I've mostly stopped watching Barnes because his partner Viva surreptitiously left Canada without being honest with his audience first (while also leaving all the pro-convoy folks behind to fight battles themselves).

I don't necessarily think it's odd for lawyers to hold heterodox and defensive views regarding former clients like Jack Murphy.

There's likely a complex interplay between not wanting to accidentally break client-attorney privilege, not wanting to deep six the prospect of future legal work from said client along with not wanting to send a signal to the industry as well as prospective future clients that you are willing to throw past clients under the bus.