Justice officials testify on politicization under Barr

WASHINGTON — Two Justice Department officials delivered stinging congressional testimony Wednesday, accusing political appointees of intervening in criminal and antitrust cases to serve the personal interests of President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr.

Aaron Zelinsky, a career prosecutor who worked on the Russia investigation, told the House Judiciary Committee that senior law enforcement officials intervened to seek a more lenient prison sentence for Trump’s longtime friend Roger Stone for political reasons. And John Elias, a senior career official in the antitrust division, charged that supervisors improperly used their powers to investigate the marijuana industry and a deal between California and four major automakers.

It was highly unusual for current officials to testify before Congress and criticize department leadership. Democrats say the hearing is part of a broader investigation into Barr’s leadership of the department — work that has taken on added relevance in recent days, after Trump agreed to fire the federal prosecutor in Manhattan who has led several investigations into his associates.

A department spokeswoman, Kerri Kupec, pushed back on Zelinsky’s account, saying that Barr determined that the sentencing recommendation for Stone was “excessive and inconsistent with similar cases.” She added that Zelinsky’s testimony was “based on his own interpretation of events and hearsay [at best], not firsthand knowledge.”

Donald Ayer, who was deputy attorney general under President George H.W. Bush before he was ousted and replaced by Barr in that role in 1990, also testified, saying that the actions alleged by the whistleblowers “are totally undermining public trust in the system.”