Legal experts weigh in on Barr’s 'misleading' testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee: He 'would excuse Nixon's cover-up of Watergate'
On Wednesday, Attorney General William Barr testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, addressing his response to special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report for the Russia investigation. Barr, in a letter to Congress on March 24, offered his assessment of Mueller’s findings—and Mueller has vehemently disagreed with the attorney general’s assessment. Some of the most aggressive questioning of Barr on Wednesday came from Democratic Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, who found Barr’s summation of Mueller’s report to be at odds with what Mueller himself has said.
Legal experts have been weighing in on Barr’s Wednesday testimony and spin on Mueller's report. Conservative attorney George Conway found Barr's statements to be misleading:
Neal Katyal noted how "misleading" Barr's testimony was:
Hey, has someone asked Barr if Mueller or others on Special Counsel team complained, in any way, after the 3/27 let… https://t.co/ckyIr6Ngfa— Neal Katyal (@Neal Katyal) 1556730266
MSNBC's Katie Phang found Barr's testimony to be "disrespectful":
➡️ Has anyone noticed that AG Barr keeps on referring to Robert Mueller as “Bob”?! So disrespectful. 😡— Katie S. Phang (@Katie S. Phang) 1556725870
CNN's Elie Honig commented that Barr didn't sound like the United States' top law enforcement official:
William Barr sounds much more like a criminal defense attorney giving a closing argument at trial than the top pros… https://t.co/TmhtoIt05j— Elie Honig (@Elie Honig) 1556723237
CNN's Jeffrey Toobin equated Barr with a Nixon apologist:
Unbelievable. #Barr is saying that the fact that President Trump didn't like the investigation was a legitimate gro… https://t.co/FAO9vG09FY— Jeffrey Toobin (@Jeffrey Toobin) 1556722971
Former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara has found Barr's comments on Mueller's report to be inconsistent:
It seems to me that Barr’s obsession with characterizing his own letter as something OTHER than a “summary” flows f… https://t.co/gJPWsLMbDf— Preet Bharara (@Preet Bharara) 1556722132
Former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks hoped for testimony from former White House Counsel Don McGahn:
6/ Barr just claimed executive privilege not waived for McGahn, but it was PLUS the conversation was about a crimin… https://t.co/uAx9oItOZU— Jill Wine-Banks (@Jill Wine-Banks) 1556726378
Former FBI Director James Comey's tweet was melancholy rather than angry:
Writing this brought me no joy. I’m sad for our country. https://t.co/zfKjdGAMp8 via @NYTOpinion— James Comey (@James Comey) 1556733972
CNN's Renato Mariotti was critical of Barr's statements on Mueller:
In other words, Barr disagrees with Mueller about the findings of Mueller’s own investigation. https://t.co/nQQE1BiIXq— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1556717280
Fox News' Jonathan Turley, however, felt that Mueller rather than Barr is the one who needs to clarify his position:
Barr Testimony: Mueller May Have Some ‘Splainin’ To Do https://t.co/BNoos7Accn https://t.co/qdTicRaSzE— Jonathan Turley (@Jonathan Turley) 1556728683
