You then delay the full report, leaving america in peoples doing with their misleading summary of support of President Trumps bogus claims that there was no collusion or obstruction. You repeat the claims today that there was no basis to the investigation and it was politically motivated and calling it the russiagate scandal. 2019, the Justice Departments own Inspector General, michael horowitz, found it had been initiated without political bias and appropriately. A. G. Barr no. That was not mr. Horwitzs finding . A. G. Barr no. You are wrong. A. G. Barr he said he found reclaiming my time, without political bias. Reclaiming my time, in april of this year, the Republicanled Senate Intelligence Committee unanimously found that russia interfered with our elections and attempted to undermine american democracy, correct customer correct . A. G. Barr i said so, too. Is it ever appropriate for a president to accept foreign assistance in an election . A. G. Barr it depends on the assistance. Is it ever appropriate for the president president ial candidate except or solicit foreign assistance of any kind in his or her election . A. G. Barr no, it is not appropriate. I saw you had to struggle with that one, mr. Attorney general. Lets turn to the First Amendment. Americans have been exercising their First Amendment rights peacefully protest Police Brutality against black people. I listen to you this morning and read your statement, and we are aware of individuals engaging in violent acts. We agree that is wrong, but there was a lot missing from your statement. As you have seen, a vast majority of protesters are peaceful, and despite that, unidentified federal agents have attempted to prevent peaceful americans from exercising the First Amendment rights, even using unmarked vehicles to grab protesters off the street and using teargas ammunitions against them. You forcefully condemned protesters this morning. Let me ask you, i have you not condemned the federal officers standing in the cities without proper training for attempting to take away the Constitutional Rights of americans peacefully protesting . A. G. Barr i have not condemned protesters. Protesters are good. They are part of the First Amendment. What i am condemning is people committing crimes. We agree. Do you think it is appropriate for officers to use force against Peaceful Protesters, yes or no . A. G. Barr not against Peaceful Protesters. You also do not mention in your testimony that underwrote officers have even tear grassed elective representative teargas elected representatives. Onewest teargas by a federal occupying force. They saw them throw canisters of poison in a nonviolent crowd, including elders and the vulnerable. On july 23, mayor wheeler said he was teargas and calls their acts aboard. These are elected representatives with grave concerns that officers are using these tactics, including teargassing nonviolent, elderly american. Do you ever think it is appropriate to use teargas on Peaceful Protesters, yes or no . A. G. Barr the problem in these things sometimes occurs because it is hard to separate my question is specific. Do you everything it is appropriate to use teargas on Peaceful Protesters, yes or no . A. G. Barr it is appropriate to use teargas when it is indicated on Peaceful Protesters . A. G. Barr an Unlawful Assembly and unfortunately, Peaceful Protesters are affected by it. There is video evidence, as well. I will ask you to look at this video. [video clip] video capturing the nations attention this weekend. David, video is of super a navy veteran, being beaten and tear gassed by officers. Do you think that was appropriate . A. G. Barr i did not see the teargas. There seems to be gas in the area. I do not know what kind of gas and i do not know it was directed at him. Do you think it was appropriate . A. G. Barr the Inspector General is reviewing that. Do you think you deserve to get pepper spray and beaten to the point of broken bones . A. G. Barr the Inspector General will review the incident. As the top lawenforcement official in our country, do you think peaceful american protesters deserve to be beaten, pepper spray and have their bones broken by federal officers . A. G. Barr i do not think what was happening immediately around the courthouse was a peaceful protest. That is not my question. My question is, reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time, mr. Barr. Do you think as the top Law Enforcement official in this country, that americans who show up easily protest should be expected to be beaten, and have their bones broken by federal officials and pepper spray . A. G. Barr i do not think Peaceful Protesters should face that. Is this detecting the First Amendment of freedom for americans at least as important as protecting a building from vandalism i have not closed the question. You are attempting to take it away and what is worse is for the sole purpose of furthering the president s political agenda. The Justice Department is responsible for protecting the Constitutional Rights for americans and not to serve as the president s personal bully. It is worth remembering every separate jet and person who marched to end child labor and abolitionist who marched to and slavery was a protester. It transformed us from colonists into a nation of protesters. They are deep american examples of values, and a desire for the country to be at its best self. One of americas most beloved and effective protesters, john lewis, lies in state 1008 from here in a deserved race of honor. Sir, your failure to respect Peaceful Protesters in this country is a disgrace, and american in, and it is important to remember what they are about, black lives matter. Abuse at the hands of