Barr cancels second day of testimony, escalating battle with U.S. Congress

By Andy Sullivan and Sarah N. Lynch

 

U.S. Attorney General William Barr speaks at a news conference to discuss Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, in Washington, U.S., April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday canceled plans to testify before the House of Representatives about his handling of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, further inflaming tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump and Democrats in Congress.

 

Barr was due to face the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, but pulled out after the two sides were unable to agree on the format for the hearing.

 

"It's simply part of the administration's complete stonewalling of Congress," Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler told reporters.

 

Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said Nadler's proposal to have committee lawyers question Barr was "unprecedented and unnecessary," saying questions should come from lawmakers.

 

The Justice Department also said on Wednesday it would not comply with a Nadler-issued subpoena seeking an unredacted version of Mueller's report and underlying investigative files from the probe.

 

Earlier on Wednesday, Barr spent more than four hours before the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee where he fended off Democratic criticism of his decision to clear Trump of criminal obstruction of justice and faulted Special Counsel Robert Mueller for not reaching a conclusion of his own on the issue.

 

In his first congressional testimony since releasing a redacted version of Mueller's report on April 18, Barr also dismissed Mueller's complaints that he initially disclosed the special counsel's conclusions on March 24 in an incomplete way that caused public confusion.

 

Illustrating tensions between the two men, Barr described as "a bit snitty" a March 27 letter from Mueller in which the special counsel urged him to release broader summaries of his findings - a step Barr rejected. Trump seized on Barr's March 24 letter to declare that he had been fully exonerated.

Several Democrats on the Senate committee called for Barr's resignation.

 

Democrats have accused Barr of trying to protect the Republican president, who is seeking re-election next year. They pressed Barr on why he decided two days after receiving the 448-page document from Mueller in March to conclude that Trump had not unlawfully sought to obstruct the 22-month investigation.

 

"I don't think the government had a prosecutable case," Barr said.

 

'ALLEGATIONS NOW PROVEN FALSE'

The report detailed extensive contacts between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Moscow and the campaign's expectation that it would benefit from Russia's actions, which included hacking and propaganda to boost Trump and harm Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The report also detailed a series of actions Trump took to try to impede the investigation.

 

Mueller, a former FBI director, concluded there was insufficient evidence to show a criminal conspiracy and opted not to make a conclusion on whether Trump committed obstruction of justice, but pointedly did not exonerate him. Barr has said he and Rod Rosenstein, the Justice Department's No. 2 official, then determined there was not enough evidence to charge Trump with obstruction.

 

Barr often appeared to excuse or rationalize Trump's conduct, asserting that the president may not necessarily have been trying to derail Mueller's investigation.

 

Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono told Barr that he had sacrificed a "once-decent reputation for the grifter and liar that sits in the Oval Office."

 

Senator Lindsey Graham, the committee's Republican chairman, rushed to Barr's defense, telling Hirono: "You've slandered this man."

 

Trump had been unfairly smeared, Barr said, by suspicions he had collaborated with Russia in the election. "Two years of his administration have been dominated by the allegations that have now been proven false. To listen to some of the rhetoric, you would think that the Mueller report had found the opposite," Barr said.

 

Barr was critical of Mueller for not reaching a conclusion himself on whether Trump obstructed the probe.

 

"I think that if he felt that he shouldn't go down the path of making a traditional prosecutorial decision, then he shouldn't have investigated," Barr said.

 

Barr was asked about the report's finding that Trump directed then-White House counsel Don McGahn in June 2017 to tell Rosenstein that Mueller had conflicts of interest and must be removed. McGahn did not carry out the order. Rosenstein had appointed Mueller the prior month.

 

Barr, appointed by Trump after the president fired his predecessor, Jeff Sessions, seemed to minimize the incident and said Trump believed "he never outright directed the firing of Mueller." Trump could have presumably appointed someone else to do the job after Mueller was fired, he said.

 

"We did not think in this case that the government could show corrupt intent," Barr said.

