Attorney General William Barr said Monday that he was “appalled” by Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide over the weekend, but urged that the millionaire pedophile’s co-conspirators “should not rest easy.”
Read the full story
Attorney General William Barr ruled Monday that being a member of a family harassed by gangs is not enough to qualify for asylum.
Read the full story
The Antitrust Division of the Justice Department is setting its sights on big tech firms like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon in announcing a review of potentially anticompetitive activities that could be limiting consumer choices, hurting small businesses and some say even engaging in censorship.
Read the full story
by GianCarlo Canaparo Speaking from the Rose Garden on Thursday, President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr accepted that they couldn’t put the citizenship question on the 2020 census. Barr said that the administration would have won the lawsuits, but that “logistical impediments” made it impossible to win the cases in time for the census. For two examples of these logistical impediments, have a look at these unusual orders by Judge Jesse Furman and Judge George Hazel, who are overseeing the census lawsuits. In their orders, they ruled that the Department of Justice can’t use the lawyers of its choosing unless they comply with legally dubious requirements. Last month, the Supreme Court blocked, at least temporarily, the Commerce Department from adding the citizenship question to the census because it suspected Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ stated reasons for doing so had been “contrived.” It sent the case back to the lower courts to investigate that issue. When the case got back to the lower courts, the Department of Justice attorneys representing the government defendants initially said they were giving up the fight and that the Commerce Department would begin printing the census forms without the citizenship question. But the president…
Read the full story
A day after the U.S. House passed a resolution authorizing its committees to take the Trump administration to court and pursue criminal contempt cases to enforce their subpoenas, the House Oversight Committee took the next step. The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday voted in favor of holding Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress because of the Trump administration’s refusal to comply with the committee’s subpoena for information about why a U.S. citizenship question was added to the 2020 census. Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, a vocal supporter of impeaching U.S. President Donald Trump, voted with Democrats. Trump claimed executive privilege Wednesday in refusing to hand over documents to Democratic lawmakers investigating the census question. “I think it’s ridiculous that we would have a census without asking” about citizenship, Trump told reporters at the White House. The House panel’s chairman, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, delayed the contempt vote until later in the day to give the committee’s 42 members time to consider Trump’s executive privilege claim. But he questioned why Trump was asserting executive privilege just before the contempt vote when the subpoenas for information were issued two months ago. ‘Blanket…
Read the full story
by Evie Fordham Republican Michigan Rep. Justin Amash joined with Democrats on the House Oversight Committee to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress Wednesday. Amash was the lone Republican to vote to hold them in contempt for failing to comply with subpoenas related to the contentious citizenship question that the Trump administration wants to add to the 2020 census, reported CBS News. The Department of Justice sent a letter announcing its plans to invoke executive privilege Wednesday morning, so the committee chair, Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, delayed the vote until the afternoon according to CBS Morning. The Supreme Court is considering the question of whether the government may add the citizenship question to the census form. The Trump administration blasted accusations that senior government officials used deception to hide the origins of the citizenship question. Wednesday’s vote was Amash’s latest break with his party. Amash resigned Monday from the House Freedom Caucus even though he was one of its founding members. Amash cited his efforts to not be “a further distraction for the group,” presumably after he said on May 18 that President Donald Trump “engaged in impeachable conduct”…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Tuesday called Attorney General William Barr “the second most dangerous man in the country,” seemingly after President Donald Trump. “We find ourselves, I think, for the first time with an attorney general who really is the president’s defense lawyer and spokesperson, and who’s quite good at it,” Schiff said at an event held by the Council of Foreign Relations. “He is not the sophist that Giuliani is, he’s much more dangerous. And I think he’s the second most dangerous man in the country for that reason,” the Democrat added, referring to Rudy Giuliani, a personal lawyer for Trump. .@RepAdamSchiff on Attorney General William Barr: "I think he's the second most dangerous man in the country." Full video here: https://t.co/rAJ5U6jE9N pic.twitter.com/usWYgN0uGl — CSPAN (@cspan) June 4, 2019 Schiff and other Democrats have accused Barr of stonewalling requests for information from the special counsel’s investigation. He also accused Barr of lying to Congress when he testified in April that he did not know why Robert Mueller, the special counsel, was reportedly frustrated with the rollout of a summary of the special counsel’s report. “When you have an attorney general … that…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross Attorney General William Barr says that official statements about the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation “are just not jiving” with information he has learned during his short stint in office. “I assumed I’d get answers when I went in and I have not gotten answers that are well satisfactory, and in fact probably have more questions,” Barr said in an interview with CBS News, adding that “some of the facts that…I’ve learned don’t hang together with the official explanations of what happened.” “[T]here’s some questions that I think have to be answered, and I have a basis for feeling there has to be a review of this,” he told CBS. Barr is investigating government agencies’ surveillance activities against the Trump campaign, as well as the FBI’s rationale for opening a counterintelligence investigation against Trump associates in July 2016. Barr caused a stir during a Senate hearing on April 9 when he said that he believed that “spying did occur” against the Trump campaign. He has since defended using the term “spying,” saying that there is nothing wrong with intelligence agencies spying. But he said he wants to find out whether there was a proper predicate for…
Read the full story
