Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Dems grill Whitaker over Mueller
Whitaker says he has not interfered in Mueller’s work
Acting attorney general sparred for hours with Congress, says he has not interfered in the Russia probe.
— Matthew Whitaker, in his first and likely last appearance before Congress as acting attorney general, sparred for hours Friday with Democrats who sternly warned him not to impede special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Whitaker, who took command of the Justice Department in November and is likely to leave the job next week with the expected confirmation of William Barr to serve as attorney general, told members of the House Judiciary Committee that he had not influenced Mueller’s probe in any way, and had not spoken to President Donald Trump about the investigation since his appointment.
In exchanges with Democrats who questioned his credentials, judgment and integrity, Whitaker appeared to aggravate lawmakers when he refused to disagree with the president’s characterization of Mueller’s probe as a “witch hunt.”
“It would be inappropriate for me to talk about an ongoing investigation,” Whitaker said several times when asked if he thought Mueller’s work matched that description.
Senior law enforcement officials have denied Mueller’s probe is a witch hunt, and Democrats responded aggressively after Whitaker’s refusal to do the same.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., called the special counsel’s work an important national security investigation, saying “the fact that people suggest otherwise comes dangerously close to providing aid and comfort to the enemy.”
Jeffries then urged Whitaker not to try to steer the case in his remaining days on the job.
“Keep your hands off the Mueller investigation,” Jeffries said.
From the hearing’s opening minutes, Whitaker was pressed by Democrats to explain his role in overseeing Mueller’s investigaWASHINGTON tion of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
He made clear at the outset that he would not talk about his conversations with Trump — which led quickly to a contentious exchange with the committee’s chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.
“There has been no change in the overall management of the special counsel investigation,” Whitaker said in his prepared remarks. “I have and will continue to manage this investigation in a manner that is consistent with the governing regulations.”
Nadler repeatedly pressed Whitaker to explain what he has been told about the special counsel investigation, and what he has told others.
“I have not talked to the president of the United States about the special counsel’s investigation,” Whitaker said, adding that he also hasn’t talked to White House officials about the inquiry.
Whitaker would not say how often he has been briefed on the investigation.
As Nadler kept insisting Whitaker say whether he had approved investigative steps taken by Mueller, the acting attorney general tried to dodge the question.
“Mr. Chairman, I see that your five minutes is up,” Whitaker said, prompting laughter in the hearing room, as the witness tried to turn the tables on his inquisitor. In congressional hearings, committee chairmen control the time for questions, not other lawmakers or the witnesses.
Eventually, Whitaker relented and answered Nadler’s question.
“We have followed the special counsel’s regulations to a ‘T.’ There has been no event, no decision, that has required me to take any action, and I have not interfered in any way with the special counsel’s investigation,” Whitaker said.
The committee’s top Republican, Rep. Douglas Collins of Georgia said the hearing “was nothing more than character assassination,” and accused Democrats of political grandstanding.
“This hearing is pointless!” he said.
Whitaker sparred almost continuously with Democrats on the panel over the special counsel investigation involving the president, while Republicans mostly asked him about administration policy.
Under intense questioning about his interactions with Trump, Whitaker denied a media report that the president once berated him after Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty and implicated the president.
“No, he did not,” Whitaker answered after several attempts to dodge the question. He also said no one speaking on behalf of the president had berated him either.
But under aggressive questioning from Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., Whitaker notably declined to say whether he had ever talked with Trump about the Cohen case or the federal prosecutors in Manhattan who handled it.
“I am not going to discuss my private conversations with the president of the United States. No matter what the question is,” Whitaker said.
Whitaker sought to clarify that when he said last month that Mueller’s probe was “close to being completed,” he was not necessarily speaking for Mueller, who was “going to finish his investigation when he wants to finish his investigation.”