U.S. Senate committee delays vote on Trump's attorney general pick

[webfact]

U.S. Senate committee delays vote on Trump's attorney general pick

By Andy Sullivan

 

FILE PHOTO: William Barr testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be attorney general of the United States on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 15, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday postponed a vote on President Donald Trump's attorney general nominee, William Barr, as Democrats expressed concern that he might not make public a final report on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

 

The vote will now take place on Feb. 7, according to the committee.

 

Barr, who served as attorney general under Republican President George H.W. Bush in the early 1990s, is expected to win confirmation in the Republican-controlled Senate. But he must first win approval from the Judiciary Committee.

 

Delaying the committee's vote will give Democrats more time to question Barr about how he would handle Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

 

Barr criticized the investigation last year in a memo to the Justice Department but he told the committee in testimony two weeks ago that he would protect the probe from political interference and would allow Mueller to conclude his work.

 

Trump has repeatedly criticized the investigation as a "witch hunt" and denies any collusion with Moscow.

 

Barr has said he might not share all of details of Mueller's inquiry with the public, citing Justice Department regulations that encourage prosecutors not to criticise people who they do not end up charging with criminal behaviour.

 

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the committee, said she needed to know more about how Barr will handle the report.

 

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, the committee's chairman, said Barr's previous service as attorney general showed that he can be independent of the president.

 

"I trust the guy to make good judgments," he said.

 

The delayed vote almost certainly means that acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker will remain in charge of the department - and the Mueller investigation - for several more weeks. Whitaker, who was appointed by Trump in November, said on Monday that the investigation "is close to being completed."

 

Whitaker is expected to face tough questioning when he appears before the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Feb. 8. He has refused to recuse himself from oversight of Mueller's investigation even though he criticized it before joining the department.

 

Trump elevated Whitaker to the post after firing Jeff Sessions, who handed off oversight of the Mueller investigation to the department's No. 2 official after it emerged that he had not revealed the extent of his own contacts with Russia during the election.

 

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Additional reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Bill Trott and Lisa Shumaker)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-01-30

[Srikcir]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

"I trust the guy to make good judgments,"

That trust is unnecessary if the Senate passes legislation that assures that the Senate Intelligence Committee gets access to Mueller's finished report that goes to DOJ or something similar.

In turn Mueller might be tasked to investigate further any underdeveloped issues related to the Russian election interference.

[Trouble]

4 hours ago, Srikcir said:

That trust is unnecessary if the Senate passes legislation that assures that the Senate Intelligence Committee gets access to Mueller's finished report that goes to DOJ or something similar.

In turn Mueller might be tasked to investigate further any underdeveloped issues related to the Russian election interference.

Legislation to insure Senate Intelligence Committee gets access, I think not.  The public has funded and been waiting two years for this thing to finish.  Total public access is required.  Intelligence committee members would end up providing leaks showing only what is favorable or unfavorable to their political agenda.  Let's see the full report and go from there.  Naturally most Americans will not read the report as I am sure after two years of investigation it will contain crap no one cares about.  Bottom line for me is whether there is evidence of collusion between Trump and the Russians. I'm talking about things other than emails through Wikileaks, etc.  The report better show pretty conclusive evidence of actual collusion of people.  So far what has been seen looks like a few campaign hangers-on have tried to use their positions for their own benefit not actual collusion.  Of course the news agencies will only report those sections of the report that favor their take on Trump so in the end, I hope the whole things gets published for the public to read. 

[Srinivas]

you gotta love this quote

"Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the committee, said she needed to know more about how Barr will handle the report."

She has to confirm his nomination to find out how he will handle the report.

 

 

[Srinivas]

1 hour ago, Trouble said:

Legislation to insure Senate Intelligence Committee gets access, I think not.  The public has funded and been waiting two years for this thing to finish.  Total public access is required.  Intelligence committee members would end up providing leaks showing only what is favorable or unfavorable to their political agenda.  Let's see the full report and go from there.  Naturally most Americans will not read the report as I am sure after two years of investigation it will contain crap no one cares about.  Bottom line for me is whether there is evidence of collusion between Trump and the Russians. I'm talking about things other than emails through Wikileaks, etc.  The report better show pretty conclusive evidence of actual collusion of people.  So far what has been seen looks like a few campaign hangers-on have tried to use their positions for their own benefit not actual collusion.  Of course the news agencies will only report those sections of the report that favor their take on Trump so in the end, I hope the whole things gets published for the public to read. 

yep make the whole report public plus declassification of fisa applications,

unredacted fbi text msgs  and anything and everyone else connected.

 

[heybruce]

On 1/30/2019 at 11:46 AM, Srinivas said:

yep make the whole report public plus declassification of fisa applications,

unredacted fbi text msgs  and anything and everyone else connected.

 

".,.anything and everyone else connected."

 

I assume that includes the translator notes from Trump's private conversations with Putin, the Trump organization's financial dealings with Russia, etc.