by Stephen B. Presser The indispensable Victor Davis Hanson recently noted, “Real coups against democracies rarely are pulled off by jack-booted thugs in sunglasses or fanatical mobs storming the presidential palace. More often, they are the insidious work of supercilious bureaucrats, bought intellectuals, toady journalists, and political activists who falsely project that their target might at some future date do precisely what they are currently planning and doing—and that they are noble patriots, risking their lives, careers, and reputations for all of us, and thus must strike first.” He was discussing what we are now beginning to understand was the attempt to oust Donald Trump begun by officials in the Obama Administration, including certainly former FBI Director James Comey, assistant director Andrew McCabe, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI counterintelligence chief Peter Strzok, former FBI attorney Lisa Page, and quite possibly President Obama himself. This will, in the long light of history, be regarded as the greatest misuse of governmental power ever to appear in our politics, and yet there has been very little attention paid to how this could occur and why at this…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross President Donald Trump has directed the heads of several government agencies to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr’s investigation of the origins of the Russia probe. In a memo sent out Thursday, Trump also authorized Barr to declassify documents related to the Russia investigation. The memo grants Barr the authority to “declassify, downgrade, or direct the declassification or downgrading of information or intelligence” related to the Russia probe as he sees fit. Barr has said that he is investigating whether government agencies improperly surveilled members of the Trump campaign. In testimony to Congress, Barr has asserted that the FBI and other agencies spied on the campaign by using informants and surveillance warrants. Trump’s memo directs the heads of several federal agencies, including the CIA, FBI and State Department, to “promptly” provide assistance and information to Barr to complete his review. “Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney General’s investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 Presidential election,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “The Attorney General has also been…
Read the full story
by Kevin Daley Attorney General William Barr condemned the rise of nationwide injunctions Tuesday, saying such sweeping orders undermine the rule of law. Nationwide injunctions prohibit the federal government from enforcing a particular law or policy across the entire country. Progressive cause lawyering groups have used such injunctions to stymie a wide array of Trump policy priorities. “Since President Trump took office, federal district courts have issued 37 nationwide injunctions against the executive branch — that’s more than one a month,” Barr said. “According to the [Justice] Department’s best estimates, courts issued only 27 nationwide injunctions in all of the 20th century,” he added, before bristling at the notion that the disparity is a function of the president’s “lawlessness.” Barr cited the Trump administration’s attempt to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as the starkest example of a nationwide injunction’s harmful effects. After the government took steps to end terminate DACA in 2017, three federal trial judges entered injunctions requiring that Trump maintain the program. Appeals of those injunctions have since reached the Supreme Court, though the justices have declined to broach the issue for months. As a result, Barr says the nationwide injunctions have paralyzed…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross Attorney General William Barr said in an interview that aired Friday that he is investigating what role the Steele dossier played in the Russia probe, and that the salacious document had “a number of clear mistakes.” “It’s a very unusual situation to have opposition research like that, especially one that on its face had a number of clear mistakes and a somewhat jejune analysis,” Barr told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer. “And to use that to conduct counterintelligence against an American political campaign is a strange — would be strange development.” In the interview, Barr spoke at length about an inquiry he launched at the Justice Department into the origins of the Russia investigation. He told The Wall Street Journal in an interview that the investigation is also focusing on what information U.S. intelligence agencies gathered on Trump campaign associates before the FBI formally opened its investigation in July 2016. The FBI relied heavily on the Steele dossier, which was funded by the DNC and Clinton campaign, to obtain surveillance warrants against Carter Page, a Trump campaign adviser. But Republicans have accused the FBI of misleading the surveillance court by relying on the dossier given that its…
Read the full story
On Friday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am-the duo welcomed longtime friend and the King of Boston radio, Howie Carr to the show to discuss current US Attorney John Durham’s history in Boston and his ability to prosecute the former intelligence staff of Comey, Brennan, McCabe and Starck. Towards the end of the show, the men speculated when they might see some indictments and guessed that the spring of 2020 could be the time. Gill: Howie Carr who has been aware of and focused on John Durham for a while who was investigating Whitey Bulger. And then Bob Mueller’s bogus prosecution of several individuals who were jailed improperly. Durham focused the attention that wasn’t the real bad guys. That there was a guy that was an FBI informant that Mueller was covering up for that was the real bad guy. Ultimately John Durham was able to get the folks who were wrongly prosecuted by Mueller released. And Howie Carr in Boston was in the thick of it. Howie, good to have you back with us. Carr: Hey my…
Read the full story
by Henry Rodgers The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for not giving the committee special counsel Robert Mueller’s full, unredacted report. The committee, led by New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, originally gave Barr a deadline of 9 a.m. Monday to turn in the full report with no redactions, which many Republicans believe would be dangerous due to the possibly sensitive material that could be leaked. Nadler scheduled the congressional contempt vote for Wednesday at 10 a.m. All Democrats present voted to advance the vote to hold Barr in contempt of Congress in the procedural vote Wednesday morning. The committee later voted along party lines, with 24 Democrats voting yes for Barr to be held in contempt of Congress. No Republicans joined. Before the vote, The White House said the president would use executive privilege to prevent Democratic lawmakers from getting the materials they’re requesting. “Even in redacted form, the Special Counsel’s report offers disturbing evidence and analysis that President Trump engaged in obstruction of justice at the highest levels. Congress must see the full report and underlying evidence to determine how to best move forward with oversight, legislation,…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross In a little-noticed exchange during his Senate hearing Wednesday, Attorney General William Barr made a surprising disclosure that could allow the public and press to obtain sensitive details about