 

'INTENTION WAS VERY CLEAR'

Democrats on the panel were unconvinced.

 

"I think the president's intention was very clear. He wanted this to end," Senator Dick Durbin said.

 

Under questioning by Democratic Senator Kamala Harris, a 2020 presidential candidate, Barr acknowledged he did not review the investigation's underlying evidence before deciding to clear Trump of obstruction.

 

Barr disputed the view that Mueller was handing the baton to Congress for possible impeachment proceedings. "That would be very inappropriate," Barr said. "That's not what the Justice Department does."

 

The Democratic-controlled House would start any such impeachment effort, but Trump could not be removed from office without approval by a two-thirds majority in the Republican-controlled Senate.

 

Democrats also accused Barr of misleading Congress, by saying in April that he did not know whether Mueller agreed with his characterization of the report - failing to mention Mueller's March 27 letter that Barr's initial summary did not "fully capture the context, nature and substance of this Office's work."

 

Barr testified that Mueller was unhappy with the way the conclusions were being characterized in the media, not his account of the conclusions, although Mueller's letter did not mention media coverage.

 

"The letter is a bit snitty," Barr said, using a word meaning disagreeably ill-tempered, "and I think it was probably written by a member of his staff."

 

Several Democrats demanded that Mueller testify before the committee, but Graham ruled that out.

 

Committee Republicans did not focus on Trump's conduct but rather on what they saw as the FBI's improper surveillance during the 2016 race of Trump aides they suspected of being Russian agents, as well as on the Kremlin's election meddling.

 

Barr indicated that to him, the matter was closed.

 

"The report is now in the hands of the American people," he said. "We're out of it. We have to stop using the criminal justice system as a political weapon."

 

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan, Sarah N. Lynch and David Morgan; Additional reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Writing by Andy Sullivan and James Oliphant; Editing by Will Dunham and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-05-02

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Republicans, who employed attorneys to question a witness during Kavanaugh’s hearings now get all squirmy when Barr is to be grilled by an attorney.

 

Yep, that’ll fly.

 

Meanwhile news is breaking of evidence that Barr prematurely shutdown the SC investigation, and that hot on the heals of Mueller’s letter (and evidence of Barr committing perjury).

 

Well yes Barr has reason to be very afraid of being called before Congress.

 

The mauling he received yesterday from Kamala Harris and his complete inability to hold up under questioning is an indication of how scared he needs to be.

The nation's top lawyer is afraid of lawyers. You couldn't make this stuff up. But of course he's not the nation's lawyer. He's 45's lackey. Reputation ruined forever. He needs to resign and go visit his grandchildren.

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This hearing is nothing more than grandstanding by Dems...

 

Barr has already answered their questions twice...the Mueller report is the final conclusion...the entire unredacted report is available to members of Congress...not one Dem has bothered to even look at it!

 

The Dems grilling Barr are many attorneys themselves...it is insulting to them to say they are incapable of doing their job.

 

Barr has more important work to do...like going after the politicized Dems in the Justice dept and FBI who used there position to try to bring down an elected President...

57 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

 

57 minutes ago, webfact said:

Illustrating tensions between the two men, Barr described as "a bit snitty" a March 27 letter from Mueller in which the special counsel urged him to release broader summaries of his findings - a step Barr rejected.

 

The very fact that any member of the Dept. of Justice, esp. a very experienced straight arrow like Mueller, would put his name to a "snitty" letter to the Attorney General of the USA, the chief law enforcement officer of the land, means a lot.

 

Mueller must have thought he had very good cause.

 

Also:

 

57 minutes ago, webfact said:

Under questioning by Democratic Senator Kamala Harris, a 2020 presidential candidate, Barr acknowledged he did not review the investigation's underlying evidence before deciding to clear Trump of obstruction.  [Bold added.]

 

Geez Mr. Attorney General, was this not important enough to review?  There were more than a few people waiting to hear about this.  Inexcusable!

