House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said Thursday that Attorney General William Barr committed a “crime” by lying to lawmakers in his summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s Russia probe report.
“We saw [Barr] commit a crime when he answered your question,” Pelosi told Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Florida) during a private caucus meeting early Thursday.
Several Democratic lawmakers have blasted Barr for mischaracterizing the findings of Mueller’s investigation on Russian interference in the 2016 election, saying the attorney general was overly favorable toward President Donald Trump. Further escalating tensions is the fact that Barr refused to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
“He lied to Congress. He lied to Congress,” Pelosi said shortly after a press conference. “And if anybody else did that, it would be considered a crime. Nobody is above the law. Not the president of the United States, and not the attorney general.“
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Mueller himself revealed this week that he was upset by Barr’s attempts to spin parts of his 448-page report. Barr famously exonerated Trump of obstruction of justice, although Mueller clearly stated he did not find the president innocent on this front.
Crist agreed with Pelosi that Barr committed a crime by lying to Congress.
“It’s called perjury,” he said.
Some House Democrats have gone as far as to say they would consider issuing a subpoena to compel Barr to testify and possibly hold him in contempt if he ignores this measure as well.
This all comes amid calls from certain Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) — a 2020 presidential candidate — to impeach Trump for his attempts to thwart Mueller’s inquiry. Given the complexity of a presidential impeachment process and the fact that the Senate remains under Republican control, it appears unlikely that Trump will be removed from office. Barr, however, could be dismissed as leader of the Justice Department given that the process for his position is simpler.
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