Barr vows to let special counsel investigation finish

Washington — Attorney general nominee William Barr said in written testimony released Monday that he would let Special Counsel Robert Mueller finish his investigation of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign without political interference and that it was “very important” Congress and the public be informed of the results.

The four-page testimony, released a day ahead of Barr’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, offered a preview of how he will address what his advisers expect to be the most challenging lines of inquiry. Trump’s nominee to be the top U.S. law enforcement official has occasionally been critical of the special counsel investigation and wrote in a memo to Justice Department leaders last year that Mueller’s apparent theory of possible obstruction of justice by the president was “fatally misconceived.”

Because Republicans have majority control in the Senate, Barr is likely to be confirmed even if Democrats are unpersuaded by his assurances on Mueller and unanimously oppose his nomination. Still, the hearing will allow for a public airing of two years of simmering tensions between the White House, the Justice Department and Congress over the future of the special counsel’s work and the broader independence of federal law enforcement.

Three Democrats on the panel are viewed as potential 2020 presidential candidates, and the hearing could offer an early glimpse into those lawmakers’ lines of attack against the Trump administration.

In his written testimony, Barr vowed to maintain the Justice Department’s independence and said that Trump — who has been publicly critical of the FBI and Justice Department — “sought no assurances, promises, or commitments from me of any kind, either express or implied, and I have not given him any, other than that I would run the Department with professionalism and integrity.”

Of the investigation into whether Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 election, Barr said it was “vitally important that the Special Counsel be allowed to complete his investigation.” He said he had confidence that Mueller, whom he considers a friend, will handle the matter properly.

“If confirmed, I will not permit partisan politics, personal interests, or any other improper consideration to interfere with this or any other investigation,” Barr said. “I will follow the Special Counsel regulations scrupulously and in good faith, and on my watch, Bob will be allowed to complete his work.”

Barr said it would be his goal to “provide as much transparency as I can consistent with the law” about the results of the investigation, though he offered no specific commitments about what would become public or be turned over to Congress.

Though Barr, a former attorney general, deputy attorney general and head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, unquestionably has the experience to again lead the department, Democratic lawmakers have said they are troubled by what he has said previously about the special counsel and related Justice Department matters.

In 2017, for example, Barr said that he would have liked to have seen “more balance” on Mueller’s team — which includes many lawyers who have given political contributions to Democrats — and he wrote that Trump’s decision to fire James Comey as FBI director was “quite understandable.”