House Judiciary Democrats held a press conference after Attorney General William Barr did not show up to the scheduled hearing on the report from Robert Mueller’s special counsel.
Rep. Ted Lieu says Attorney General William Barr is the most dangerous man in the nation’s capital.
The California Democrat’s verbal flaying of the attorney general came shortly after Barr refused to appear at a House Judiciary Committee hearing about the report recently submitted by special counsel Robert Mueller. Barr objected to questioning by House Democratic Judiciary staff, in addition to lawmakers.
“Attorney General Bill Barr is now one of the most dangerous men in Washington, D.C.,” Lieu told reporters after the committee meeting.
“For three reasons, first, he intentionally mischaracterized the Mueller report, he was then told by Robert Mueller that he mischaracterized the Mueller report and instead of apologizing he doubles down and continues to mislead the American people.
“Second, today he ignored the … oversight responsibilities of Congress and lawfully issued subpoenas. And third, right now he is suing to eliminate your healthcare coverage. Let’s not forget right now he is suing in court to eliminate preexisting conditions healthcare coverage and taking healthcare coverage away from millions of Americans. We in Congress will reign him in, we will hold him accountable,” he said.
Lieu referenced the letter Mueller had sent to Barr, complaining his summary did not “fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the report.
“The summary letter the Department sent to Congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of March 24 did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office’s work and conclusions. There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations,” Mueller’s letter stated.
When Barr and Mueller later spoke about his concerns, Mueller admitted the summary was not inaccurate, but was worried about how the investigation was being misinterpreted by the media.
