SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
President Donald Trump listens to Attorney General William Barr during the 38th Annual National Peace Officers' Memorial Service at the west front of the Capitol May 15, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
AG William Barr to Testify Before House Judiciary Committee... in Six Weeks
The development comes amid increased scrutiny over the attorney general's actions, including his apparent role in reducing the recommended sentence for Trump ally Roger Stone, which prompted four career prosecutors handling the case to withdraw.
Feb 11, 2020
The House Judiciary Committee said Wednesday that Attorney General William Barr has agreed to testify before the panel next month--a development that came the same day President Donald Trump praised Barr for his role in the Justice Department reducing the recommended prison sentence for Trump confidant Roger Stone.
In a letter to the attorney general from 23 Democratic committee members, the lawmakers said that they are confirming his agreement to testify March 31.
\u201cREAD IT HERE: Letter from @HouseJudiciary confirming AG Barr will testify before the Committee on March 31st to address concerns regarding his leadership of the DOJ and the President's improper influence over the Department and our criminal justice system.\u201d— House Judiciary Dems (@House Judiciary Dems) 1581539529
The Democrats said Barr has "engaged in a pattern of conduct in legal matters relating to the president that raises significant concerns," including several actions over the past week. Those recent actions, the committee wrote, are:
- The ongoing developments following the removal of U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu, who oversaw the prosecutions of President Trump's deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates, President Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn, and President Trump's longtime political adviser Roger Stone.
- The creation of a new "process" by which President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani can feed the Department of Justice information, through you, about the president's political rivals.
- The decision to overrule your career prosecutors and significantly reduce the recommended sentence for Roger Stone, who has been convicted for lying under oath, at the apparent request of the president--a decision that led to all four prosecutors handling the case to withdraw from the proceedings in protest.
Those actions, the lawmakers added, don't represent the full scope of the matters the committee will ask about during the hearing.
"The politicization of the department by President Trump--pressuring DOJ to go after his political enemies and help his allies who have committed serious crimes--is a clear threat to our democracy and totally unacceptable," the Democrats on the committee added.
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The House Judiciary Committee said Wednesday that Attorney General William Barr has agreed to testify before the panel next month--a development that came the same day President Donald Trump praised Barr for his role in the Justice Department reducing the recommended prison sentence for Trump confidant Roger Stone.
In a letter to the attorney general from 23 Democratic committee members, the lawmakers said that they are confirming his agreement to testify March 31.
\u201cREAD IT HERE: Letter from @HouseJudiciary confirming AG Barr will testify before the Committee on March 31st to address concerns regarding his leadership of the DOJ and the President's improper influence over the Department and our criminal justice system.\u201d— House Judiciary Dems (@House Judiciary Dems) 1581539529
The Democrats said Barr has "engaged in a pattern of conduct in legal matters relating to the president that raises significant concerns," including several actions over the past week. Those recent actions, the committee wrote, are:
- The ongoing developments following the removal of U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu, who oversaw the prosecutions of President Trump's deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates, President Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn, and President Trump's longtime political adviser Roger Stone.
- The creation of a new "process" by which President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani can feed the Department of Justice information, through you, about the president's political rivals.
- The decision to overrule your career prosecutors and significantly reduce the recommended sentence for Roger Stone, who has been convicted for lying under oath, at the apparent request of the president--a decision that led to all four prosecutors handling the case to withdraw from the proceedings in protest.
Those actions, the lawmakers added, don't represent the full scope of the matters the committee will ask about during the hearing.
"The politicization of the department by President Trump--pressuring DOJ to go after his political enemies and help his allies who have committed serious crimes--is a clear threat to our democracy and totally unacceptable," the Democrats on the committee added.
The House Judiciary Committee said Wednesday that Attorney General William Barr has agreed to testify before the panel next month--a development that came the same day President Donald Trump praised Barr for his role in the Justice Department reducing the recommended prison sentence for Trump confidant Roger Stone.
In a letter to the attorney general from 23 Democratic committee members, the lawmakers said that they are confirming his agreement to testify March 31.
\u201cREAD IT HERE: Letter from @HouseJudiciary confirming AG Barr will testify before the Committee on March 31st to address concerns regarding his leadership of the DOJ and the President's improper influence over the Department and our criminal justice system.\u201d— House Judiciary Dems (@House Judiciary Dems) 1581539529
The Democrats said Barr has "engaged in a pattern of conduct in legal matters relating to the president that raises significant concerns," including several actions over the past week. Those recent actions, the committee wrote, are:
- The ongoing developments following the removal of U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu, who oversaw the prosecutions of President Trump's deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates, President Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn, and President Trump's longtime political adviser Roger Stone.
- The creation of a new "process" by which President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani can feed the Department of Justice information, through you, about the president's political rivals.
- The decision to overrule your career prosecutors and significantly reduce the recommended sentence for Roger Stone, who has been convicted for lying under oath, at the apparent request of the president--a decision that led to all four prosecutors handling the case to withdraw from the proceedings in protest.
Those actions, the lawmakers added, don't represent the full scope of the matters the committee will ask about during the hearing.
"The politicization of the department by President Trump--pressuring DOJ to go after his political enemies and help his allies who have committed serious crimes--is a clear threat to our democracy and totally unacceptable," the Democrats on the committee added.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.