Lawmakers Slam William Barr’s Involvement In Justice Department’s Cover Up Of Trump Ukraine Scandal

Attorney General William Barr was blasted by lawmakers, Constitutional lawyers and former prosecutors this week for his involvement in covering up a scandal surrounding President Donald Trump and his interactions with Ukraine’s president.

The Justice Department refused to respond to a criminal referral it received from the national intelligence director and inspector general in August about Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The referral said there was concern in the intelligence community that Trump may have violated campaign finance law after he froze planned military aid to Ukraine. However, a Justice Department spokeswoman said the agency had found no evidence of wrongdoing and that “no further action” was warranted.

Trump’s conversation with Zelensky — which the White House released a transcript of on Wednesday — also revealed the former leader asked the latter to work with Barr and Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden for corruption. There is thus far no evidence of Biden and his son being involved in any illegal actions. The former vice president is the Democratic frontrunner in the 2020 election.

Among those who lambasted Barr and called for an inquiry into the attorney general’s conduct were former Housing Secretary Julian Castro and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California), two other 2020 Democratic candidates.

The Attorney General has zero credibility, demonstrated by his handling of the Mueller Report.

William Barr must recuse himself from any investigation involving Ukraine—and the DOJ’s Inspector General must investigate his conduct. https://t.co/b9aOcIO8Su

— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) September 25, 2019

In May, Attorney General Barr couldn’t answer my questions about whether the White House ever asked him to investigate anyone.

In light of recent news, he must recuse himself and come back to Congress to testify immediately. https://t.co/1SYnXi72dN

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 26, 2019

Nick Akerman, a former member of the team that prosecuted Richard Nixon’s administration during the 1970s Watergate scandal, also blasted Barr and the Justice Department in a recent interview with VICE News.

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“This is all just absolutely outrageous,” Akerman told the outlet. “It’s as if the department’s only job is to protect Trump. They should change their name to the Department of Cover-up.”

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