police on black americans. One to you to see a video that fairly represents peaceful protests happening across america that you conveniently omitted your testimony and statement. There was a nine minute video shown by the other side. It is not online, only part of it. [video clip] hands up, please do not shoot me. Hands up, please do not shoot me hands of, please do not shoot me hands up, please do not shoot me hands up, please do not shoot me hands up, please do not shoot me hands up, please do not shoot me hands up, please do not shoot me hands up, please do not shoot me mr. Chairman, real quick, i do not think we have ever had a hearing where the witness was not allowed to respond to points made, questions asked, and attacks made. Not just in this hearing or committee but every committee i have in on, particularly when you think about the fact that we have the attorney general of the United States here. The gentleman does not have time. I do not want the time but i went there attorney general to have enough time to respond to accusations and russians asked of him and you not cut him and questions asked of him and not you cut him off. What you want is irrelevant of the rules. Mr. Chairman, am i going to get an additional 2. 5 minutes that he had . The gentleman is recognized. You foral barr, thank your service to our country and your continued service to ensure our country is safe. I encourage you to ignore the mob. These attacks from, kratz and the left wing biased, mainstream media. Be strong and courageous. The mass majority of the country supports you, supports you from keeping our country safe from rioters, nudists and anarchists. Ers, andpy loot anarchists. I am happy you are at the head. I would like to focus on the of fbisf the report on the unlawful surveillance of trim Campaign Trump campaign associates. Isnt it true that they found under the obamawriting Administration Made 17 significant errors in phis applications are so real trumps Trump Campaign associate carter page . A. G. Barr i think that is right. How many errors are acceptable when the fbi targets americans . A. G. Barr none are acceptable. Then there was the complete file failure the fbi operated under the obamabiting administration. The Inspector General found 51 assertions in the five applications for the surveillance page. Documentationng lacking, two, it did not support the factual assertion, or three, it showed the factual assertion was inaccurate. The Inspector General testified there should not have even been one error, yet, he found 51. Why is it so important for surveillance targeting americans to be intact . A. G. Barr especially under fisa , which is a counterintelligence tool and is not have the same builtin protections that the criminal justice process would have, it is very important because you are going to be spying on americans that you have demonstrated an appropriate basis for doing that, and therefore, there is an on the investigative agency, in this case, the fbi, to have Accurate Information on the basis of their surveillance. I think the bureau has been working very hard to correct those problems and put in place a much more effective system of guaranteeing that the information is accurate. Fbi under thethe Obamabiden Administration had insufficient evidence to obtain a pfizer warrant and did not look at facts on probable cause . A. G. Barr i do not want to characterize it. This is part of what is under review. Some exculpatory information was not passed along to the court, let me put it that way. That was evident in the Inspector Generals report. I will yield the remainder of my time to mr. Jordan. Thank you for yielding. Deploy federal Law Enforcement to enforce federal law . A. G. Barr yes. Do you apply federal lawenforcement to protect a dual property . A. G. Barr yes. For the Federal Building in portland be standing today view did not deploy federal Law Enforcement . A. G. Barr i do not think so. To have been multiple attempts to set it afire. I do not understand why a small contingent of marshals inside the court poses a threat to anybodys First Amendment right. They set up a fence on federal property, i am told, around the court, and when people are arrested, it is because they are trying to come into the fence. These are not Peaceful Protesters. They bring power tools to cut the wire and so forth to get in. This is a strange occupation when you have 100, 120 federal people behind the fence trying to protect the building and all these people are trying to cut their way in. That is the occupation of the city . Thank you. Did the chicago fraternal order of police or president asked for your help . A. G. Barr dude who asked . The head of the fop david who asked for my help did who asked for my help question are a. G. Barr the fop in chicago . A. G. Barr i think he did. Is there anything you would like to add to mr. Horwitzs report . My understanding a. G. Barr my understanding of the recollection is it did not nine bias, and he made that clear and subsequent testimony. He said he could not find a document or evidence demonstrating bias. Would it be helpful if mr. Horwitz came in front of the committee and the individual who raised concern could ask him himself about what he found in the reports that we have not yet had a hearing on. The gentlemans time has expired. Thank you. Sir, did i hear you correctly say that the purpose of unleashing this federal agent assault with tear gas and rubber bullets and pepper spray on 2000 nonviolent protesters in Lafayette Square was secure and defend the st. Johns Episcopal Church . Was that the purpose . A. G. Barr i did not say that. The purpose was to move the been the, which had plan all day, as far as i am aware of. So