the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. During a back-and-forth with Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, Barr identified Alexander Downer, a former Australian diplomat, as the FBI’s source for the information that sparked the bureau’s counterintelligence investigation into George Papadopoulos and other Trump campaign associates. The federal government had not officially identified Downer as the source until Wednesday. His role in the investigation was publicly known, but only through press reports and his own statements to the media. Federal agencies could deny requests for information about Downer and his role in the opening of “Crossfire Hurricane,” the FBI’s name for the counterintelligence investigation, without official confirmation from U.S. government officials. That all changed on Wednesday, according to Bradley Moss, the deputy executive director of the James Madison Project, a transparency group that handles national security-related lawsuits. “That disclosure by the Attorney General would certainly assist any FOIA litigant seeking additional details about the origins of the Russia investigation, as it appears to be the first time the U.S.…
Read the full story
Attorney General William Barr skipped a House hearing Thursday on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia report, escalating an already acrimonious battle between Democrats and President Donald Trump’s Justice Department. Barr’s decision, made after a disagreement with a House committee over questioning, came the day the department also missed a committee deadline to provide it with a full, unredacted version of Mueller’s report and its underlying evidence. In all, it’s likely to prompt a vote on holding Barr in contempt and possibly the issuance of subpoenas, bringing House Democrats and the Trump administration closer to a prolonged battle in court. As the hearing opened, lawmakers faced an empty chair with a place card set for Barr. Democratic members of the committee had fun with the spectacle, placing a prop chicken by Barr’s microphone – to underscore their contention that he was afraid to appear – and jokingly looking under the desk to make sure he wasn’t there. Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York said that if Barr doesn’t provide the committee “with the information it demands and the respect that it deserves, Mr. Barr’s moment of accountability will come soon enough.” Republicans were not amused by the antics or…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross Special counsel Robert Mueller expressed frustration to William Barr about how the attorney general described the findings of his investigation regarding obstruction of justice to Congress, according to a new report. The Washington Post reported that Mueller sent the letter on March 27, three days after Barr sent a letter of his own to Congress laying out what he said were the principal conclusions of the special counsel’s 22-month investigation. The revelation of Mueller’s letter comes on the eve of Barr’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the special counsel’s probe. Barr said in the March 24 letter that Mueller did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign. More controversially, Barr said that Mueller made no decision on whether charges were warranted against President Trump for obstruction of justice. Mueller neither recommended charges nor exonerated Trump, Barr told lawmakers. But he said that after consulting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Justice Department lawyers, the Justice Department would not pursue a case against Trump, partially because there was no underlying conspiracy claim. President Trump’s supporters touted Barr’s remarks, saying that the Republican was…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday that he was “surprised” that Special Counsel Robert Mueller declined to make a decision on whether President Trump obstructed the Russia probe. During a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Barr said that he was “absolutely” confident in his decision not to pursue an obstruction case against Trump. Mueller ended his 22-month investigation on March 22 without making a decision on the question of obstruction. Barr said in a letter to Congress on March 24 that Mueller was unable to make a decision on obstruction, and would neither recommend charges against Trump nor exonerate him. That left the decision to Barr, who decided after consulting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein not to pursue the obstruction case. “Were you surprised he was going to let you decide?” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham asked Barr of Mueller during the hearing. “Yes, I was surprised,” said Barr. “The other thing that was confusing to me was that the investigation carried on for a while as additional episodes were looked into, episodes involving the president, and so my question was ‘why were those investigated if at the end of the day you…
Read the full story
by Chris White Democratic Rep. Madeline Dean of Pennsylvania likened U.S. Attorney General William Barr to President Donald Trump’s fixer as her party colleagues react to the publication of the report on the Russian investigation. “I think that what we’re seeing is with Attorney General Barr confusion. He’s not acting as the attorney general. In fact, he’s acting, again, maybe like another fixer for the president, like a president’s attorney. And that is not his role,” Dean said Thursday on CNN’s “New Day.” She was reacting to Barr’s decision to conduct a press conference detailing elements of special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year probe. Barr noted at Thursday’s press conference that Mueller’s team found no evidence showing Trump or members of his campaign colluded with Russians to influence the 2016 election. “After nearly two years of investigation, thousands of subpoenas, and hundreds of warrants and witness interviews, the special counsel confirmed that the Russian government-sponsored efforts to illegally interfere with the 2016 presidential election but did not find that the Trump campaign or other Americans colluded in those schemes,” Barr said at a press conference. Barr said Mueller investigated whether members of Trump’s campaign or Trump associates helped in…
Read the full story
