Barr defends federal response to protests
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr defended the aggressive federal law enforcement response to civil unrest in America as he testified for the first time before the House Judiciary Committee, pushing back against angry, skeptical Democrats who said President Donald Trump’s administration is unconstitutionally suppressing dissent.
The hearing highlighted the wide election-year gulf between the two parties on police brutality and systemic racism in law enforcement. Massive protests have sparked unrest across the nation following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, and calls for police reform are growing louder.
But Mr. Barr said “violent rioters and anarchists have hijacked legitimate protests” and argued the violence taking place in Portland, Ore., and other cities is disconnected from Floyd’s killing, which he called a “horrible” event that prompted a necessary national reckoning on the relationship between the Black community and law enforcement. But he also said there was no systemic racism in law enforcement.
“Largely absent from these scenes of destruction are even superficial attempts by the rioters to connect their actions to George Floyd’s death or any legitimate call for reform,” Mr. Barr said of the Portland protests.
The hearing marks Mr. Barr’s first appearance before the committee after 18 months in office, bringing him face-to-face with the panel that voted last year to hold him in contempt and is holding hearings on what Democrats say is politicization of the Justice Department under his watch. But little new ground was uncovered; fuming Democrats often used their five minutes to lay out their frustrations and cut Mr. Barr off as he tried to answer questions.
The hearing comes during a tumultuous stretch in which Mr. Barr has taken actions cheered by President Donald Trump but condemned by Democrats and other critics. Among them: the Justice Department’s decision to drop the prosecution of former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn and Mr. Barr’s urging for a more lenient sentence for Trump ally Roger Stone, a move that prompted the entire trial team’s departure. Mr. Trump later commuted the sentence entirely.
The top Republican on the panel, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, used his opening statement to show an eightminute video that spliced together images of violence by protesters around the country. Democrats retorted with a video of their own of more peaceful protesters, shown by Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline.
“We fought for democracy, for the right to speak freely, and you are attempting to take that away,” Mr. Cicilline told Mr. Barr. “What’s worse, you’re doing it for the sole purpose of furthering the president’s political agenda and generating footage for Trump campaign commercials.”