it was legitimate a. G. Barr we are talking about the june 1 . There june 1 all salt assault, including my constituents. A. G. Barr i do not think it was an assault. They were told by the speaker that the park police were preparing to clear a street and could they move off . Think you said that st. Johns Episcopal Church would have been open. A. G. Barr on sunday night i believe. Are you aware that the record of the church at the Episcopal Church process bishop, along with the catholic ship of the archdiocese of washington denounced this Police Assault on the civil rights and liberties of the people . A. G. Barr did they do that before or after the fire was put out . All that i know is theyd announced what you did, and if you read what the archbishop, the episcopal archbishop of washington wrote said that using police force to clear nonviolent protesters without notice in order to conduct this grotesque photo opportunity was antithetical to the principles of christianity. What i wanted to ask you about was covid19 because we now lead the world in covid19 death and case count. President trump promised the magicallyuld disappear. He told his people to slow down the testing and refused for months to wear a mask. Last night, he retweeted a number of messages that dr. Fauci misled the American People by listing at oxo cork and as a cure, and now we have 150,000 dead americans and 4 million hydroxychloroquine as a cure, and now we have 150 thousand dead americans and 4 million infected, and you through the weight of the Justice Department behind his campaign to shut down safe Public Health orders in march and april. If you look at the screen, you will see two tweets from the president of the United States, liberate michigan, liberate virginia. On april 17, he retweeted the slogans of rightwing protesters were blocking access to hospitals im trying to overthrow those states. You snapped attention on april 27 by designating a prosecutor to try and bring down those Public Health orders in michigan and virginia. Two days later, armed rightwing protesters and whites apprentice disrupted the michigan legislature, leveling death threats, confronting police, tontine lawmakers, and forcing the legislature to shut down as they brandish their long guns and shouted in the faces of Police Officers, but you do not send in a secret police force on horseback to unleash tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets against these protesters storming the state capital of michigan, no. By joiningd it litigation against the governors of michigan and virginia. Of course, your side lost emotions for emergency injunction, but you spread the trump message that it was time to call off the stayathome orders, the masking and social distancing. Heres is what you said on National Television in april claiming the cure was worse then the disease cannot keep beating the patient chemotherapy and say, well, we are killing the cancer because we are getting to the point where we are killing the patient. Do you remember that . A. G. Barr yes. What did you mean . A. G. Barr exactly what it says, you have to balance the cure with the danger, which relieved the governors. I know everyone likes to lay this is a federal republic and the present perspective that. The response has been largely run by governors. For someone who claims to be so concerned about executive overreach, i have not heard anyone talk about keeping an eye on what the governor is doing. And that is the department of excuse me. A. G. Barr area of religious liberty. The Supreme Court rejected your position on religious liberty 54 and there was nothing wrong with Public Health orders apply to churches. A. G. Barr that was on an injunction. Do you accept that or do not accept that . A. G. Barr umm. We will talk about it later. With no vaccine or cure insight, you worked to disarm the states of the only weapon we have against the disease, the measures. Lth now, we pay the price of the policy in overrun intensive care units and morgues, a shortage of refrigerated trucks, coffins, in outofcontrol pandemic, which makes us a global pariah state which people cannot enter, canada. G do you know what dr. Fauci was saying at the same time that you are moving to take down the Public Health orders . Here is what he was warning us about three months ago about the premature abandonment of health orders. If only you had the same. He said i feel if that occurs, there is a real risk you will trigger an outbreak and you may not be able to control it. We were not taking a. G. Barr we were not taking down Public Health orders. The gentlemans time can you reinstate my time because this witness you went over your time. The gentlemans time is expired. Mr. Chairman . The gentleman is recognized. We do have the governor and virginia engaged in overreach, particularly regarding the civil rights of virginians and their expression of their religious faith. I want to give the attorney general the opportunity to respond to the gentleman from maryland. A. G. Barr we adopted a narrow approach of calling to the attention, usually by letter, not by lawsuit, of situations where they were treating religion worse than they were other kinds of organizations and gathering, and the constitution requires it be treated the same. We were calling those to the attention of the governors, and most of the governors voluntarily change their own orders. There were a few occasions we pointed out the anomalies and regulations of business and mostly they were voluntarily changed by the governors. This was not a wholesale attack on stayathome orders. It was just these are broad powers that have been seated, basically telling everyone to stayathome and only work if you are an