Democratic senator and presidential candidate Kamala Harris said she has concerns about the integrity of the US government following her questioning of Attorney General Bill Barr at a hearing on Wednesday.
Harris, who is running as a progressive prosecutor, has repeatedly created viral moments as she has questioned Trump nominees and Cabinet members in congressional hearings over the past few years. She has used her sharp, direct questions to illustrate her toughness — and implicitly her ability to take on President Donald Trump in future debates — and those skills have set her apart from other candidates in the 2020 field.
During the hearing, Barr was unable to tell Harris whether anyone at the White House had suggested he open an investigation of anyone, asking her to specify whether she was referring to the President or anyone else.
“Seems you’d remember something like that and be able to tell us,” Harris said.
“Yeah but I’m trying to grapple with the word ‘suggest,’ ” Barr replied. “There have been discussions of matters out there that they have not asked me to open an investigation, but –“
Harris asked, “Perhaps they’ve suggested, hinted?”
Barr replied, “I don’t know, I wouldn’t say suggest. I don’t know.”
The senator from California then grilled the attorney general on whether he had reviewed the underlying evidence as he was responsible for the charging decision. The line of questioning revealed that neither Barr nor Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had looked at Mueller’s underlying evidence before deciding not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice.
