only source for it was "Graham 1992, page 52" (still in use on that entry), with no indication/link as to what book/publication "Graham 1992" actually refers to.

After a bit of digging around, I was able to find Barr's personal bio on the DOJ site, which also mentions his CIA work but has been edited on February 28th, 2019, to omit the specific mention of him working with them as an analyst and assistant legislative counsel. However, this mention is still accessible via web.archive.org in all snapshots preceding February 28th, 2019 (archived via archive.fo for posterity):

https://archive.fo/KT3gt

Screenshot for further posterity: https://files.catbox.moe/tk4cm0.png

I'm sure if you can find a definitive, linked source for "China analyst" it could be added back to the wikipedia page without a problem. In any case, you can still edit the page to mention that he "worked for the CIA between 1973 and 1977 as an analyst and assistant legislative counsel", using the following web.archive.org link -- again though, a more specific, non-ambiguous source would be needed for the "China" part:

Use this to cite "from 1973 to 1977": justice.gov/ag/bio/barr-william-pelham via web.archive.org Feb 28, 2019

Use this to cite "worked at the CIA as an analyst and assistant legislative counsel": justice.gov/ag/bio/barr-william-pelham via web.archive.org Feb 27, 2019

WalnutSauceGoat ago

Finally some sanity in the discussion. Great post.