Barr Refuses to Say If Trump Has Asked Him to Investigate Anyone

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The Republican-controlled Senate might not be allowing their committee counsel to question Attorney General William Barr, but they can’t stop the next best thing: having former prosecutor Kamala Harris question him. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times provides the play-by-play:

Harris now asks Barr whether the president or anyone else has suggested that the Justice Department open an investigation into someone.

Barr is hedging. “They have not asked me to open an investigation, but…”

“Hinted?” Harris says. “Inferred?” She, then, moves on.

We all know the answer. Barr just can’t figure out a way to deny it entirely in a way that doesn’t quite constitute perjury. But I wonder why Harris didn’t press him further?

UPDATE: This post originally included a tweet that summarized the exchange between Harris and Barr. However, it’s been deleted, presumably because it wasn’t completely accurate. I’ve replaced it with Haberman’s account.

UPDATE 2: Here’s the full exchange:

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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