Attorney General Barr Faced Insults From Democrats

On April 9, 2019, Attorney General William Barr was scheduled to testify for the Department of Justice (DOJ) before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and related agencies. This testimony was in regards to the budget.

Instead, Barr was the subject of accusations and insults from Democrats regarding the release of the Mueller Report as well as its conclusion. Nonetheless, Barr remained calm, cool, and collected throughout the hearing.

Hopefully we’ll have some answers… on the issue of the FISA warrants Attorney General Barr

Of course, Democrats wanted answers from Barr about the Mueller Report. Yet, Chairman Rep. Serrano implied the DOJ was lacking in defending civil rights, disability rights, and preventing discrimination. Then, Serrano stated, “There’s a clear animus toward policies protecting individual health care, voting rights, access to education, and much, much more.” Next, Serrano described the Mueller Report as “The elephant in the room.”

Consequently, Serrano took aim at Barr’s letter. He referenced a New York Times article which claimed members of the Special Counsel were unhappy with Barr’s summary. Finally, Serrano maintained that not releasing the full report would strike a serious blow to our system and Democracy.

Democrats Continued to Accuse and Insult the Attorney General

On the other hand, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) covered topics concerning the security and issues affecting communities across America. Furthermore, Aderholt expressed interest in how the DOJ planned to address the humanitarian and security crisis at the border among other immigration issues. Thus, Aderholt, like most of the other Republicans, completely avoided the Mueller Report Hysteria.

In spite of Barr’s reputation, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) accused and criticized his conclusion of the Mueller Report. First, Lowey stated that Barr making a decision in under 48 hours based on a 22-month investigation with hundreds of documents seemed suspicious. Then, Lowey said, “All we have is your four-page summary which seems to cherry pick from the report to draw the most favorable conclusion for the president.” Finally, Lowey stated that Barr’s letter raised more questions than answers and concluded by saying the budget proposed was unacceptable.

Barr Stands firm, Answers Questions

Barr delivered his opening statement, his statement speaks for itself. You can watch it in the clip above, from C-SPAN. The questions by Serrano and other Democrats were meant to drill Barr about the Mueller Report. However, Barr was prepared. The exchanges did not progress as planned for Democrats.

For instance, Rep. Serrano asked Barr if the Special Counsel helped prepare his letter to Congress dated March 24th. To begin with, Barr stated, the Special Counsel did not help to prepare the letters from the 24th or the 29th. Further, Barr said, the Special Counsel was asked to review the letters, but they declined. This shut down Serrano because his time was up. Likewise, AG Barr dropped the hammer on Rep Lowey’s accusations and line of questions about the Mueller Report.

Rep. @NitaLowey asks if White House saw Mueller report.



Attorney General William Barr: "I've said what I'm going to say about the report today…I'm not going to say anything more about it until the report is out and everyone's had a look at it." pic.twitter.com/IFMinbT8hm — CSPAN (@cspan) April 9, 2019 Archive.is

What We Learned From Barr’s Testimony

At the same time, Rep. Aderholt asked Barr if he would find out how the FISA court was used to start the investigation into the Trump campaign. In addition, he wanted to know whether there was any wrongdoing. This brought forth some important answers.

For instance, Barr stated, “The Office of the Inspector General has a pending investigation of the FISA process in the Russia investigation. I expect that will be complete in probably May or June, I am told.” In addition, Barr stated, “So hopefully we’ll have some answers from Inspector General Horowitz on the issue of the FISA warrants.” Which lead Barr into saying he would investigate the abuse and find out who was responsible.

Most importantly, Barr stated that he expects to release the redacted report within a week to the public. Additionally, the Inspector General FISA abuse investigation should be wrapped up by June. Moreover, Barr will investigate abuse of the FISA court and find out who was responsible. Concurrently, Barr will review referrals from Congress into how the system was abused by the DOJ, individual and other agencies. Lastly, Barr claimed he will hold those responsible accountable.