William Barr appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to testify on his nomination to be attorney general of the United States on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 15, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The Senate voted to confirm William Barr to be attorney general, even though Barr has not committed to releasing the Mueller report.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) joined with Republicans in supporting the nomination.
In floor remarks on Wednesday, Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) summed up why Democrats opposed the Barr nomination:
Certainly, Mr. Barr is intelligent. Certainly, Mr. Barr has experience; in fact, he already did the job. And let me say that I’ve always respected his public service and believe him to be a good man. But what so many of us find so lacking in Mr. Barr’s nomination in this time around is his fundamental lack of awareness about the moment we’re in.
Only a few months ago it was uncovered that he authored an unsolicited memo to the Justice Department criticizing – criticizing – the Special Counsel’s investigation. He wasn’t involved with the Justice Department in any capacity at the time. He was a private attorney. He could not have had access to any of the facts of the case. And yet he decided to write this memo, which in addition to making un-evidenced claims about the investigation, outlined an extremely broad – in my judgment, overreaching – vision of executive power. Writing that memo showed poor judgment and worse, it showed bias – at a time when the country cannot afford either in its Attorney General.
The memo alone, I felt, was disqualifying at a time when we have a president who scorns the rule of law.
Trump’s own former lawyer is floating the idea that the Mueller report will never be written, much less released. William Barr has been vague and evasive about whether or not he will protect the Special Counsel investigation and release the report. Barr auditioned with Trump for the job, and he has the appearance of an attorney general that will not stand up to the president.
The nation has gone way past the point of being disappointed in Republicans for not standing up for their country and the rule of law.
Senate Republicans are going to pay for putting Trump first and country last. Mitch McConnell’s crew of Trump enablers will pay for what they have done to this nation in the name of partisan politics.
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