In a fiery press conference on Wednesday night, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler exposed attorney general William Barr’s plan to whitewash the Mueller report and protect Trump.
“It now appears the attorney general intends to once again put his own spin on the investigative work completed by the special counsel and his team,” Rep. Nadler said, responding to the news that Barr intends to spin the report at a press conference before he releases it to Congress.
The Democratic congressman added, “This is wrong. It is not the proper role of the attorney general.”
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.@JerryNadler goes off on Bill Barr for again trying to shape the narrative around the Mueller report *before* the public gets to see it on Thursday. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/NKuqXrCPps
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) April 18, 2019
The Democratic lawmaker said:
The evening before the report’s scheduled release, the Department of Justice has informed the committee that it will receive a copy between 11:00 and noon, well after the attorney general’s 9:30 A.M. press conference. This is wrong. It is contrary to the attorney general’s own words to the committee: “I do not believe it would be in the public’s interest for me to attempt to summarize the full report or to release it in serial or piecemeal fashion.” It now appears the attorney general intends to once again put his own spin on the investigative work completed by the special counsel and his team. The fact that the attorney general is not releasing even the redacted reports to Congress until after his press conference will again result in the report being presented through his own words rather than through the words of special counsel Mueller. The central concern here is that the attorney general Barr is not allowing the facts of the Mueller report to speak for themselves, but is trying to bake in the narrative about the report to the benefit of the White House. Of course, he is doing this just before the holiday weekend so it’s extraordinarily difficult for anybody to react. This is wrong. It is not the proper role of the attorney general.
Rep. Nadler also added that if the Mueller reported released by Barr tomorrow is redacted beyond recognition, the Democrats are ready with subpoenas and are open to calling Mueller and his team to Capitol Hill.
Democrats are ready to take on Bill Barr
Rep. Nadler’s quick decision to hold a presser just to tear Barr to shreds shows that Democrats feel a sense of urgency following the news that the attorney general plans to spin the report (again) before the public and Congress are able to see it.
As PoliticusUSA’s Jason Easley wrote earlier on Wednesday, this stunt is a clear indication that Barr isn’t interested in presenting the facts to the public or upholding the rule of law.
Instead, the attorney general knows that there is only one reason he has his current job: to spin for Trump and protect him from any damage the Mueller report may inflict on his presidency.
And given Barr’s extraordinary efforts, which include feeding information to Trump in advance about what’s in the Mueller report, it’s fair to say the report will be damning.
That’s why it’s more important than ever that Democrats use the power they were given following the 2018 midterms to hold this president and his loyalists accountable.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