Yup that’s Donald’s lap dog Kamala absoulity spanked him she’s tough!and smart!so now he won’t sit for the house lol go figure wright him up for contempt I’m glad mr muller protected his integrity and is keeping himself above this scandal 

1 hour ago, Puchaiyank said:

the entire unredacted report is available to members of Congress

You sure?

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

but if he had

Yes, but he hadn't. So I think we can end this discussion right here. Thakkar's assertion was false - end of.

 I realize it is open season on Trump here, but in reality we should criticize people based on what they did, not on what they could have done but didn't. 

4 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Yes, but he hadn't. So I think we can end this discussion right here. Thakkar's assertion was false - end of.

 I realize it is open season on Trump here, but in reality we should criticize people based on what they did, not on what they could have done but didn't. 

Sure but it's common knowledge that many of the "trump" loyalist republicans say such things behind closed doors. That "trump" is an unfit president is painfully obvious. 

7 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Yes, but he hadn't. So I think we can end this discussion right here. Thakkar's assertion was false - end of.

 I realize it is open season on Trump here, but in reality we should criticize people based on what they did, not on what they could have done but didn't. 

Nice bit of deflection TDC.

 

Of more interest is the bare faced lies Graham offered the nation during his opening speech and the revelation that he’s not actually bothered to read the Mueller report.

 

All History now.

 

The topic is Barr’s refusal to show up in front of Congress, the AG parading his contempt of Congress.

 

Nadler is going to nail him.

campaign had multiple inappropriate and suspicious contacts with a foreign adversary that was interfering in an election and then trying—though failing—to obstruct an investigation into that matter...

 

If you are referring Hillary's obstruction...she was wildly successful... 

2 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

campaign had multiple inappropriate and suspicious contacts with a foreign adversary that was interfering in an election and then trying—though failing—to obstruct an investigation into that matter...

 

If you are referring Hillary's obstruction...she was wildly successful... 

But but but ..... Hillary!

43 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Sure but it's common knowledge that many of the "trump" loyalist republicans say such things behind closed doors. That "trump" is an unfit president is painfully obvious. 

Hope you are not one of the posters who say "but, but, Hillary" when anyone tries to point out that Democrats do worse.

Haha. What good timing! After I posted I saw Chompers post directly before mine. How glorious!

6 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

Haha. What good timing! After I posted I saw Chompers post directly before mine. How glorious!

Which was there before you posted.

7 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

Hope you are not one of the posters who say "but, but, Hillary" when anyone tries to point out that Democrats do worse.

 

Why do you hope that?

 

Dishonest debating tactics, such as tu quoque, deserve to be pointed out.

If Barr doesn't show up, charge him with contempt of Congress. Lock him up until he does his Constitutionally required duty aka testify before house which has duty of oversight.

Can't claim any "executive privilege" or other claim as he went to Congressional senate hearing today.

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

Which was there before you posted.

Yes, but I could not see it as I was directly posting from a post on an earlier page.

 

Ya gotta be some kind of stupid to still believe The president was guilty of collusion or obstruction when you have the best investigators in the USA the best lawyers and an almost 3-year investigation by Trump haters and with all the witnesses and interviews, 30 million bucks and a team that was just gagging to find some credible evidence to show PROOF that trump obstructed or colluded.

They found NOTHING that would hold up in a court of law

NOTHING

and no matter how you want to twist it TRUMP WAS CLEARED and if Mueller had ANYTHING that he could of used to get Trump you can bet your bottom dollar he would have recommended impeachment.

BUT HE FOUND DIDDLY SQUAT 

Any normal sane person would take the THREE YEAR findings of the BEST investigators in the USA the FBi CIA DOJ and accept that if there was something they would of found it.

The only people now that look like complete idiots are Democrats who just can't give it up looking for SOMETHING but still cannot accept it is an always has been a nothing  burger.

I must admit I get much satisfaction watching the show and seeing Trump just keep on winning just like he said he would,

Can't wait to see what Barr comes up in his investigations into the Spys who spied on Trump 

#TRUMP2020 #KEEPAMERICAGREAT  

25 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

Haha. What good timing! After I posted I saw Chompers post directly before mine. How glorious!

