President Trump’s nominee for attorney general, William Barr, should be excluded from consideration because of a memo he wrote criticizing the special counsel’s investigation into the Trump campaign, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday.
Schumer said in a statement Thursday that Barr is “fatally conflicted” from overseeing Robert Mueller’s investigation and should not be nominated.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Barr, in a 20-page memo to the Justice Department earlier this year, declared the Mueller investigation “fatally misconceived.”
The memo could prove to be a surprise obstacle in the confirmation of Barr, who served as attorney general for former President George H.W. Bush, and is widely respected by both Republicans and Democrats.
“Mr. Barr’s memo reveals that he is fatally conflicted from being able to oversee the special counsel’s investigation and he should not be nominated to be attorney general,” Schumer said Thursday. “Mr. Barr believes presidents in general — and more frighteningly, President Trump, who has shown less respect for the rule of law than any president — are above the law. The fact that he holds these deeply misguided views and chose to launch them in an unprovoked written attack on the special counsel unquestionably disqualifies Mr. Barr from serving as attorney general again. Since Mr. Barr hasn’t been formally nominated yet, the president must immediately reconsider and find another nominee who is free of conflicts and will carry out the duties of the office impartially.”