by Fred Lucas Attorney General William Barr has announced a new asylum policy to curb the government’s practice of catching illegal immigrants and then releasing them into the nation’s interior. The American Civil Liberties Union already has vowed to challenge the change in court even as President Donald Trump seeks to use all legal tools at his disposal to control the flow of illegal immigrants. BREAKING: Attorney General William Barr tonight directed immigration judges to deny bond hearings to asylum seekers. Our Constitution does not allow the government to lock up asylum seekers without basic due process. We'll see the administration in court. Again. — ACLU (@ACLU) April 17, 2019 The Justice Department contends that the attorney general is enforcing the text of the Immigration and Nationality Act, in line with a Supreme Court ruling last year. Barr is on firm legal ground, the department says, in determining that illegal immigrants who seek asylum are not eligible for release on bond until their case is adjudicated. Barr’s decision is already effective, so the Department of Homeland Security can conduct planning for additional detentions and parole decisions. Here’s three things to know about the attorney general’s decision. 1. How Barr…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross After nearly two years of investigation, a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report is set to be released on Thursday morning. The report, which clocks in at nearly 400 pages, will contain Mueller’s findings about Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. It will also detail the investigation into whether members of the Trump campaign conspired with Russians, and whether President Trump himself attempted to obstruct the FBI’s probe by firing James Comey as FBI director. Attorney General William Barr has already revealed that Mueller & Co. were unable to establish that Trump associates conspired with Russia. But the report will likely shed light on how the investigation unfolded, and what other information was uncovered about any Russian attempts to infiltrate the campaign. Here is a guide for the report’s release. Where will it be released? The Justice Department has said the report will be sent to Congress and made public. It will likely be posted online, and can also be found at DailyCaller.com. What will be in the report? A lot. The report is the product of a 22-month investigation that relied on 2,800 subpoenas, 500 witness interviews, 19 prosecutors, 50 FBI agents…
Read the full story
The U.S. Attorney General on Tuesday struck down a decision that had allowed some asylum-seekers to ask for bond in front of an immigration judge, in a ruling that expands indefinite detention for some migrants who must wait months or years for their cases to be heard. The first immigration court ruling from President Donald Trump’s newly appointed Attorney General William Barr is in keeping with the administration’s moves to clamp down on the asylum process as tens of thousands of mostly Central Americans cross into the United States asking for refuge. U.S. immigration courts are overseen by the Justice Department and the Attorney General can rule in cases to set legal precedent. Barr’s ruling is the latest instance of the Trump administration taking a hard line on immigration. This year the administration implemented a policy to return some asylum-seekers to Mexico while their cases work their way through backlogged courts, a policy that has been challenged with a lawsuit. Several top officials at the Department of Homeland Security were forced out this month over Trump’s frustrations with an influx of migrants seeking refuge at the U.S. southern border. Migrants crossing illegally Barr’s decision applies to migrants who crossed illegally…
Read the full story
by George Ralsey Democrats and their allies in the Leftwing media went nuts after Attorney General William Barr testified that the government did indeed spy on the Trump campaign. “I think spying did occur,” Barr said during an explosive hearing before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee. “The question is whether it was adequately predicated. …Spying on a political campaign is a big deal.” Barr later clarified in the hearing: “I am not saying that improper surveillance occurred; I’m saying that I am concerned about it and looking into it, that’s all,” reported Gregg Re and Brooke Singman of Fox News. These reactions, cited by James S. Robbins in an opinion column for USA Today, are exemplary of the Democrats’ panicked effort to quash any investigation by the Attorney General: Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, took immediate issue with Barr’s word choice, saying “the word ‘spying’ could cause everybody in the cable news ecosystem to freak out.” NBC News’ Chuck Todd said this was a “conspiracy theory” for which there was “zero factual basis.” Furious Democrats on Capitol Hill denounced Barr for even raising the issue. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, (D-NY), tweeted that Barr should “retract his statement immediately…
Read the full story
by Fred Lucas Actions by Justice Department officials in spying on a Donald Trump campaign adviser in 2016 could be a crime or merely an administrative offense, legal experts say. Crimes could include perjury or misleading a court, they say, while disciplinary action for an administrative offense could mean being fired or losing a law license. Testifying last week before two separate congressional panels, Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General report about the surveillance of Trump campaign aide Carter Page will be released in May or June. Barr also indicated that he planned a further review of government “spying” on the Trump campaign. Actions by Justice Department officials in spying on a Donald Trump campaign adviser in 2016 could be a crime or merely an administrative offense, legal experts say. Crimes could include perjury or misleading a court, they say, while disciplinary action for an administrative offense could mean being fired or losing a law license. Testifying last week before two separate congressional panels, Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General report about the surveillance of Trump campaign aide Carter Page will be released in May or June.…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross Attorney General William Barr plans to release a redacted version of the special counsel’s Russia report on Thursday morning, a Justice Department official told reporters. The report is expected to contain redactions for classified information as well as information provided to a grand jury that special counsel Robert Mueller used in his 22-month investigation. The Justice Department is planning to release the 400-page report to both Congress and the public. White House lawyers have reportedly been briefed on the Mueller report, but are not expected to invoke executive privilege to block other information from being released. Barr sent Congress a letter on March 24 summarizing Mueller’s main conclusions. In the letter, Barr said that Mueller did not establish that the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign. Mueller was less decisive on the question of obstruction of justice. Barr said that while Mueller’s team did not recommend charges for obstruction, they also did not exonerate Trump on that question. Barr said that after consulting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Justice Department lawyers, he decided not to pursue an obstruction case. One of his arguments was that since nobody was being charged…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows said Sunday that he expects the Justice Department’s inspector general to issue criminal referrals as part of an investigation into the FBI’s possible abuse of the surveillance courts during the Trump-Russia probe. “We’re fully anticipating that the [inspector general’s] report will come out as Attorney General Barr said in the next four to six weeks, and I think it’s highly likely that we’ll see criminal referrals coming from them that will correspond with what Chairman [Devin] Nunes has already put forth,” Meadows said in an interview on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” Attorney General William Barr told Congress on Tuesday that he expects Michael Horowitz, the inspector general, to issue a report in late