Following their failed attempt to destroy President Donald Trump through fake Russia collusion accusations, congressional Democrats are blaming Attorney General William Barr for their present misfortunes and have even threatened to charge him with perjury.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal is leading this effort, publicly asserting that Barr’s “credibility was shredded” following his Wednesday testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Perjury trap
“Perjury depends on intent as much as the substance of a response, and I think he ought to be given further opportunity to explain, but it comes very close to the line if it doesn’t cross it,” Blumenthal said Thursday on CNN’s New Day.
Blumenthal even accused Barr of making the U.S. more vulnerable to Russian election interference.
“Barr was very dismissive, like his boss, on the continuing threat of Russian attacks on this country,” the senator said. “So I would want to know from both Mueller and Barr whether they’re committed to additional measures to stop continuing Russian interference in our elections.”
In the House of Representatives, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly said in a private meeting that Barr may have committed a “crime,” though she walked back that accusation when commenting on his conduct in public. She took to Twitter to excoriate the Senate’s witness.
“Nobody is above the law — especially not the attorney general,” the House speaker tweeted. “AG Barr’s decision to lie to Congress is deadly serious.”
Nothing to hide
Democrats are taking exception with Barr’s declaration that he was unaware of Mueller’s opinion regarding his conclusion that Trump did not obstruct justice. They also believe the attorney general may have perjured himself by saying he was unaware that Mueller was frustrated with the “context” of his summary report, which was released weeks before the full special counsel report was published.
However, according to the Washington Post’s exclusive report detailing Mueller’s concerns, the special counsel wasn’t frustrated with Barr, but with the mainstream media’s coverage of the preliminary report. In a call to Barr, “Mueller said he was concerned that media coverage of the obstruction investigation was misguided and creating public misunderstandings about the office’s work.”
“When Barr pressed Mueller on whether he thought Barr’s memo to Congress was inaccurate, Mueller said he did not but felt that the media coverage of it was misinterpreting the investigation,” the Post further explained.
With that, there is nothing to suggest that Barr perjured himself by saying that he didn’t know how Mueller felt about his obstruction conclusions. The Democrats don’t have a case.
Political circus
Meanwhile, the establishment press is completely blind to the fact that it is they who are Mueller’s source of irritation.
“Bill Barr probably didn’t perjure himself,” a Salon article contends, “but he’s in big trouble anyway.”
Indeed, House Democrats have said that they may hold Barr in contempt of Congress after he refused to attend a House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday. But who can blame Barr from wanting to avoid another political circus?
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