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‘Will not be bullied’: Trump Attorney General nominee at confirmation hearings
William Barr is testifying before US Senate as President Trump’s nominee for the position of attorney general, the top law enforcement office in the country, which he had held once before in the administration of President George H W Bush in the early 1990s.
William Barr, the nominee for US attorney general, assured senators at his confirmation hearing Tuesday he will allow Special Counsel Robert Mueller to complete the Russia probe and will not shut it down if instructed by the president, and, finally, will not be bullied.
Barr was peppered with questions from both sides on his position regarding the special counsel’s probe, which he had been critical of earlier, and faced questions on who he would deal with President Donald Trump, who had forced Jeff Sessions, the previous attorney general, to quit by publicly berating him and humiliating him for recusing himself from the Russian meddling probe that has dogged the presidency.
“I believe it is in the best interest of everyone ... that this matter be resolved by allowing the special counsel to complete his work,” he said in his prepared remarks. “On my watch, Bob (Mueller) will be allowed to finish his work.”
Asked if the special counsel was conducting a “witch-hunt” as has been alleged by the president repeatedly, Barr said, “I don’t believe Mr. Mueller would be involved in a witch hunt.”
In response to another questions, Barr said, “I’m not going to do anything that I think is wrong. I will not be bullied into doing anything that I think is wrong by anybody, whether it be editorial boards, Congress or the president. I’m going to do what I think is right.”
And, finally, queried if he will shut down the Mueller probe without “good cause” the nominee said, “I would not carry out that instruction.”
Barr is testifying before US Senate as President Trump’s nominee for the position of attorney general, the top law enforcement office in the country, which he had held once before in the administration of President George H W Bush in the early 1990s..
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including some senators allied to the president, have worried Barr would come under pressure to either shut down the probe altogether or alter its brief or its final report, when it comes.
In an unsolicited memo that Barr wrote to Trump’s lawyers earlier this year, he noted, in very strong language that Mueller will be wrong to pursue an obstruction of justice case against the president. “Mueller should not be permitted to demand that the president submit to interrogation about alleged obstruction,” he wrote. “Apart from whether Mueller (has) a strong enough factual basis for doing so, Mueller’s obstruction theory is fatally misconceived.”
Barr goes back before the senate judiciary committee for a second day of hearing on Wednesday.
Senate Republicans join Democrats on Russia push back
Some US senate Republicans joined Democrats to advance a legislative push to prevent the US treasury department from removing some sanctions imposed on a businessman with ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, in a direct rebuke of the president. But there are not enough votes in the chamber for this Democratic-led move to pass.