essential is most. Therefore, essential business. Therefore, someone has to stand byebye by that. At times, there were crazy rules in effect that were overly burdensome and raised constitutional problems. Thank you for raising those points early and particularly with regard to virginia and the church on the eastern shore. I want to thank you for being here and returning to lead the department of justice and write the ship and root out the rank partisanship and partisanship that has corrupted it for years. The democrats allege attorney barr has politicized the Justice Department, doing the personal bidding of President Trump. It is not only unfounded but hypocritical in life of the politicization that occurred during the Obamabiden Administration and led by president obamas self prescribed wingmen eric holder that the obamabiden investigation journalist shut outinvestigators and shut oversight. I would like to ask particularly come out or even President Trump assumed office, fbi lawyers exhibited bias against trump eller working for both mu and fbi investigation, and the Inspector General cannot rule out fbi abuse, correct . A. G. Barr that is my understanding. The Inspector General found one fbi lawyer altered evidence and criminally referred this lawyer to durham for parenteral for federal prosecution, the same lawyer who used on Hillary Clintons misuse, had classified information against President Trump, and the Inspector General testified he could not rule out the bias. What were the consequences be 20 or Justice Department lawyers if they doctored underlying documents to support evidence of it to a federal court . A. G. Barr in the abstract, talking generally, that lawyer would be fired. When they likely be disbarred, as well . A. G. Barr yes. Is it true that the ig found an email to support probable cause against Trumps Campaigning . A. G. Barr i think that is right. In the same fbi lawyer worked on the russia investigation targeting candidate Trumps Campaign and was on the special Counsel Robert Mueller team, correct . A. G. Barr not sure about that. While working on the investigations, the Inspector General found several texts showing that animus, correct . A. G. Barr on that particular lawyer . I believe so, yes. I cannot remember the timeframe of the text, but i know there were others. I i went to talk about the want to talk about the unmasking that occurred where a list was released of 39 officials who submitted a request to unmask the identity of general flynn from november 8, 2016 to january 31, 2017. Woody nine requests were submitted. Is that normal number . A. G. Barr i mean, historically, that seems to be a high number. The other question you have to ask is why was this after the election . And seven treasury officials, including secretary of the treasury and deputy of the secretary, is that a normal occurrence . Are times where highlevel officials can do it. I do not know enough about the specifics. I yield the remainder of my time. What is more important, going to church or a protest . A. G. Barr it depends on the individual. Both fall under the First Amendment. What is more important, going to work for a protest . Or a protest . A. G. Barr again, it depends on the individual. We are all free and make our own choices. We are talking about government and limits on those activities. What is more important, government putting limits on protesting or putting a limit on attending church . A. G. Barr they are both First Amendments . Exactly, we should treat them the same. The gentlemans time has expired. Barr, on june 1, there were protests against the murder of george floyd and Police Brutality in Lafayette Park. Let this not be distracted by you or my gop colleagues as to what these powerful and massive protests were actually about. They were about the persistent killings of lack bodies by law americaent, andfinally, an awan of the conscience of our country. Yet, your response was to direct federal officers to close in on protesters and use shields offensively as weapons. Balls,s, pepper irritants, explosive devices, batons and horses to clear the area just so the president could get a photo op. Thent to ask, do you think response at Lafayette Square to teargas, pepper spray eramerican citizens injured american citizens was appropriate . To my understanding, no teargas was used. Semanticrr, that is a distinction that has been proven false. How is it semantic . You talked about chemical irritants. It has been proven false by reports. Answer the question. Do you think it was appropriate at Lafayette Park to pepper spray, tear gas and beat protesters and endure american citizens . I do not accept your characterization of what happened. As i explained, the effort mr. Barr, yes or no . I am starting to lose my temper. According to sworn testimony before the House Natural Resources Committee by Army Army National Guard officer dimarco who was there, this was an unprovoked escalation in use of force against Peaceful Protesters. I dont remember dimarco being excuse me, this is my time. Governors on told a telephone call that the way to deal with protesters of systemic racism like in Lafayette Square is you have to get much tougher. You have to dominate. If you dont dominate come youre wasting your time. He also talked about you on that call. General the attorney is here, bill barr. We will activate bill barr and activate them strongly. Dear memory that call . Yes, but he was not talking about protesters. Apparently the president believes you can be activated to implement the president s agenda and dominate American People exercising their First Amendment rights if they are protesting against him. Lets look at how you respond when the protesters are