DITCHIN’ BARR EXAM
HOUSE DEMS HOWL AS AG SKIPS GRILL
Angry Democrats looking to grill Attorney General William Barr had to settle for raging at an empty chair after the nation’s top law man blew off a congressional hearing on the bombshell Mueller report.
Directing his outrage at an empty seat, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan) ripped into Barr — in absentia — for refusing to answer questions by congressional lawyers — and President Trump for stonewalling a wide range of investigations.
“We will defend the people’s right to know what is going on in this country,” Nadler said. “The administration may not dictate the terms of a hearing in this chamber.”
He angrily vowed to compel Barr to testify — and demanded that an unredacted copy of Mueller’s report be sent to Congress.
Nadler abruptly ended the hearing amid GOP howls of anger. Republican Rep. Doug Collins countered that Democrats were creating a “political circus.”
“The reason Bill Barr is not here today is because Democrats do not want him to be here,” Collins said.
Committee Democrats have vowed to issue a subpoena in an effort to force Barr to testify. Nadler later said he plans to give Barr a few days to reconsider his refusal to testify.
“The so-called attorney general is abrasive, evasive and unpersuasive,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn). “He is a disgrace to the office he holds.”
A parade of Democratic lawmakers derided Barr as Trump’s lackey. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) brought a bucket of KFC — a not so subtle commentary on the AG’s courage to sit for questioning.
“Chicken Barr should have showed up today. It’s a sad day in America,” Cohen quipped.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi jumped into the fray after the hearing, charging Barr lied to Congress and should be held accountable.
“What is deadly serious about it is the attorney general of the United States of America was not telling the truth to the Congress of the United States. That’s a crime,” she said.
Pelosi said neither Trump nor Barr should be “above the law.”
At a Senate hearing a day earlier, Barr defended his handling of the Mueller report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump subsequently tried to obstruct Mueller’s probe.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) tore into Barr for his assertion that Trump was “falsely accused” and his claim that a president can legally shut down an investigation if he believes he is being wrongly targeted.
“If this idea is how our nation is governed, we will no longer be the democracy Americans think we are,” Schumer wrote in the unusually harsh letter.
The Mueller report details a series of acts by Trump to impede the Russia probe but does not conclude whether those actions constitute obstruction of justice. It found, however, that there was no evidence that Trump and his campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Moscow.
Barr has come under fierce attack for the Trump-friendly summary he issued on March 24, which Trump seized on to declare he had been fully exonerated.
The House committee is just one of several panels that are investigating Trump, his presidency and his business interests.
A Justice Department spokeswoman said in a statement on Wednesday that the panel had placed “unprecedented and unnecessary” conditions on Barr’s testimony and called the questions posed by committee staff inappropriate.
A White House lawyer meanwhile said that Trump has the right to bar advisers from testifying to Congress even though they have cooperated with Mueller’s probe.