Barr Seeks to Assure He is Independent 01/16 06:09

   Vowing "I will not be bullied," President Donald Trump's nominee for 
attorney general asserted independence from the White House, saying he believed 
that Russia had tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, that the 
special counsel investigation shadowing Trump is not a witch hunt and that his 
predecessor was right to recuse himself from the probe.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vowing "I will not be bullied," President Donald Trump's 
nominee for attorney general asserted independence from the White House, saying 
he believed that Russia had tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential 
election, that the special counsel investigation shadowing Trump is not a witch 
hunt and that his predecessor was right to recuse himself from the probe.

   The comments by William Barr at his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday 
pointedly departed from Trump's own views and underscored Barr's efforts to 
reassure Democrats that he will not be a loyalist to a president who has 
appeared to demand it from law enforcement. He also repeatedly sought to 
assuage concerns that he might disturb or upend special counsel Robert 
Mueller's investigation as it reaches its final stages.

   Some Democrats are concerned about that very possibility, citing a memo Barr 
wrote to the Justice Department before his nomination in which he criticized 
Mueller's investigation for the way it was presumably looking into whether 
Trump had obstructed justice.

   Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary 
Committee, told Barr the memo showed "a determined effort, I thought, to 
undermine Bob Mueller." The nominee told senators he was merely trying to 
advise Justice Department officials against "stretching the statute beyond what 
was intended" to conclude the president had obstructed justice.

   Though Barr said an attorney general should work in concert with an 
administration's policy goals, he broke from some Trump talking points, 
including the mantra that the Russia probe is a witch hunt, and said he frowned 
on "Lock Her Up" calls for Hillary Clinton. Trump has equivocated on Russian 
meddling in the 2016 election and assailed and pushed out his first attorney 
general, Jeff Sessions, for recusing because of his work with the Trump 
campaign.

   Barr stated without hesitation that it was in the public interest for 
Mueller to finish his investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated 
with the Kremlin to sway the presidential election. He said he would resist any 
order by Trump to fire Mueller without cause and called it "unimaginable" that 
Mueller would do anything to require his termination.

   "I believe the Russians interfered or attempted to interfere with the 
election, and I think we have to get to the bottom of it," Barr said during the 
nine-hour hearing.

   He said that, at 68 years old and partially retired, he felt emboldened to 
"do the right thing and not really care about the consequences." If a president 
directs an attorney general to do something illegal, he said, an attorney 
general must resign.

   "I will not be bullied into doing anything that I think is wrong by anybody, 
whether it be editorial boards or Congress or the president," Barr said.

   Consumed by the partial government shutdown, Trump remained out of sight at 
the White House but also kept an eye on the news coverage of the hearing and 
told aides he was pleased with how Barr was handling himself, said two White 
House officials and a Republican close to the White House who spoke on 
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal 
conversations.

   On other topics, Barr echoed in part Trump's hardline immigration stance and 
said the Justice Department would not go after marijuana companies in states 
where the drug is legal. He also would not rule out jailing reporters for doing 
their jobs, saying he could envision circumstances where a journalist could be 
held in contempt "as a last resort."

   Barr's hearing continues Wednesday with a lineup of character witnesses, 
including former Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

   Barr's confirmation is likely, given that Republicans control the Senate. 
Even some Democrats have been looking to move on from acting Attorney General 
Matthew Whitaker, who declined to remove himself the Russia probe and has faced 
scrutiny over his private dealings.

   But he nonetheless faced skeptical questions from Democrats over whether he 
could oversee without bias or interference the remainder of Mueller's probe.

   Feinstein said the nominee's past rhetoric in support of expansive 
presidential powers "raises a number of serious questions about your views on 
executive authority and whether the president is, in fact, above the law." 
Barr, responding with a more moderate view, said he believed a president who 
ordered an attorney general to halt an investigation would be committing an 
"abuse of power" if not necessarily a crime.

   Barr said under questioning from Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, that 
he wouldn't interfere with a Mueller request to subpoena Trump for his 
testimony "if there was a factual basis." But he also said he saw no reason to 
change Justice Department legal opinions that have held that a sitting 
president cannot be indicted.

   Barr called Mueller a friend of 30 years and said "it is vitally important" 
that Mueller be allowed to complete his investigation.

   "I don't believe Mr. Mueller would be involved in a witch hunt," he said 
when asked by the panel's Republican chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South 
Carolina.

   The special counsel is required to report his findings confidentially to the 
Justice Department. Barr said he then expected to produce his own report to 
Congress and said it was his goal to release as much information as possible to 
the public, though he stopped short of a direct pledge. He also noted the 
Justice Department does not typically disclose information about people it 
decides not to prosecute.

   He disclosed having discussed Mueller with Trump during a meeting in 2017 
when Barr declined to join his legal team. He said he and his wife had been 
"sort of looking forward to a bit of respite and I didn't want to stick my head 
into that meat grinder."

   Trump wanted to know what Mueller, who worked for Barr when he led the 
Justice Department between 1991 and 1993, was like.

   "He was interested in that, wanted to know what I thought about Mueller's 
integrity and so forth and so on," Barr said. "I said Bob is a straight shooter 
and should be dealt with as such."

   He also defended his decision to send an unsolicited memo to the Justice 
Department in which he criticized as "fatally misconceived" the theory of 
obstruction that Mueller appeared to be pursuing with regard to Trump, 
including investigation into his president's firing of former FBI director 
James Comey.

   He said he raised his concerns at a lunch with the deputy attorney general, 
Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller. Rosenstein didn't respond and was 
"sphinxlike," Barr recalled. He followed up with the memo in June. Barr sent 
the document to White House lawyers and discussed it with Trump's personal 
attorneys and a lawyer representing Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, among 
others.

   Barr said the memo was narrowly focused on a single theory of obstruction 
that media reports suggested Mueller might be considering.

   He said he would consult with ethics officials on whether he would need to 
recuse because of the memo but the decision would be ultimately his.


(KA)