supporters of the president. Occasions after President Trump treated tweeted liberate michigan commit to subvert stayathome orders to protect Public Health of swarmed totesters the michigan capital carrying guns. Some with swastikas, confederate hairednd one with a dark doll with a noose around its neck. Are you aware these protesters called for the governor to be lynched, shot and beheaded . No. You are not aware of that . Michigan, you in are the attorney general and you did not know the protesters called for the governor to be lynched and beheaded . Obviously you couldnt be concerned about that. There are a lot of protests around the United States. Withu seem to be engaging protests in certain part of the country. You are aware of those. When protesters with guns and swastikas i am aware of excuse me, it is my time. Kindse aware of certain of protesters, but in michigan when protesters carried guns and contender confederate flags and called for the governor of michigan to be shot and lynched, somehow you are not aware of that. Somehow you did not know about that so you didnt send federal agents into due to the president s supporters what you did to the president s protesters. You didnt put pepper balls on those protesters. The point i am trying to make, it is important for the country to understand, there is a discrepancy in how you react as the attorney general when white men with swastikas storm a government building with guns, there is no need for the president to activate you because theyre getting the president s agenda done. And people ofple color protest Police Brutality, racism, and the president s own lack of response to those issues , then you forcibly remove them with armed federal officers, pepper balls, because they are considered terrorists by the president. You take an aggressive approach to black lives matter protests, but not rightwing extremists threatening to lynch a governor if it is for the president s benefit. Did i get it right . I have responsibility for the federal government in the white house the white house is the seat you are supposed to represent the people of the United States of america. Mission authorities can handle not violate First Amendment rights. Youre supposed to uphold democracy and assure equal justice under law, not to certain protesters based on the president s personal agenda. The gentleladys time has expired. I would like to ask unanimous consent to submitted to record a report for the m. I. T. Centers for data slab that says for the past 20 years, 200 the fraud rate is. 00 6 . Without objection. Thank you ag barr for being here today. I am sincere when i say it is an honor. Can i ask you for one minute. To respond . Yes. Clear moving out to i street has a perimeter was a decision made the day before. It was justified by the extreme writing going on around the white house. I do not remember captain dimarco, the same who ran as a democratic candidate for congress in maryland, even being close to the discussions as to what was going on. The fact is the movement was not geared to the behavior of that particular crowd. It was geared to the fact that we were moving the perimeter out so we could put a fence on h street. That the park Police Reported and i saw myself projectiles being thrown from the crowd. I did not consider them at all Peaceful Protesters. Thank you. I would like to also talk about the violent protests being seen in seattle and portland, oregon. Of june andrse july, several shootings occurred inside seattles Police Free Zone including the tragic murders of his 16yearold and a 19yearold. There were numerous reports of robberies, assaults and property destruction. Sexual Assault Charges whelp. Chaos, it all of this took the seattle mayor weeks to declare this an unlawful gathering. It took weeks before the police were allowed to clear that area. In similar circumstances in portland, oregon, it has gone through eight weeks of violent rioting as well. To firecontinue projectiles and mortar style fireworks at federal Law Enforcement officers and are using dangerous lasers which have permanently blinded three federal officers. Chairman jerry nadler told a reporter sunday the anarchy and violence going on in portland, and i quote the chairman, is a myth that is spread only in washington, d. C. It is in fact commit their it is is it in fact a myth that there is anarchy in portland . There are anarchists and farleft groups involved in the violence in portland. Commentthe chairmans was about antifa. I dont know exactly what he said but i thought he was referring to antifa. Do you think it is a myth that antifa is involved in this anarchy . Antifa is involved in portland. Either way, the chairmans comments were not accurate . I do not consider them accurate. What about the autonomous zone in seattle . Congressman has said it is a peaceful protest zone. Is it a peaceful protest zone . No. It is outrageous that people set themselves up over a piece of territory where the people in there has not selected them as a government and try to exercise sovereign authority. Gunsw people handing out to keep the peace. It was anarchy. Has alreadyce charge several violent protesters of federal crimes. Can you briefly elaborate on those crimes . The whole gamut. 