May or June. On March 28, 2018, Horowitz opened an investigation into whether the FBI and Justice Department complied with legal requirements to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant against Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Meadows, a close ally of President Trump’s, said that he and Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan met earlier this week with Horowitz. Both have expressed confidence in Horowitz’s work, and have heightened expectations that the investigation will be favorable to Republicans. Meadows…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross Outgoing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Thursday defended Attorney General William Barr against allegations that he is misleading Congress and the public about the special counsel’s Russia report. “He’s being as forthcoming as he can, and so this notion that he’s trying to mislead people, I think is just completely bizarre,” Rosenstein said in a rare interview with The Wall Street Journal. Democrats have accused Barr of releasing misleading information about special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings from his 22-month investigation, which focused on possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, as well as whether President Trump tried to obstruct the probe. Barr sent a letter to Congress on March 24 saying that Mueller was unable to establish that collusion occurred. On the obstruction matter, Barr said that Mueller declined to make a decision one way or the other on whether to recommend a case against Trump. Barr said that he conferred with Rosenstein and Justice Department lawyers and decided against pursuing a case. Barr said that since there was no allegation of conspiracy, Trump had no underlying crime to conceal by obstruction. Democrats heightened their criticism last week after The New York Times reported…
Read the full story
by Robert Romano “I think spying did occur… but the question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated?” That was Attorney General William Barr testifying before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Science and Justice on April 10, acknowledging that the Trump campaign was spied on by the Obama administration during the 2016 election campaign. Barr outlined his impending review of the conduct of the Justice Department, the FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies in launching surveillance and an investigation of the Trump campaign for conspiring with Russia to interfere with the 2016 election — a crime we now know was never committed. And of course spying occurred. The nearly three-year investigation was complete with Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants, approved in federal court, that allowed federal officials to look at Trump campaign emails, listen to phone calls and see other communications. That’s what a FISA warrant does. It’s for surveillance, which is right in the name of the statute. That is spying. What’s worse, the months-long surveillance resulted in individuals being prosecuted for unrelated process crimes and otherwise destroyed people’s lives, only to find out later there was no conspiracy or coordination with Russia after an exhaustive probe…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross Attorney General William Barr dropped a bombshell Wednesday, telling a group of senators that he believes spying against the Trump campaign did take place in 2016. “I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal,” Barr said during an exchange with Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Shaheen asked in a follow-up whether Barr believed the FBI spied on the Trump team. “You’re not suggesting, though, that spying occurred?” Shaheen asked. “I think spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur. But the question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated,” Barr said. “I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicted, but I need to explore that.” Barr was discussing his plans to investigate the FBI’s decision to open a counterintelligence investigation against Trump campaign associates. The bureau used confidential informants and relied heavily on the Democrat-funded Steele dossier as part of the investigation, which was code-named Crossfire Hurricane. President Donald Trump and other Republicans have dubbed the counterintelligence probe “Spygate,” especially regarding the FBI’s use of an informant named Stefan Halper. Halper, a former Cambridge professor, made contact with at least three Trump campaign advisers, Carter…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday that an inspector general’s investigation into whether the FBI abused the surveillance court process during the Russia probe will be completed by May or June. Barr also told lawmakers during a House Appropriations Committee hearing that he is reviewing how the FBI handled the counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign that began in summer 2016. “The office of the inspector general has a pending investigation of the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] process in the Russia investigation. I expect that that will be complete, probably in May or June, I am told,” said Barr. “More generally, I am reviewing the conduct of the investigation and trying to get my arms around all of the aspects of the counterintelligence investigation that was conducted during the summer of 2016,” he added. Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department’s inspector general, began investigating on March 28, 2018 whether the FBI mislead the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in applications for FISA warrants against Carter Page, a Trump campaign adviser. The FBI relied heavily on the Democrat-funded Steele dossier to obtain four FISA warrants against Page. The dossier, authored by a former British spy, alleged that Page acted…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross Attorney General William Barr told Congress Tuesday that the process of reviewing the Mueller report is going along “very well” and that he plans to release the document “within a week.” In testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, Barr also dealt a blow to a Democratic talking point regarding a letter he sent to Congress on March 24 laying out special counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusions. Barr told lawmakers that the Justice Department offered Mueller’s team an opportunity to review his letter to Congress but that the special counsel “declined” the offer. “The letter of the 24th, Mr. Mueller’s team did not play a role in drafting that document, although we offered him the opportunity to review it before we sent it out and he declined that,” Barr said. In that letter, Barr said that Mueller did not find evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government. “The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,” Barr’s letter read. He also said that Mueller was unable to make a case that President Donald Trump obstructed justice, but that the special counsel…
Read the full story
