Attorney General William Barr said congressional Democrats were not interested in allowing him to speak freely when they called him to testify before the House Judiciary Committee last month.
“I think they were afraid to have me speak,” Barr told radio and television host Mark Levin on Sunday night. “So, they decided to burn up all the time and not give me any time to answer. So I quickly caught on to the tactic.”
During the July 28 hearing, Barr was peppered with questions by Democrats about a wide array of topics, including a recent uptick in violent crime in major cities, the deployment of federal police to cities such as Portland, and the Justice Department’s handling of the Roger Stone case. Barr was cut off by Democrats during his responses multiple times, as members of the majority party said they were “reclaiming my time.”
“What do you make of the change in the whole nature of hearings now,” Levin asked Barr. “I mean, they accused you of being a murderer, a terrorist. I was getting nervous that somebody might grab a Molotov cocktail from behind the table and throw it at you. What you make of it?”
“Well, you know, I have perspective of being attorney general 30 years ago and now. I thought things were partisan and tough 30 years ago, nothing compared to today,” Barr responded. “Things have fundamentally changed, and I think what has happened — and I’ve been thinking about this because in the old days you could have friends across the aisle, politics was part of your life, but it wasn’t all-consuming, it wasn’t everything.”
Republicans spent the hearing defending Barr, painting him as a good public servant who is committed to upholding the rule of law at a time of civil unrest in America.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had a hearing where the witness wasn’t allowed to respond to points made, questions asked, and attacks — attacks made. Not just in this hearing, not just in this committee, but in every committee I’ve been on,” Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said. “Particularly when you think about the fact that we have the attorney general of the United States here.”
Barr suggested Democrats have displayed a tolerance for some of the violence committed in places such as Portland and Seattle.
“They talk about the rule of law, they talk about the accordance of the federal legal system to protect civil rights, but the heart of that is our court system, and they’re not willing, not one of them piped up to say it’s not OK to be burning down federal courts,” Barr said. “Why? Some of them are true believers. Some of them are essentially revolutionary, and they may not believe in tearing down the system, but many of them are just cowards who are mostly interested in getting reelected and are afraid of a challenge from vote.”