224. Nk we have had on the gamut from throwing to assaultingils a police officer, that kind of thing. Thank you. I want to say that i think i dont know if you agree chaz and portland are political experiments. Happened us what would if we fully embrace the radical ideology of the social justice democrats. According to democrats it is the summer of love. According to the congresswoman that represents seattle it is a peaceful protest. These cities are experiencing violence, chaos and anarchy. I think this political experiment has showed us the liberal social justice democrats style of government has failed. Would you like to comment on that . First goings through confirmation, i expressed concern about violence getting into our political system. We have seen this intolerance of attacking people and i was worried about that. We have seen it sweeping through the country like this. I hope the Democratic Party takes a stand against the violence. I yield my time. The gentleman yields back. Ms. Demings. Thank you so much mr. Chairman. Mr. Barr, over here. Im sorry. [laughter] earlier during your testimony you talked about gun violence and asked what about those lives . Yes, those lives do matter. Did you believe that Police Officers should be held to a higher standard . Yes. Someone mentioned my comment about we should not permit resistance, but i never suggested that just because someone resists means it justifies whatever is done. Good Police Officers also believe that they are held to a higher standard. I am glad to hear you stay that say that. A former Police Department police officer, there is an alarming pattern developing. It appears every time a u. S. Attorney investigates the president or those close to him, he or she is removed and replaced by one of your friends. You have removed u. S. Attorneys in the Eastern District of new york, district of columbia, and Eastern District of texas. Announced mr. Berman would be stepping down. When you told america that mr. Berman was stepping down, did mr. Berman tell you he was stepping down . No. Stepping down is the language that, i am told he did not tell you that . Useo, but it is language we to leave flexibility as to whether the person is june 20, when asked about the basis of mr. Bermans removal come on the very day you announced he was being fired, mr. Giuliani suggested that the reason may lie in the fact that bermans office got involved in baseless investigations. You didwas not true, if not remove berman because he was overseeing investigations of the president , why would the president s personal attorney think that . What do you say . Mr. Giuliani suggests when . June 20, that he may have been fired because he was investigating baseless investigations. If he said that, that is nonsense. Anyone familiar with the department of justice would say removing a component head is not going to have an effect on investigations. I know you are rare that you are aware attorneys personal associates and his president ial inauguration. Mean to suggest that by my silence im confirming that . That seems to be your opinion. You in anyway attempted to influence or interfere in any investigation in the Southern District including the investigations i mentioned . Mr. Barr i have not interfered in any investigation. I have raised questions about certain matters, but as far as i , the office was satisfied with the resolution. Your efforts to remove him bypassed the normal operation of law. No they didnt. A sitting president cannot be indicted or criminally prosecuted. Because you made sure President Trump understood that in your 19 page application. Are aware that special counsel confirmed a sitting president can be investigated . You did read that in the special counsel report, correct . Yes. Given test would Southern District have Decisionmaking Authority on whether to investigate the president. You removed him. Mr. Barr i have explained why i removed him. Sitting here today under penalty of perjury, do you maintain as you stated in a february 13 interview that the president has never asked to do anything in a criminal case . Yes or no . Mr. Barr yet no. What i confirm it . Do you stand by your testimony . He never asked me, directed me, pressured me to do anything in a criminal case. Thisthink you had conversation earlier with one of my colleagues that mr. Cohen was released early from prison due to concerns of covid19 . Yes. Why did you support the decision to send mr. Cohen back to prison . Mr. Barr i didnt even know the decision. Did you support it . Mr. Barr i have not looked into it. My understanding of life mr. Barr, as a former the gentlewomans time is expired. The president has made a mark a mockery of the department of justice. As the nations top cop, no one should care more about that than you. Thank you madam chair. 10 years ago in july, my home down was a beautiful my hometown was a beautiful day. Everyone was playing baseball. A perfect sunny summer day in dickinson, north dakota. In the span of eight minutes commedia tornado came through and cause unbelievable economic devastation. I dont think anyone said it was a peaceful day. I want to talk specifically about what is going on in portland. For 61 nights, the federal courthouse is under siege. Federal agents are under siege. You have men and women there protecting that courthouse. Were not doubt if they there, the courthouse would not be standing, would you agree . Mr. Barr absolutely. Our problem is how this is covered versus what is actually going on at that courthouse. Can you explain what your officers are going through . Thebarr i am talking about u. S. Marshals who are in the courthouse. They initially tried to contain themselves in the courthouse. There have been efforts to push through the main door. People have succeeded in breaching the courthouse, thrown kerosene and fireworks and started fires. The effort was to make sure they cannot breach. There still have been breaches in the courthouse. They try to remain in their. They tried to remain in there. Starting the fourth, they tried to arrest people directing fireworks. They would climb up and break windows and shoot fireworks. Whenever the marshals came out ,o