A U.S. House of Representatives committee is set to consider Tuesday whether to issue subpoenas to Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross seeking documents related to the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the country’s 2020 census. Ross said last year he made the decision based on a request from the Justice Department to better enforce the Voting Rights Act. But states and rights groups have challenged the move, arguing it would discourage immigrants from participating, and thus result in undercounting how many people live in certain parts of the country. The census is meant to include every person in the United States at the time, no matter their citizenship or immigration status. An accurate count is important, with the results used for a number of purposes such as determining how many congressional representatives are apportioned to each state, how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending is allocated, and how local jurisdictions make decisions such as where to build a new road or school. The House Oversight Committee is discussing a resolution from Chairman Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, to subpoena from Barr and Ross documents and communications about the request to…
Read the full story
U.S. Attorney General William Barr said on Friday the Justice Department is preparing a redacted version of the special counsel’s nearly 400-page confidential report on the Russia investigation and will be in a position to release it by mid-April, if not sooner. In a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary committees, Barr wrote that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is assisting the Justice Department in scrubbing the report of secret grand jury material and other confidential information. “Our progress is such that I anticipate we will be in a position to release the report by mid-April, if not sooner,” Barr wrote in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. But Barr said he does not plan to share the report with the White House to get President Donald Trump’s greenlight, noting that Trump has left it up to him to release it in whatever form he deems appropriate. “Although the president would have the right to assert privilege over certain parts of the report, he has stated publicly that he intends to defer to me and, accordingly, there are no…
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) stated her defense of Attorney General William Barr and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report results in an op-ed with Fox News on Tuesday. Blackburn tweeted,”AG Barr’s conclusions to Congress this weekend about the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe rang loud and clear. President Trump didn’t collude or conspire with Russian agents to win the 2016 election. Read op-ed for @FoxNews here:”. AG Barr’s conclusions to Congress this weekend about the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe rang loud and clear. President Trump didn’t collude or conspire with Russian agents to win the 2016 election. Read op-ed for @FoxNews here: https://t.co/47oHupFbQR — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) March 26, 2019 Blackburn’s op-ed is available in its entirety here. Her op-ed began: No collusion. No obstruction. Attorney General Bill Barr’s conclusions to Congress this weekend about the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe rang loud and clear. President Trump didn’t collude or conspire with Russian agents to win the 2016 election. After an exhaustive review of the record, both Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined the evidence was “not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.” Barr’s decision to include…
Read the full story
by Tim Pearce Six Democratic committee chairmen are demanding Attorney General William Barr turn over the full grand jury report on Russian interference in the 2016 election to Congress by April 2. The Democratic chairmen of the House Judiciary, Oversight, Intelligence, Financial Services, Ways and Means, and Foreign Affairs Committees cosigned a letter to Barr Monday, a day after Barr detailed the major findings of the report to Congress, Axios reported. The grand jury report, put together by special counsel Robert Mueller, found no evidence that President Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with Russian agents to influence the 2016 presidential election, putting to rest a rampant conspiracy theory that has captivated network news outlets, journalists, pundits and politicians for two years. “Your March 24 letter concerning Special Counsel Mueller’s report leaves open many questions concerning the conduct of the President and his closest advisors, as well as that of the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election,” the letter begins. “Accordingly, we formally request that you release the Special Counsel’s full report to Congress no later than Tuesday, April 2.” The group of Democratic chairmen, made up of Reps. Jerry Nadler and Eliot Engel of New York, Elijah…
Read the full story
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) has been a critic of President Donald Trump all throughout his presidency, and through his position on the House Judiciary Committee, has been one of the leading Democrats obsessing over the Robert Mueller investigation, which has now concluded. Cohen does not seem to be giving up. Cohen is calling for grilling Mueller in front of the House Judiciary Committee and is dismissing Attorney General William Barr’s statement showing that Mueller’s probe cleared the president. Cohen tweeted, “Barr didn’t make his decision on obstruction after reading the #MuellerReport; he made it in 2018 when he wrote a memo to the DOJ stating that the president couldn’t be charged with obstruction of justice. He’s not a neutral observer! #CultureOfCorruption #ReleaseTheReport” Barr didn’t make his decision on obstruction after reading the #MuellerReport; he made it in 2018 when he wrote a memo to the DOJ stating that the president couldn’t be charged with obstruction of justice. He’s not a neutral observer! #CultureOfCorruption #ReleaseTheReport pic.twitter.com/eCdxAFcVxX — Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) March 25, 2019 Cohen’s tweet links to his appearance on MSNBC Sunday. He said, “First Mueller was not making a traditional prosecutorial judgment. Those are very interesting words. And then as…
Read the full story
U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) said “Democrats talk tough” when it comes to Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential elections, but they are only after President Donald Trump, who has acted to counter that nation’s aggression. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation found no evidence President Donald Trump, his campaign or associates conspired or coordinated with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, according to a summary released Sunday by Attorney General William Barr, as The Tennessee Star reported. Green tweeted, “Democrats talk tough, but their actions reveal they’re interested only in “getting” Donald Trump. GOP has long seen Russia as a threat, and we – including the president – have acted to counter its aggression. Read my thoughts via @WSJopinion” Democrats talk tough, but their actions reveal they’re interested only in “getting” Donald Trump. GOP has long seen Russia as a threat, and we—including the president—have acted to counter its aggression. Read my thoughts via @WSJopinion https://t.co/sdfaOZJLIa — Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) March 25, 2019 Green’s tweet links to an op-ed he wrote in the Wall Street Journal, which is also available here. Green said that threats by House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff to investigate Mueller’s investigation…
