Rachel Maddow tore into William Barr on Tuesday following the bombshell news that he essentially ignored Robert Mueller’s concerns about his misleading four-page summary of the Russia report.
According to the MSNBC host, Mueller’s letter – which was sent to Barr around March 27 – is essentially proof that the attorney general lied under oath on April 10 when he testified that he didn’t know how Mueller felt about his summary of the special counsel’s findings.
“If Mueller called Barr and wrote Barr a letter right after Barr put out his supposed summary of what Mueller found … why is it that a few weeks later, April 10th, Barr testified under oath in the U.S. Senate that he had no idea whether or not Mueller … had any objections whatsoever with how Barr had handled his findings?” Maddow asked.
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Rachel Maddow says Mueller’s letter shows that Barr wasn’t being honest in his testimony to Congress. #ctl #p2 #maddow pic.twitter.com/Rrbtv0b5UZ
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) May 1, 2019
Maddow said:
If this is, in fact, what happened, if Mueller called Barr and wrote Barr a letter right after Barr put out his supposed summary of what Mueller found and said, hey, you are getting it wrong, that is not what we found at all. If we can’t trust you to accurately summarize our materials, then put out our own materials. Here’s the summary. They’re redacted for public view. Send these out. If that conversation happened, both in writing and then on the phone between Mueller and Barr, on or about the 27th of March, why is it that a few weeks later, April 10th, Barr testified under oath in the U.S. Senate that he had no idea whether or not Mueller had any problem whatsoever, whether he had any objections whatsoever with how Barr had handled his findings?
Mueller’s letter shows Bill Barr committed perjury
There is no other way to put this: William Barr lied under oath when he testified that he didn’t know how Mueller felt about his handling of the Russia report. He committed perjury.
Here is Barr saying on April 10 that he had no idea whether special counsel Bob Mueller supported his conclusions laid out in his four-page summary, even though Mueller had clearly voiced his disapproval two weeks earlier.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen: “Did Bob Mueller support your conclusion?”
Attorney General William Barr: “I don’t know whether Bob Mueller supported my conclusion” https://t.co/iGzcVqdti6 pic.twitter.com/trHEkabenA
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 10, 2019
As historian Michael Beschloss pointed out on Tuesday, Richard Nixon’s attorney general, John Mitchell, was convicted and went to prison for perjury, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
It’s time for William Barr to face the consequences for his disturbingly similar behavior.
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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.
