U.S. Attorney General nominee William Barr attends a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2019. REUTERS/Jim Young
There is a new top cop in town, and his name is William Pelham Barr aka Attorney General Bill Barr.
Barr, the new attorney general of the United States, appeared on the Hill Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He took questions regarding his handling of Special Counsel Bob Mueller’s two-year investigation into Russia collusion. To say the least, the 68 -year-old Barr was ready for the challenge.
A few mouths were left hanging on the floor.
The attorney general was quite comfortable conversing with an often partisan committee chaired with Democrats. He spoke with certainty and at times left the mouths of many Democrats, who dared to challenge him on the law, hanging on the floor.
Barr also made it clear that the president was falsely accused of collusion, being a traitor and a Russian agent for nearly two years. While Mueller’s report cleared the president, Barr said the rhetoric from the left seemed to think otherwise.
Bad actors tired to circumvent the process.
Many liberal media pundits and Democrats downplayed Barr’s effectiveness, but make no doubt he ruled the day. One point of interest from the hearing was that none on the left seemed to be phased by Barr’s omission that there were bad actors in the FBI. Barr said these actors had been removed and that others were reported from within to take their place. He said thanks to Christopher Wray, the current FBI director, the culture in the department was changing .
Also worth noting was Barr’s chastising those who use the criminal justice system as a political weapon against opponents.
The Constitution gives the President powers to act.
Barr made it clear to Congress that under the US Constitution the president could have ended the Mueller investigation. Barr said once the president realized the investigation or proceeding was groundless and based on false allegations he could have terminated it.
Just a chuckle at the end of the day.
One of the lighter moments of the hearing took place when Senator Ted Cruz managed to get a chuckle from Barr. The AG, who for the most part sat with a stone face throughout the hearing, laughed when Cruz described the Democrats obsession over the number of pages released from the initial Mueller report.
AG Barr had been scheduled to appear on the Hill again Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee. He, however, declined due to the House format. Rep. Jerry Nadler, chairman of the committee, had said in addition to members of the committee asking questions, he would allow House attorneys to question Barr, as well, Initially, Barr was only going to be questioned by House members.
~robjh1
