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Attorney General Barr Grilled by Senate Judiciary over Mueller Report

HeadlineMay 02, 2019

Attorney General William Barr defended his handling of the Robert Mueller investigation to the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, as Democrats accused him of working as an agent of President Trump rather than the top U.S. law enforcement official. During hours of rancorous testimony, Barr repeatedly refused to answer senators’ questions about his conclusions that President Trump did not obstruct justice in his attempts to end the Mueller investigation. This week, The Washington Post and New York Times reported that Mueller wrote to Barr in March complaining that his initial 4-page summary of the special counsel’s findings “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of Mueller’s report. This is Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal questioning Barr about Mueller’s letter.

Attorney General William Barr: “You know, the letter is a bit snitty, and I think it was probably written by one of his staff people.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal: “Did you make a memorandum of your conversation?”

Attorney General William Barr: “Huh?”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal: “Did you make a memorandum?”

Attorney General William Barr: “No, I didn’t make a memorandum.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal: “Or did anyone else?”

Attorney General William Barr: “What?”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal: “Did anyone, either you or anyone on your staff, memorialize your conversation with Robert Mueller?”

Attorney General William Barr: “Yes.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal: “Who did that?”

Attorney General William Barr: “There were notes taken of the call.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal: “May we have those notes?”

Attorney General William Barr: “No.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal: “Why not?”

Attorney General William Barr: “Why should you have them?”

After the hearing, some lawmakers suggested Barr should be held in criminal contempt of Congress. Meanwhile, Barr said he would refuse to testify for a second day today before the House Judiciary Committee, refusing to be questioned by the committee’s lawyers.

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