How Much Do You Trust Bill Barr?
Bill Barr, the once and likely future attorney general, had one mission on Capitol Hill on Tuesday: convince the Senate that he would be an honorable man. In a day-long confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the nominee reassured lawmakers that he would maintain the Justice Department’s independence from a president who constantly challenges it. He also explicitly vowed to defend special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation from outside interference until it wraps up, whenever that may be.
These were no small promises. President Trump fired Barr’s would-be predecessor Jeff Sessions last year after 18 months of acrimony, largely driven by Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. The president has often denigrated the Justice Department’s post-Watergate practice of insulating itself from the White House’s political whims. He has also reportedly tried to fire Mueller at least twice, which would have sparked the nation’s worst constitutional crisis since Watergate.
Barr’s performance on Monday amounted to a Rorschach test of sorts. Many of his answers signaled that he would not be the hatchet man that Trump so clearly desires, and that he would resist efforts by outside forces to prematurely end Mueller’s inquiry. Other times, however, he gave vague and non-committal answers about how he would handle key questions about the Russia investigation. Those inclined to trust Barr may see a man trying to abide by DOJ regulations under extraordinary circumstances. But the likely next head of the Justice Department also gave plenty of reason for concern.
Multiple Democratic senators invoked the pledges made more than four decades ago by Attorney General Elliot Richardson, who promised to protect independent counsel Archibald Cox from political influence in the Watergate inquiry. Richardson later resigned during the Saturday Night Massacre rather than violate that pledge.
https://newrepublic.com/article/152911/bill-barr-day-one-attorney-general-confirmation-hearing
= new reply since forum marked as read
I think ya may ve wtong about that.
