2020 Democrats call for William Barr to resign after Mueller report hearing

Several Senate Democrats running for president wasted little time Wednesday calling for Attorney General William Barr to resign after his hearing about the Mueller report. Barr often clashed with Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, as they criticized his conduct and handling of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings.

“What I just saw from the Attorney General is unacceptable. Barr must resign now,” Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who questioned Barr on Wednesday, said on Twitter.

In comments after the hearing, Harris focused on how Barr revealed that he did not review the underlying evidence Mueller’s team used to draw its conclusions for the report submitted to the Justice Department. 

“No prosecutor worth her salt would make a decision about whether the President of the United States was involved in an obstruction of justice without reviewing the evidence. This attorney general lacks all credibility, and has I think compromised the American public’s ability to believe that he is a purveyor of justice,” said Harris, who is a former attorney general of California.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who also questioned Barr on the committee, wrote on Twitter: “Attorney General Barr answers to the American people—not to President Trump—and over the past 24 hours it’s become clear that he lied to us and mishandled the Mueller Report. He needs to step down.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, the third Democrat on the committee who’s running in 2020, did not push for Barr’s resignation but still condemned his conduct:

Some 2020 Senate Democrats who aren’t on the committee joined the calls for Barr’s exit. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said, “Attorney General Barr needs to resign. Today, he’s proven once again that he’s more interested in protecting the president than working for the American people. We can’t trust him to tell the truth, and these embarrassing displays of propaganda have to stop.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who is also running for president, said Barr is “a disgrace” and even called for his impeachment. “He should resign—and based on the actual facts in the Mueller report, Congress should begin impeachment proceedings against the President,” she said.

These senators were joined by some other Democrats who aren’t in the 2020 race. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said the day before the hearing that Barr should step down. Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii told Barr to his face during questioning that he should resign. 

“Now the American people know that you are no different from Rudy Giuliani, or Kellyanne Conway, or any of the other people who sacrificed their once-decent reputation for the grifter and liar who sits in the Oval Office,” she said to Barr during the hearing. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the committee’s chairman, told Hirono she had “slandered” Barr.

Barr has given no indication that he intends to leave the job. The Justice Department did not immediately comment.

The attorney general appeared before the committee for his first congressional testimony since the conclusion of Mueller’s report. Mueller concluded that the Trump campaign did not conspire with Russia in the 2016 election, but he drew no conclusion as to whether the president obstructed justice during the investigation. Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined, based on Mueller’s report, that Trump did not commit obstruction.

The committee’s Democrats focused on the Mueller’s report description of instances when Trump may have obstructed justice. They accused Barr of overlooking or minimizing those actions, including Trump’s attempts to influence witnesses and pull Mueller off the probe.

Democrats also zeroed in on a letter from Mueller objecting to Barr’s four-page summary of the investigation’s findings, which Barr put out nearly four weeks before releasing a redacted version of Mueller’s 448-page report. Mueller wrote that Barr’s summary “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office’s work and conclusions.”

In his testimony, Barr defended his rulings and said Trump did nothing that impeded the investigation or exceeded his constitutional authorities. At one point, Barr explained his thinking behind deciding that Trump did not obstruct justice. He argued that the president has the authority to step in on an investigation “based on false allegations.”

“The president does not have to sit there, constitutionally, and allow it to run its course,” Barr said. “The president could terminate that proceeding and it would not be a corrupt intent because he was being falsely accused, and he could be worried about the impact on his administration.

Referring to alleged Russian collusion, Barr added, “We now know that he was being falsely accused.” 

Hours after Wednesday’s hearing, Barr declined to voluntarily appear before a House Judiciary Committee hearing that was set for Thursday. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice confirmed the news, and called the conditions placed on the hearing “unprecedented and unnecessary.”

Speaking at a press conference addressing the matter, Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said that Barr could be held in contempt of court if he fails to produce the unredacted Mueller report over the next few days and that the committee may issue a subpoena compelling him to testify.