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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