Posted on 05/02/2019 8:53:41 AM PDT by Red Badger
Key Points
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Attorney General William Barr “lied to Congress.”
She says misleading lawmakers would be a “crime” if anyone else did so.
A Justice Department spokeswoman calls Pelosi’s comments “reckless, irresponsible and false.”
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday accused Attorney General William Barr of committing a crime by lying to Congress about special counsel Robert Mueller’s report and Mueller’s issues with how Barr has characterized its findings.
“What is deadly serious about it is the attorney general of the United States of America is not telling the truth to the Congress of the United States. That’s a crime,” the California Democrat told reporters.
Pressed again about the accusation, Pelosi said, “He lied to Congress. If anybody else did that, it would be considered a crime. Nobody is above the law.” Asked whether Barr should go to jail, the speaker responded that “there’s a process involved here.”
In a statement in response, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said “the baseless attack on the Attorney General is reckless, irresponsible and false.”
Pelosi’s comments appeared to reference answers Barr gave during House testimony last month when asked about reported frustrations Mueller’s team had with a summary the attorney general wrote about the special counsel’s report. The attorney general said he was not aware of concerns the Mueller team had about his summary. But it was revealed this week that Mueller wrote a letter to Barr expressing concerns about how the attorney general depicted the “substance” of the report — written before the attorney general testified.
Here is the exchange from an April 9 hearing that apparently sparked Pelosi’s accusation.
Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla.: Reports have emerged recently, general, that members of the Special Counsel’s team are frustrated at some level with the limited information included in your March 24th letter ... Do you know what they are referencing with that?
Barr: “No, I don’t. I think I think, I suspect that they probably wanted more put out, but in my view I was not interested in putting out summaries.”
The comment from the highest-ranking Democrat in the country intensifies the party’s criticism of the top U.S. law enforcement official. While Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have accused Barr of protecting Trump and having a conflict of interest, neither lawmaker has previously gone as far as alleging a crime.
Pelosi has so far resisted calls to impeach the president, which have intensified following the release of Mueller’s redacted report.
Democrats have questioned why the Justice Department decided not to charge the president with obstructing justice by trying to influence Mueller’s investigation. While Mueller declined to say whether Trump obstructed justice, he also noted that the report did not “exonerate” Trump and set out a detailed case for Congress to potentially investigate the president for obstruction.
Pelosi’s remarks Thursday follow a House Judiciary Committee hearing that Barr decided not to attend. The panel’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, threatened to hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress if he does not give access to Mueller’s full, unredacted report on the Russia probe.
Barr repeatedly defended Trump during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday. The president has contended Mueller’s investigation fully exonerates him on both questions of whether he obstructed justice and whether his campaign coordinated with Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election.
He repeatedly described the investigation as a “witch hunt” and has since falsely called the probe a “coup.”
— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger and Dan Mangan contributed to this report
Same old Dem playbook: Viciously attack anybody who supports POTUS.
hey Bill....you might have thought these people were your friends....HA...they are VILE, EVIL, VICIOUS, LYING Destroyers of good people!
If Pelosi and Hirono are calling for Barr’s termination (impeachment, firing), then THEY are obstructing justice in Barr’s pursuit of the truth about the Democrats.
Where “lying” means contradicting the Left’s narrative.
“deadly serious”, huh? Just like the immature children that they are; always overplaying the language as to feel better about their personal and professional inauthenticity.
This is way out of control.
Starr investigates WJC: Starr put on trial
Barr squashes Mueller: Barr put on trial
Shouldn't it be correctly classified as a HATE CRIME given the Dems are all misfits?
This is exactly why you don’t show up for congressional testimony in the first place, and today’s move not to show was smart. No matter what you say, and no matter how truthful you try to be, they will always say you lied.
I like the way you think.
And the lies were WHAT?
‘He lied to Congress’
He didn’t but if he did, thanks anyway, Nancy, for the reminder that there’s gambling in River City.
Is lying about another person lying in a hearing a crime?
It should be, and Pelosi should be behind bars.
Mueller wrote a letter to Barr expressing concerns
Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla.: Reports have emerged recently, general, that members of the Special Counsel’s team are frustrated
Did they ask Barr about a letter than Mueller sent, revealing his concerns and/or frustrations? No.
Did they ask Barr about Mueller's frustrations? No.
Did members of the team send him a letter revealing their frustrations? No.
Did they ask Barr about Members of the team and their frustrations? Yes.
Does Barr necessarily know the frustrations of the team? No.
So where is the lie?
Holder is still walking around free...
Lying to CONgre$$ , a crime..
Lying while in CONgre$$ as a Dem.. par for the course.
Beyond weak. The lie allegation is about an introduction letter on the forthcoming report?
Beyond dumb.
Demonrats are scurrying because they know Barr and Co. are about to drop the hammer on their criminal butts.
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