What because you think barking Hillary makes you smart.

 

Doh! 

10 minutes ago, Hogs said:

Ya gotta be some kind of stupid to still believe The president was guilty of collusion or obstruction when you have the best investigators in the USA the best lawyers and an almost 3-year investigation by Trump haters and with all the witnesses and interviews, 30 million bucks and a team that was just gagging to find some credible evidence to show PROOF that trump obstructed or colluded.

They found NOTHING that would hold up in a court of law

NOTHING

and no matter how you want to twist it TRUMP WAS CLEARED and if Mueller had ANYTHING that he could of used to get Trump you can bet your bottom dollar he would have recommended impeachment.

BUT HE FOUND DIDDLY SQUAT 

Any normal sane person would take the THREE YEAR findings of the BEST investigators in the USA the FBi CIA DOJ and accept that if there was something they would of found it.

The only people now that look like complete idiots are Democrats who just can't give it up looking for SOMETHING but still cannot accept it is an always has been a nothing  burger.

I must admit I get much satisfaction watching the show and seeing Trump just keep on winning just like he said he would,

Can't wait to see what Barr comes up in his investigations into the Spys who spied on Trump 

#TRUMP2020 #KEEPAMERICAGREAT  

I’m not at all sure where you are getting your news from, but I suggest you go straight to the source and read Mueller’s report.

 

It’ll give you a short cut back to reality.

Barr is a very bad attorney general, and appears to be a highly compromised individual. He is selling the nation down the river, for his Master. Another obedient devotee. Hope he gets removed from office. The nation does not deserve such partiality and incompetence. Surely they can find someone with more talent. 

 

It's obvious that people who are screaming "TRUMP WAS CLEARED" have not read the report.  At 488 pages, I can't say that I blame them.  But at least read Mueller's executive summaries to each volume of the report.  That is only fifteen pages long and is still quite troubling.

 

Full Text of the Mueller Report's Executive Summaries

 

And if you can't even manage that, read the conclusion.

 

"Because we determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment, we did not draw ultimate conclusions about the President's conduct. The evidence we obtained about the President's actions and intent presents difficult issues that would need to be resolved if we were making a traditional prosecutorial judgment. At the same time, if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

 

And if you aren't interested in even that, you're probably Donald Trump.

4 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

This hearing is nothing more than grandstanding by Dems...

 

Barr has already answered their questions twice...the Mueller report is the final conclusion...the entire unredacted report is available to members of Congress...not one Dem has bothered to even look at it!

 

The Dems grilling Barr are many attorneys themselves...it is insulting to them to say they are incapable of doing their job.

 

Barr has more important work to do...like going after the politicized Dems in the Justice dept and FBI who used there position to try to bring down an elected President...

Care to link to a bonafide source showing where all of Congress has access to the unredacted report? Nonsense — ONLY 12 members of Congress have seen a "less-redacted" (as in still redacted) Mueller report. Barr has been caught with his pants down, and by failing to appear before Congress, which has full oversight powers, is in contempt. Hopefully Nadler will tighten the screws on Trump's personal lawyer (what used to be call the Attorney General).
FYI: the Mueller report is NOT a conclusion, nor was it ever meant to be. Hence his wording, quote: “The evidence we obtained about the President’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it ALSO DOES NOT EXONERATE HIM."

1 hour ago, Puchaiyank said:

campaign had multiple inappropriate and suspicious contacts with a foreign adversary that was interfering in an election and then trying—though failing—to obstruct an investigation into that matter...

 

If you are referring Hillary's obstruction...she was wildly successful... 

Read the Mueller report — if you dare. It just might knock you out of your Trump cultist stupor. If it does, you can thank me later.

1 hour ago, DoctorG said:

Yes, but I could not see it as I was directly posting from a post on an earlier page.

 

Yes, you're quite rightly proud and obviously a genius!

