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.”
===========================================================
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
Doesn’t being a political creature preclude her from being able to discern between a truth and a lie?
B-I-N-G-O
Barr released the entire f-n witch hunt report.
Well Pelousy, send your letter to Barr and tell him to begin an investigation! Expect letter returned stamped, return to sender.
It’s coming to a head and the boil is about to be lanced..................
it is slander- she is attempting to destroy his character with false allegations
Because she can't.
Says the woman who filed false declarations of eligibility for the Kenayanesian Usurper.
I have yet to hear any of the “lies” by the president or any of his people actually quoted. C’mon, RATs, spell it out. What did he say, when did he say it, and in what context?
(crickets)
“deadly serious”, as in we’re gonna have to commit suicide if he keeps this up!...................
“Mueller’s redacted report.”
FOAD Big Media, and your god the Fraud you rode in on!!!
KYPD.........................
It is going to be a show when Mueller testifies. What is Mueller going to say exactly? Mueller’s report found no collusion and didn’t indict on obstruction of justice. LOL
Yes, they have done a great job of PI$$ING BARR OFF they will feel the pain of truth and justice. They are sweating it big time and going crazy in the process.
The same holds true for the FBI. If a known FBI agent asks where’s the bathroom you reply you want to speak to your attorney.
They are throwing anything and everything against the wall now in hope it will stick.. Obama and Hillary are in Trump’s gun sights.
RE: Pelosi accuses Barr of lying to Congress.
A liar in the halls of Congress?
Is that like the sketch in the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas?
Texas has a whorehouse in it
I’ll not let this scandal fade
(Chorus) Texas has a whorehouse in it
All uprooting , our crusade.
I can smell corruption, and I’ll fight it to the top.
...And it must stop.
///////////
Imagine, the first lie ever told in Congress. I guess “We will not raise your taxes” doesn’t count.
Barr lied about Mueller’s letter that said Barr’s summarization mischaracterized his report.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.