try to put an end to that they were shot at with slingshots. Lasers were being put into their eyes. There is a good description of it in an ap summary. I was about to quote that. I watched as injured officers were hauled inside. In one case, a commercial fireworks came over so fast the officer did not have time to respond. It burned through his sleeve and he had bloody gashes. Another had a concussion from being hit in the head with a mortar. Mr. Barr thats right. We have had a lot of injuries there. People who this congress has charged with protecting federal courts. They are directed to protect federal courts. They are under attack. They are injured. It has been constant for 60 days. Secretary wolf said the violent mobs are publishing personal information of officers , jeopardizing them and their families. Are you concerned about it . Mr. Barr it is dangerous takese people can retaliation against of their homes, their families, or them when they are by themselves. I see some of these latin american and Central American countries where the police are very brave because the gangs they are trying to deal with go to their houses and kill their families. You never think that could happen here, but you could never think some of the stuff we are seeing today could ever happen here. Is being burned by improvised explosive device being blinded by lasers, is this something that typically happens with federal marshals . Mr. Barr . Now. No. How is this going for recruitment . Morale . How are they doing . Storyrr i think that ep ap story gives you that feeling. They feel that is their duty. A number of them are from that area. They are extremely tired and we have had to put in more people because they are very tired. I think that is an important part. One of the most amazing parts of this, it started with under 30 agents and now it is still under 100. They defend a row against a siege. They get up every morning and that courthouse is still running. They are can still there are conducting government business. I am going to Say Something that should be said more often, tell them and q. Thank you. Tell the prosecutors thank you. Tell the judges thank you. Can you tell the public defenders thank you . They are still conducting business. Are they getting sleep . Mr. Barr the marshals are having a difficult time because the demonstrators go to the hotel. Hotellso go from hotel to because the demonstrators try to disrupt their sleep at the hotel. There is a difference between a protest and a riot. Every night it turns into a riot. When you wake up the next morning, you know what is going to happen again. One last question, why would we have to negotiate a ceasefire with the peaceful protest . Mr. Barr correct. What we would like to see, all we would like is what we see in the rest of the country. State and local Law Enforcement taking care of their own city and the streets around the courthouse. The gentlemans time is expired. Thank you mr. Chairman. Welcome. Lets talk about the senses. Every 10 years we decide how many congressional seats each state gets, funding for schools, health care, other issues. Lets talk about the president s memo directing the commerce secretary to exclude undocumented immigrants from the apportionment count of the 2020 senses. Census. The president is sent the president is essentially trying to do something illegal. Beresentatives shall apportioned among several states according to their respect numbers, counting whole numbers of persons in each state, and then federal law. Subsection two a. The president s shall transmit to the congress a statement showing the whole number of persons in each state. Did i read those correctly . Mr. Barr yes. Do you agree that the president s memo essentially violates the constitution . Mr. Barr no. Undocumented people knothole individuals not who le people . Mr. Barr they are people. Issue is the terminology of the constitution. If i may mr. Barr it reflects the decision at the time of the constitution that they count you used to work for the department of justice back in 1989. There was a letter written to senator Jeff Bingaman by the doj , on point there is a letter, i would ask unanimous consent to admit that to the record. Without objection. The department of justice has taken the position that section two of the 14th amendment, the original portion and and census clause of article one section two of the constitution requires that inhabitants of states who are illegal aliens be included in the census count. In our view, this issue today we have found no basis for reversing. Are you reversing that decision . Mr. Barr what the department because this came up alabama claims you cannot count illegal aliens in the census under the constitution. The department looked at it and advised that congress can determine the meaning of inhabitant it is not a self defined term. If i may. Mr. Barr i thought i was the one who was supposed to be heard. The current disparate dispute, you talked about when the Supreme Court struck down put aesidents attempt to Citizenship Question on the census. At that time, the president announced an executive order to collect a information by other means. At that time, you made reference to a current dispute over whether illegal aliens could be included in the apportionment purposes. It is that what you are referring to . Mr. Barr i could have been referring to the alabama case. Is the doj studying this . Mr. Barr yes. Can you provide this committee with discussions, research, concluding memos . Mr. Barr i will look into it. We have considered it. Thatdvice has been congress does have the power to define the term inhabitant to either include or exclude aliens. Were talking about the president