The hashtag "ImpeachBarr" was trending on Twitter on Friday after the Justice Department announced Thursday night that it was opening a criminal inquiry into its own Russia probe.

After former special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE closed the official investigation months ago, a new criminal inquiry will proceed to figure out how the investigation of Russian interference into the 2016 presidential election and President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE’s alleged collusion with Russia began.

Attorney General William Barr Bill BarrFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Why a backdoor to encrypted data is detrimental to cybersecurity and data integrity FBI official who worked with Mueller raised doubts about Russia investigation MORE, who has closely reviewed how the department handled the Russia investigation, is under fire for shifting the administrative review to a criminal inquiry and allowing the prosecutor presiding over the inquiry, John DurhamJohn DurhamSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Barr's Russia investigator has put some focus on Clinton Foundation: report Top Democrats call for DOJ watchdog to probe Barr over possible 2020 election influence MORE, to subpoena for witness testimony and documents, put together a grand jury and file charges.

More than 69,000 people had tweeted using the hashtag as of Friday afternoon.

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Actor Jon Cryer tweeted, “Attorney General William Barr willfully misled the American public about the damning contents of the Mueller Report. He must be impeached and removed from office.”

Attorney General William Barr willfully misled the American public about the damning contents of the Mueller Report.



He must be impeached and removed from office. #ImpeachBarr https://t.co/hP3l5J6XDg — Jon Cryer (@MrJonCryer) October 25, 2019

Peter Daou, a Democratic strategist who has advised figures including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBloomberg rolls out M ad buy to boost Biden in Florida Hillicon Valley: Productivity, fatigue, cybersecurity emerge as top concerns amid pandemic | Facebook critics launch alternative oversight board | Google to temporarily bar election ads after polls close Trump pledges to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, designate KKK a terrorist group in pitch to Black voters MORE, tweeted that Barr is a “danger to US democracy.”

Hundreds of others slammed Barr over the probe and said he should be removed from office.

So William Barr secretly buried the criminal referrals filed against Donald Trump by his own appointees but is now opening up criminal investigations against the president’s perceived political enemies.



We no longer have a republic.



This is a dictatorship. — Zac Petkanas (@Zac_Petkanas) October 25, 2019

A Twitter spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.