Trump’s AG nominee offered some reassurances — but dodged on other questions.
The big question heading into attorney general nominee William Barr’s confirmation hearing was whether he’d act as an independent head of the Justice Department under a president who has gone to extreme lengths to try to impede special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation — despite elements of his record that have raised some concerns.
So as the hearing began Tuesday, Barr tried to offer some assurances and commitments — saying he almost surely wouldn’t fire Mueller, and making clear he believed self-interested presidential interference with an investigation could raise constitutional concerns.
Yet some of Barr’s answers were less committal — most notably on whether he’d follow ethics advice about recusal, and about how much of Mueller’s findings he’d make public.
Barr also explained that he had met with President Trump in mid-2017 about potentially joining Trump’s legal defense team — and that Trump had pressed him for his opinion on Mueller.
The nominee said he called Mueller a straight shooter and recommended dealing with him as such. But by mid-2018, Barr had apparently become concerned by Mueller’s activities, and submitted a lengthy memo criticizing what he believed was Mueller’s legal theory on obstruction of justice.
So altogether, the opening of Barr’s testimony was a mixed bag — containing some encouraging signs but still making it difficult to dismiss concerns about how he’d handle the special counsel probe going forward.
Here are the key pieces of testimony Barr gave that raised concerns about how he’ll handle the investigation:
However, the nominee also made some more reassuring commitments to those concerned he’s being installed to help Trump block the Russia probe:
First off, Barr said that though he’d “seek the advice of the career ethics personnel” about recusal, he wouldn’t necessarily follow their advice.
“Under the regulations, I make the decision as the head of the agency as to my own recusal,” he said.
Barr’s position on this is highly relevant — he saw how then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s recusal from the Russia probe infuriated President Trump, spurring constant complaints that Sessions had failed to protect him.