1 hour ago, Hogs said:

Ya gotta be some kind of stupid to still believe The president was guilty of collusion or obstruction when you have the best investigators in the USA the best lawyers and an almost 3-year investigation by Trump haters and with all the witnesses and interviews, 30 million bucks and a team that was just gagging to find some credible evidence to show PROOF that trump obstructed or colluded.

They found NOTHING that would hold up in a court of law

NOTHING

and no matter how you want to twist it TRUMP WAS CLEARED and if Mueller had ANYTHING that he could of used to get Trump you can bet your bottom dollar he would have recommended impeachment.

BUT HE FOUND DIDDLY SQUAT 

Any normal sane person would take the THREE YEAR findings of the BEST investigators in the USA the FBi CIA DOJ and accept that if there was something they would of found it.

The only people now that look like complete idiots are Democrats who just can't give it up looking for SOMETHING but still cannot accept it is an always has been a nothing  burger.

I must admit I get much satisfaction watching the show and seeing Trump just keep on winning just like he said he would,

Can't wait to see what Barr comes up in his investigations into the Spys who spied on Trump 

#TRUMP2020 #KEEPAMERICAGREAT  

A great example of how the "trump" hard core base doesn't grow or shrink.

Such a screed would persuade no one but no person writing such a screed is persuadable.

1 hour ago, Hogs said:

Ya gotta be some kind of stupid to still believe The president was guilty of collusion or obstruction when you have the best investigators in the USA the best lawyers and an almost 3-year investigation by Trump haters and with all the witnesses and interviews, 30 million bucks and a team that was just gagging to find some credible evidence to show PROOF that trump obstructed or colluded.

They found NOTHING that would hold up in a court of law

NOTHING...

<snip>, or, “humina, humina, humina...” —I’m paraphrasing here.

 

If you cannot be bothered to read the Mueller Report for fear of what you might find there, read at least the short letter Mueller sent to Barr after Barr released his misleading summery. The letter is now public:

 

https://games-cdn.washingtonpost.com/notes/prod/default/documents/72509902-0d00-41e8-9795-908605cdcc03/note/643498f3-abea-4f98-a140-68032b6e80d7.pdf

 

In it, Mueller says that Barr (in his summery) “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of Mueller’s work.

 

“Context, nature, and substance” is in fact EVERYTHING. Mueller is saying that Barr lied to the American people. 

 

If you Trump supporters enjoy being lied to just to claim some warped kind of “win” then have at it. But know that you are only fooling yourselves.

Elections have consequences,

 

Mr. Trump won in 2016.The GOP won the Senate in the 2018 midterms,with the Senate confirming  the office of Attorney General.

The Dems and MSM  are still resisting both these official  actions!

 

Mr. Barr is the chief prosecutor of the USA and supervisor of the mueller matter.

Mr. Barr concluded the Mueller matter is over once he sent his report in to him. 

 

Mr. Barr was called a liar today by one of the dem senators! 

Mr. Graham (head of the hearing) said the dems were slandering Mr. Barr today.

Somebody in the doj, yesterday, leaked(illegal) a memo in it demanding that Barr put out summaries or as he put it bits and pieces to the media but declined and promised to put the report out in its entirety minus redactions.  

Before or after the hearing the dems asked Horowitz (inspector General) who is investigating the FISA warrant abuse,to investigate Mr. Barr,good luck with that!

He also said months ago in his confirmation hearing he would not be intimidated by congress,the POTUS or by news people opinions! 

 

 As it stands,the  Barr report concluded the Mueller matter. The dems demanded that Mr. Barr recuse himself from other investigations spun off of the Mueller matter,he declined and said his responsibility of being the AG was to be a supervisor of other investigations! The dems last hope is to win in the 2020 election! Good luck with that!

 

Mr. Barr doubled down on the word spying today while talking about reviewing what led up to that and has been consulting with Horowitz(fisa  abuse) in the last few weeks.I think when the IG has finished, it  will result in Mr. Barr appointing a SP!