“He’s demonstrating once again that he is merely a tool of the president,” Rep. Adam Schiff said of the attorney general.
Democrats are accusing Attorney General William Barr of using the Justice Department to do President Donald Trump’s political bidding.
Democratic criticism of the attorney general comes amid media reports that a department probe into the FBI’s investigation connections between Russia and the Trump 2016 campaign has now become a criminal investigation. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, accused Barr on Sunday of “weaponizing” the Justice Department. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have called on Barr to recuse himself from the department’s investigation.
“Bill Barr, on the president’s behalf, is weaponizing the Justice Department to go after the president’s enemies,” Schiff said on ABC‘s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” “He’s demonstrating once again that he is merely a tool of the president, the president’s hand, not the representative of the American people.”
Trump has repeatedly called on Barr to investigate how the FBI began its Russia probe. John Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, is leading that effort. The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General has also been conducting an investigation into aspects of the FBI’s Russia probe. That report is expected to be released in the near future.
Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee also sent a letter to Barr on Thursday that questioned the attorney general’s ability to be impartial in any matter related to Trump and Ukraine. In their letter, the senators cited Trump’s July 25 call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, in which he asked Zelensky to investigate the Biden family. During that call, Trump said that both Barr and his personal attorney Rudy Giuiliani would get in touch with the Ukrainian president.
“This raises legitimate questions about your knowledge of the activities of Mr. Giuliani and others, as well as the actions that you have taken and your discussions with the President and White House about these investigations,” the senators wrote.
The Democratic senators also cited Barr’s visit to Italy to look into the origins of the Russia investigation, and noted that Trump told Zelensky he would “like to have the Attorney General call” to discuss a conspiracy theory related to Ukraine and the 2016 election.
“Impartial enforcement of the law is essential to give the American public confidence in the Justice Department’s work,” the senators wrote. “Your personal connection to these matters creates the appearance of a conflict of interest and gives rise to questions about whether the Department is being used to advance the President’s personal interests.”
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Rep. Adam Schiff’s remarks come after media reports that the Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation of why the FBI began its probe into the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia https://t.co/YAnKHQxW4B
— POLITICO (@politico) October 27, 2019
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