Washington (CNN) Hawaii Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono told Attorney General William Barr to his face Wednesday that he should resign and accused the nation's top law enforcement official of lying to Congress.

"Mr. Barr, now the American people know that you are no different from Rudy Giuliani or Kellyanne Conway or any of the other people who sacrificed their once decent reputation for the grifter and liar who sits in the Oval Office," Hirono said, referring to two of President Donald Trump's top media surrogates.

At Barr's appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Hirono took issue with Barr's handling of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and report in a lengthy diatribe. Hirono's speech directly to Barr recalled previous moments for the Hawaii Democrat, whose cutting questioning of the confirmation of now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh drew considerable attention

Hirono on Wednesday pointed to exchanges Barr had with members of Congress where Barr said he did not know what objections Mueller's team had with his March 24 letter on the investigation's findings and if Mueller supported his conclusions.

"You lied to Congress," Hirono said.

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