Amy Klobuchar would not say what consequences Attorney General William Barr should face after the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold him in contempt of Congress.
“I think he should come before the House. I think you’re going to see a lot of pushback and subpoenas, and I think that this administration has to take this seriously. A foreign country invaded our election,” the Minnesota senator and 2020 presidential candidate said during a Fox News town hall in Milwaukee, Wis., on Wednesday. She was pressed repeatedly about whether Barr should be arrested and jailed for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the panel.
The House Judiciary Committee voted 24-16 along party lines Wednesday evening after Barr rebuffed a request for the release of an unredacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s federal Russian investigation report. The report outlines how Moscow interfered in the 2016 election and scenarios in which President Trump possibly obstructed justice. The panel’s vote, with which Klobuchar agreed, sends the contempt charge to the House floor. Barr could also be fined if the measure clears the chamber.
[Related: Barr jokes about Democrats’ contempt vote]
Klobuchar, 58, compared appearing on Fox News, which is reviled by liberals, to being a Minnesota Vikings NFL fan on the Green Bay Packers’ Lambeau Field. She used the national platform to showcase her more moderate policy positions, including her support for aspects of President Trump’s tax reforms and some limits to third-trimester abortions.
The three-term senator and former prosecutor would not commit to selecting a male running mate should she win the Democratic nomination, a pledge many of the men who are contesting the race have made. “You have to pick the best person for the job, and that is the person I would pick,” she said.
Klobuchar is vying to become the Democratic Party’s presidential pick in a field of almost two dozen contenders. She has about 1.3% support, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.
