Flashback: Barr Claimed In April That He Didn’t Know How Mueller Viewed His Letter

US Attorney General William Barr testifies during a US House Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the Department of Justice Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2020, on Capitol Hill in ... US Attorney General William Barr testifies during a US House Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the Department of Justice Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, April 9, 2019. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

It looks like Attorney General Bill Barr will have some explaining to do when he appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

A Tuesday evening report from the Washington Post revealed that, just a few days after Barr published his March 24 letter summarizing the main conclusions from special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, Mueller himself wrote a letter to Barr complaining that the attorney general “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office’s work and conclusions.”

But after receiving that dispatch from the special counsel, Barr claimed in two separate congressional hearings that he was unfamiliar with Mueller’s opinion of how he’d assessed the report.

At an April 9 hearing in the House, Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) cited reports that members of Mueller’s team were unhappy with the way Barr portrayed the obstruction section of the report. Crist asked Barr if he knew what those reports were referencing.

“No, I don’t,” Barr replied.

A day later at a Senate hearing, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) asked Barr, “Did Bob Mueller support your conclusion?”

“I don’t know whether Bob Mueller supported my conclusion,” Barr replied.

 

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Barr Claimed In April That He Didn’t Know How Mueller Viewed His Letter

    That of course is going to be one reason that he will avoid showing up at the House.

  2. It appears Trump’s fixer’s solvents left a few undissolved hair strands in the bathtub.

    1. The only people in Congress who appear to know how to ask questions of a hostile witness are the former prosecutors.

    2. A member of Congress shouldn’t have to be Perry Mason to get a full, good faith and true response ffrom the Attorney Fucking General of the United Fucking States to a question from a member of Congress even when the member asks one question that should have been three!

    3. LOCK HIM UP!

  3. To call AG Barr mendacious is extraordinarily polite. He has shown himself to be an untrustworthy SOB who shouldn’t be allowed near children or any issue of consequence.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

20 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for douglashh Avatar for mondfledermaus Avatar for ncsteve Avatar for bobatkinson Avatar for 1gg Avatar for adabsurdum Avatar for commiedearest Avatar for maxwellsdemon Avatar for gtomkins Avatar for nikta Avatar for schmed Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for edhedh Avatar for jacksonhts Avatar for noonm Avatar for maximus Avatar for bobcanuel Avatar for enhancedthespian Avatar for glowgirl Avatar for emiliano4 Avatar for ANNFFL

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: