In Senate testimony, Barr defends his handling of Mueller report.
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr defended himself Wednesday against withering criticism of his handling of the special counsel investigation as Democrats accused him of deceiving Congress and acting as a personal agent for President Trump rather than a steward of justice.
At a contentious hearing marked by a deep partisan divide, Barr denied misrepresenting the investigation’s conclusions despite a newly revealed letter by Special Counsel Robert Mueller protesting the initial summary of its findings. Barr dismissed the letter as “a bit snitty” and the controversy over it as “mind-bendingly bizarre.”
But in a series of aggressive interrogations, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed indignation and asserted that the attorney general had been “purposely misleading,” engaged in “masterful hairsplitting” and even “lied to Congress.” Several Democrats on the committee, elsewhere in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail called for Barr’s resignation or even impeachment.
The conflict escalated afterward when Barr announced that he would not show up for a parallel hearing Thursday before the Democratcontrolled House Judiciary Committee. Barr objected to the format of questioning, which would have included questioning by staff lawyers, not just lawmakers. Democrats may now opt to subpoena him, setting up a possible showdown in court.
“He is terrified of having to face a skilled attorney,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, the committee’s chairman.
In just 11 weeks in office, Barr has become a lightning rod for criticism for minimizing the findings of Mueller’s report and publicly embracing the president’s explanations of his actions. Senate Democrats took the opportunity Wednesday to excoriate him before a national television audience.
“Mr. Barr, now the American people know that you are no different from Rudy Giuliani or Kellyanne Conway or any of the other people who sacrifice their once decent reputation for the grifter and liar who sits in the Oval Office,” Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, told him, likening the attorney general to the president’s personal lawyer and White House counselor.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., and the committee chairman, scolded Hirono for being unfair. “You slandered this man from top to bottom,” he said.
Democrats skipped over the fact that Mueller accused Trump of no crime and instead focused on the evidence within his report that they still saw as proof of wrongdoing. Republicans dismissed the report’s damning elements and shifted attention to what Trump has called the actual scandal, the fact that he was investigated in the first place.