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) praised Attorney General William Barr for quickly releasing the summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings to Congress that show President Donald Trump did not collude with Russia. Mueller’s investigation found no evidence President Donald Trump, his campaign or associates conspired or coordinated with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, according to a summary released Sunday by Attorney General William Barr, The Tennessee Star reported. Blackburn tweeted her statement. My statement on today’s letter from Attorney General Barr: pic.twitter.com/1xpZQDtWdZ — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) March 25, 2019 Blackburn’s statement reads: “After two years of thorough investigation, led by a team of 19 lawyers and 40 FBI employees, costing over $25 million in taxpayer dollars, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusions confirm that President Trump’s campaign did not collude with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. “Attorney General Bill Barr, in a jointly reached conclusion with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, determined the evidence from the Special Counsel report was ‘not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.’ “Attorney General Barr is to be commended for his quick release of the findings to Congress as well as his commitment to continue reviewing…
Read the full story
by Chuck Ross Special counsel Robert Mueller will not issue any additional indictments in the Russia investigation and has not filed any charges under seal, a senior Justice Department official told news outlets Friday. The revelation would seem to be a positive sign for President Donald Trump and several Trump associates who faced legal jeopardy in the Mueller probe. It also means no Trump associates will face charges related to the main focus of the special counsel’s investigation: whether Trump of members of his campaign conspired with Russians to influence the 2016 election. Mueller was appointed special counsel on May 17, 2017. In those 22 months, Mueller has indicted or obtained guilty pleas from six Trump associates, most recently Jan. 24 against longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone. None of the Trump associates faced charges related to contacts with Russia. Mueller provided a report of his investigation Friday to Attorney General William Barr, signaling the end of the probe. Barr notified the leaders of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees that he had received the report and would likely provide more details to Congress over the weekend. Trump critics have long speculated that Mueller would release a slew of indictments…
Read the full story
Matthew Whitaker, whose brief tenure as acting U.S. attorney general was marred by accusations he might try to interfere in a probe of President Donald Trump’s campaign, left his Justice Department job over the weekend, a department spokeswoman confirmed on Monday. Whitaker’s last day at the department was on Saturday, the spokeswoman said, adding she did not know where he might be headed next. In mid-February, Attorney General William Barr was sworn in and Whitaker stepped down from the top post to become a senior counselor in the office of the associate attorney general. In one of his final acts as acting attorney general, Whitaker testified before the House Judiciary Committee, where combative Democratic lawmakers pressed him on whether he had tried to interfere with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia. Whitaker denied any interference and said he had not talked to Trump about the probe. Trump has denied colluding with Russia and has repeatedly called Mueller’s investigation a “witch hunt.” Whitaker first joined the Justice Department as former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ chief of staff in the autumn of 2017. Trump handpicked him as acting attorney general in November after the president ousted…
Read the full story
by Kevin Daley The Senate confirmed William Barr as the new attorney general Thursday afternoon, returning Barr for a second tour atop the Department of Justice. The confirmation vote largely followed party lines — GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against confirmation given Barr’s views on domestic surveillance and the Fourth Amendment. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Doug Jones of Alabama, and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona broke with their party and supported Barr. Barr previously served as attorney general in the George H. W. Bush administration from 1991 to 1993. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called Barr’s confirmation “a major victory for justice and the rule of law in America” in a Thursday afternoon tweet. Conservative groups were equally enthusiastic. The Judicial Crisis Network’s Carrie Severino predicted Barr would serve “with integrity and independence, bringing a wealth of experience to this position.” Democratic opposition to Barr was largely a function of his refusal to commit to releasing the special counsel’s comprehensive report of his two-year probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Democrats fear Barr could redact significant portions of the report, or support White House efforts to invoke executive privilege over other…
Read the full story
by Julie Kelly After what seemed to be a done deal following a relatively smooth public hearing last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee now has delayed until February 7 the vote to confirm William Barr, President Trump’s nominee for attorney general. The reason, according to news reports, is lingering concerns about how Trump’s incoming attorney general would manage the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which is soon expected to conclude. Despite Barr’s repeated assurances that he will follow Justice Department rules in his handling of Mueller’s final report, as well as a pledge to resist any attempted interference by the White House, Democrats on the committee remain unconvinced. “[Barr’s] answer was not particularly reassuring or clear as to the public disclosure of the Mueller report,” Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell earlier this week. Democrats also have accused Barr of bias against the Mueller investigation based on a detailed memo he authored last year that objected to the special counsel’s reported interest in whether President Trump obstructed justice. Some have suggested Barr should recuse himself from the investigation, which would be a repeat of a terrible mistake made by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2017. The committee’s vote is scheduled to take…
Read the full story
