Washington's version of multitasking creates multiple conflicts

In his opening remarks, committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said: "On the Republican side, we all agreed that Mr. Mueller should be allowed to do his job without interference."

How about giving Barr the same courtesy? Mueller should stop interfering and let him do his job. That's only fair -- and poetic.

Certainly, Mueller isn't the only person in Washington who is meddling in things that go way beyond his portfolio.

This whole thing started because Jeff Sessions, while serving as senator from Alabama, decided to moonlight as a top adviser to the Trump campaign. He also wanted to be attorney general, and Trump granted that wish. During the campaign, while acting as a representative for Trump, Sessions met more than once with the Russian ambassador. Those meetings ultimately forced him to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. That recusal led to the appointment of Mueller. And, well, you know the rest of the story.

Then there is James Comey, who sealed his fate when he angered both Republicans and Democrats by dabbling in politics leading up to the 2016 election.

While serving as FBI director, Comey also apparently wanted to go back to his Justice Department roots by playing prosecutor. He concluded that "no prosecutor" would have brought a case against Hillary Clinton for her reckless use of government email, a determination that wasn't his to make and which only fed the suspicion by conservatives that the very same FBI that was being super hard on Trump was also being extra soft on Clinton.

Finally, let's not forget Rod Rosenstein, who has now resigned. As deputy attorney general, he urged that Comey be fired and oversaw both the Trump-Russia and Clinton-email investigations. During the Senate hearing, Kamala Harris -- a 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful who grilled Barr and then sent out a fundraising email based on her performance -- insisted that Rosenstein should not have been in a position to help decide whether Trump could be charged with obstruction of justice for firing Comey since he was among those insisting that Comey be fired.

Harris nailed it. When people try to wear more than one hat, they cook up conflicts of interest. That's the real problem.

Teach your children well, folks. Tell them that the secret to a happy life is to always do their jobs -- and never try to do someone else's.

It's a valuable lesson that many folks in the nation's capital refuse to learn.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.