William Barr on Friday said the welcome he received when he arrived for his second stint as attorney general was similar to the one the Allied forces received when they invaded France on D-Day.
“As most of you know … this is my second stint as attorney general,” Barr said at a recent graduation ceremony for FBI agents. “As we’ve been watching the coverage of D-Day, I had the thought my arrival this time felt a little more like jumping into Sainte-Mère-Église on the morning of June 5, trying to figure out where you could land without getting shot.”
Barr’s joke comes amid House Democrats action to find him in contempt of Congress over his refusal to testify about his handling of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Barr was attorney general once before, during the administration of President George W. Bush.
“My arrival this time was a little more eventful than I recall it being last time,” Barr quipped.
Democrats have blasted Barr in recent weeks as shilling for President Trump instead of holding him accountable for what they allege is obstruction of justice offenses laid out in Mueller’s report.
Barr issued a four-page summary of the report several days after it was submitted to him, announcing he had determined that no obstruction occurred at the hands of Trump or anyone in his administration.
Trump was in England, Ireland, and France for the 75th anniversary of D-Day last week, giving a speech during which he called the service members who stormed the beaches of France that year as “some of the greatest Americans to ever live.”
