House Democrats announced on Wednesday that Attorney General William Barr agreed to testify before the Judiciary Committee.
The announcement of the March 31 hearing comes a day after the Justice Department scaled back a sentencing recommendation for longtime Trump associate Roger Stone, which provoked outrage among House and Senate Democrats.
“In your tenure as Attorney General, you have engaged in a pattern of conduct in legal matters relating to the President that raises significant concerns for this Committee,” House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat, wrote to Barr in a letter confirming his appearance. “In the past week alone, you have taken steps that raise grave questions about your leadership of the Department of Justice.”
Nadler said Democrats plan to address several recent actions taken by the Justice Department, including a decision announced Tuesday to scale back the seven- to nine-year prison sentence recommended by prosecutors for Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress and other charges.
Democrats said they also want to question Barr about the decision to withdraw the nomination of former U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu, who had been nominated to a position in the Treasury Department. Liu oversaw the prosecution of Stone as well as former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who is charged with lying to the FBI. President Trump has criticized the prosecution of both men.
Democrats also want Barr to explain the process the department has created for Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to provide information he said he had obtained from Ukraine related to corruption allegations against the Bidens.
In the letter, Nadler suggested Barr is guilty of using the department to serve Trump’s political purposes.
“Since President Trump took office, we have repeatedly warned you and your predecessors that the misuse of our criminal justice system for political purposes is both dangerous to our democracy and unacceptable to the House Judiciary Committee,” Nadler wrote. “Our Republican colleagues have warned the Department of the same. We have been consistent — and bipartisan — in this message for years.”
Justice Department officials denied Trump played any role in the decision to reduce Stone’s sentence and said they made the move before Trump’s Monday night tweet denouncing it.
Barr said Giuliani was given an avenue to provide the information about Ukraine.
“That is true for all information that comes to the department relating to the Ukraine, including anything Mr. Giuliani might provide,” Barr said.
