House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday that Attorney General William Barr lied to Congress, something she noted would be a “crime.” The Department of Justice has called these accusations “baseless,” “reckless,” “irresponsible,” and “false.”

On Wednesday, Barr testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He had been asked to answer questions related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report on the investigation into whether or not the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

During the hearing, Senate Democrats accused Barr of covering for President Donald Trump instead of respecting the integrity of the investigation. Barr told the committee that Trump “fully cooperated with Mueller’s investigation,” a point Democrats contested since Trump himself refused to be interviewed by Mueller. Also under scrutiny was Barr’s summary of the Mueller report, which Mueller had said in a letter did not adequately reflect his results. The full Mueller report, with redactions, was released more than three weeks after Barr’s summary.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, told Barr in the hearing that “America deserves better” than him and that he “should resign.”

Barr, who had appeared before the Senate committee voluntarily, opted not to return for a second day of questioning on Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee. So that hearing proceeded without Barr, with a ceramic chicken sitting on the table near where he would have sat — a mocking gesture from Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.

While several Democratic leaders have accused Barr of going out of his way to defend Trump, Pelosi took things one step further.

“What is deadly serious about it is the attorney general of the United States of America is not telling the truth to the Congress of the United States. That’s a crime,” she said.

“He lied to Congress. If anybody else did that, it would be considered a crime. Nobody is above the law.”

But the DOJ scoffed at Pelosi’s accusations. Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec told CNBC that Pelosi’s “baseless attack on the Attorney General” was “reckless, irresponsible and false.” Conservative Review has reached out to the Department of Justice for further comment.