Democrats are trying to convince the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate Attorney General William Barr in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia…
Democrats are trying to convince the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate Attorney General William Barr in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
Senate Democrats realize they have almost no shot at convincing the Republican majority to dig into Barr’s actions since the Russia investigation wrapped up in March, and little leverage to force GOP senators, who are eager to move on, to the negotiating table.
Instead, they’re focusing their efforts on winning over the Justice Department’s top watchdog, putting the inspector general in the middle of a fight between Senate Democrats and Barr.
The Justice Department’s Inspector General declined to comment about the requests from Congress.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) is one of the Democrats pressing for Inspector General Michael Horowitz to investigate Barr. He argues that it’s the only option with the Senate Judiciary Committee all but blocked off as an avenue for further investigations.
“I want an answer as soon as possible by an independent, objective investigator,” Blumenthal said about his decision to request an inspector general probe. “So far the chairman of the Judiciary Committee has indicated less than robust interest in having either Mueller testify or seeking an answer to those questions.”
Blumenthal and Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R. I.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) sent a request this week for an investigation into if Barr discussed spin-off cases from the Mueller report with the White House, including the names of the cases.
Barr told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that he had not had “substantive” talks with White House staff about the 14 cases Mueller referred to the Justice Department but that “it’s possible a name of a case was mentioned.”
Blumenthal said that he wants to know “what those conversations were,” and appeared skeptical that Barr wouldn’t be able to recall talks he had with the White House about adjacent investigations.