by Fred Lucas William Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee he wouldn’t be intimidated by anyone, including President Donald Trump, who nominated him to serve as attorney general. “I am not going to do anything that I think is wrong, and I will not be bullied into doing anything I think is wrong. By anybody. Whether it be editorial boards, or Congress, or the president,” Barr said Tuesday in response to questions by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. “I’m going to do what I think is right,” he said. Barr testified all day before the Senate committee, talking about issues ranging from abortion and the First Amendment to Hillary Clinton and the controversial Uranium One deal. Here are seven big takeaways from the first of two days of confirmation hearings for Barr. 1. ‘You’re Crazy’: On Independence Much of the questioning from senators revolved around special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and Moscow’s potential ties to the Trump campaign. Barr’s general assertion of independence, however, could affect more issues if he is confirmed, as expected. Having served already as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush from November 1991 through January 1993 allows him…
Read the full story
by Julie Kelly Those of us who have closely followed the unfolding scandal at the Justice Department— particularly how the FBI abused its power not only to spy on the Trump presidential campaign but also on the president himself—have been frustrated with the inaction both of the White House and Congress. Documents have not been declassified as promised; letters by top lawmakers have gone unanswered with no consequence; and not one perpetrator in the biggest political scandal in history has been held accountable. The New York Times over the weekend confirmed the worst suspicions: Andrew McCabe, a disgraced FBI official caught lying to federal investigators and fired by Trump, and his corrupt lackeys opened up a criminal and counterintelligence probe into President Trump on the flimsiest of evidence in May 2017. Further, statements from William Barr, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, seem to indicate he would be deferential to Special Counsel Robert Mueller rather than focus on the real scandal. It was unclear whether a change in leadership at the Justice Department and on the Senate Judiciary Committee (Lindsey Graham took the reins from Charles Grassley this year) would restart stalled congressional inquiries. A Clean-Up Pledge But Barr’s confirmation…
Read the full story
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) issued a statement Wednesday night after she and her Democratic colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee were apparently denied meetings with President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, William Barr. Barr is set to testify before the committee this week, but it is already shaping up to be another controversial nomination process. Klobuchar says she has concerns about an unsolicited memo Barr sent to the Justice Department in June 2018 in which he raised doubts about the scope of Robert Mueller’s investigation. “Mueller should not be permitted to demand that the president submit to interrogation about alleged obstruction. Apart from whether Mueller [has] a strong enough factual basis for doing so, Mueller’s obstruction theory is fatally misconceived,” Barr wrote. Klobuchar told Rolling Stone that she has additional concerns with Barr’s alleged failure to submit all of his ethics reports to the Senate Judiciary Committee. When she and her colleagues sought to meet with Barr to discuss these concerns, Klobuchar claims they were brushed off. “I tried (as did Blumenthal) to get meeting w/AG nominee Barr and was told he couldn’t meet until after hearing. The reason given? The shutdown. Yet shutdown didn’t stop him from other…
Read the full story
by Kevin Daley Attorney General nominee William Barr sent a memo to the Department of Justice criticizing special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, particularly those aspects of the probe relating to obstruction of justice in June. The unsolicited document, whose existence was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, argues President Donald Trump’s dismissal of former FBI Director James Comey does not rise to obstruction of justice, since the president was carrying out his constitutional responsibilities. “As I understand it, [Mueller’s] theory is premised on a novel and legally insupportable reading of the law,” Barr wrote. “Moreover, in my view, if credited by the Justice Department, it would have grave consequences far beyond the immediate confines of this case and would do lasting damage to the presidency and to the administration of law within the executive branch.” Barr conceded a sitting president could obstruct justice by destroying evidence or tampering with witnesses, according to the Journal. Still, he insisted that the president cannot commit obstruction of justice when exercising his lawful powers. Elsewhere in the memo, he warned that moving against Trump based on an inventive theory of criminal liability would inflame much of the country and compromise faith in…
Read the full story
by Fred Lucas William Barr is a former U.S. attorney general, an advocate of investigating Hillary Clinton, and a bagpipe player for 60 years. President Donald Trump announced Friday that he would nominate Barr, 68, to serve again as attorney general. He previously served in the position from November 1991 to January 1993 under President George H.W. Bush, who died Nov. 30 and was laid to rest Thursday. In confirming to reporters outside the White House that he would nominate Barr, Trump called the lawyer and former business leader “one of the most respected jurists in the country,” a “highly respected lawyer,” and “a terrific man, a terrific person, a brilliant man.” Already, some Democrats are criticizing Barr for comments he has made in media interviews and op-eds. If confirmed by the Senate, Barr would succeed acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who took over after Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “I did not know him until recently when I went through the process of looking at people, and he was my first choice from Day One,” Trump said of Barr. “Respected by Republicans and respected by Democrats, he will be nominated for the United States attorney general.” Here…
Read the full story
Saturday, President Trump told reporters Chief of Staff John Kelly and he would be parting ways at the end of the year. President Trump added the White House would be making an announcement “in the next day or two” with who would replace the retired Marine general – but added that replacement may be temporary. The staff announcement comes on the heels of other high-profile personnel changes as the president faces a new Democrat majority in the House of Representatives in January, while also gearing up for what political experts promise will be an all-out politial war for the Senate and the Presidency in 2020. News broke last week that Army General Mark Milley will replace Marine General Joseph Dunford as President Trump’s top military advisor. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert is set to replace outgoing United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, while former Bush 41 Attorney General William Barr will be nominated to serve as the nation’s ‘top cop’ once again. President Trump’s remarks were made on the White House lawn at an informal press gaggle as he was leaving to attend the annual Army-Navy football game being held in Philadelphia. A short time later Trump – an avid sports…
Read the full story