May 1, 2019

Barr Refuses to Say If Trump Has Asked Him to Investigate Anyone

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The Republican-controlled Senate might not be allowing their committee counsel to question Attorney General William Barr, but they can’t stop the next best thing: having former prosecutor Kamala Harris question him. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times provides the play-by-play:

Harris now asks Barr whether the president or anyone else has suggested that the Justice Department open an investigation into someone.

Barr is hedging. “They have not asked me to open an investigation, but…”

“Hinted?” Harris says. “Inferred?” She, then, moves on.

We all know the answer. Barr just can’t figure out a way to deny it entirely in a way that doesn’t quite constitute perjury. But I wonder why Harris didn’t press him further?

UPDATE: This post originally included a tweet that summarized the exchange between Harris and Barr. However, it’s been deleted, presumably because it wasn’t completely accurate. I’ve replaced it with Haberman’s account.

UPDATE 2: Here’s the full exchange:

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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