s executive order. Mr. Barr congress has delegated the power to the commerce secretary. The commerce secretary has the delegate of congressional power can define that term. Readable that is there is an argument to make. President has to be within the law. Nobody is above the law, including the president. My concern is he goes around that are clearly unconstitutional. My district is a working class hardworking community. Immigrants come the greatest generation, all we want is equity. We want to make sure we get our federal dollars like everybody else. We want to make sure our representation is equal, individual, as individual in Orange County as any other part of the country. All we ask for his respect. Please tell the president , stop tweeting things that are clearly unconstitutional. Thank you very much. The gentleman yields back. Thank you mr. Chairman. Barr, will youl send a thank you to the Law Enforcement people that work for you for the work that they are doing . Mr. Barr certainly. I want to thank all the Law Enforcement and crossed the country. We are an imperfect country, but Law Enforcement, they do a great job and they should be recognized. Questiong to ask you a about mr. Byrne altright from the man who was shot to death at the end of last week. The africanamerican man who was wearing a sign. He was known around milwaukee for carrying a trump for president sign. I want to share with you what happened in madison, wisconsin so we understand this is not a myth about antifa. Minneapolists hit and extended around the country, they hit madison, wisconsin. I do not know if you have visited madison, there is an iconic street called state street. It starts at the n runs down to the university of wisconsin, madison. That street, 75 businesses are boarded up as a result of a mayor and city council who would not protect those people. Those people went to city council last week and asked for assistance. City council, who would not protect their business said no. Were not going to provide assistance. Street waser state destroyed by the way, it is disappointing in some of the film i have seen that the Police Cruiser that went flaming downstate street was not included. Afterwards, two monuments at the state capital that i used to walk by were torn down. One was of Hans Christian commit the abolition the abolitionist who died at chickamauga defending the union and providing for the end of slavery. Down r monument torn by the way they took a tow truck and tore it down, was lady forward. Lady forward was there because of womens suffrage. First state tohe pass suffrage back in the early 1900s. Those were torn down. Yesterday, a social worker who teaches at a local school just , she was charged with beating a state senator. Her name is samantha hamer. I want to emphasize to my colleagues on the left that if you think you are insulated from antifa, which is supposedly a myth, you should think about that. Them and other radicals will not spare violence on anyone. Their anarchy is meant to destroy our country. If you want to contact a former colleague of mine, state senator tim carpenter, a democrat, he will tell you he was beat to a pulp on that night at midnight when they were tearing down those statues. T is not a myth. Ask i dont know if our attorney general in wisconsin or the mayor of milwaukee are going to pursue what appears to perhaps be a political execution. Are you familiar with that situation and milwaukee echo mr. Barr the shooting mr. Barr i have read about it. If the attorney general and Law Enforcement in wisconsin do not act, will the federal situation study the and bring justice for mr. Trammell . Mr. Barr yes. We will study that. This is not a myth. You were hearing it from all over the country. This happened in madison, wisconsin also. Leftist mayor proudly carries that banner, sat on a street not a street, a highway with protesters and shut down traffic. Street, one of the most iconic streets in the state of wisconsin was destroyed. I am not so sure those businesses are going to get their businesses back. It is not a myth folks. What is happening is real across our country. We need to stop the riots. Protests,not peaceful these are riots. We need to call an end to it. I hope you, mr. Attorney general will work towards that. Back. Gentleman yields attorney general barr, i wanted to follow up on some questions. You testified earlier you have at times voted by mail, correct . Mr. Barr i remember once. Public record shows you voted by mail in 2012 in 2019 2012 and 2019. Mr. Barr in one occasion i had to vote before the election. I raise this because in may of this year, 800 Public Health experts from across the nation sent a letter urging congress to prepare for a president ial election by mail to allow americans to vote from home and assure their health and safety. Expertsaware health have emphasized voting by mail is critical to protecting Public Health . Mr. Barr when was that . In may of this year. I have a copy for you. Ist Public Health advice really important to citizens in the commonwealth because we have a Large Population of seniors who are at higher risk of coronavirus. They should not have to choose between risking their lives and exercising the right to vote. The problem we are facing is that the president has repeatedly sought to cast doubt on the security of mailin ballots, saying the 2020 election could be rigged with millions of mailin ballots printed by Foreign Countries. You have repeated this disinformation. Mr. Barr it is not disinformation. I dont have a question for you yet. Last month, you echoed the Conspiracy Theory when you suggested and three interviews countries could manufacture ballots to influence the election, correct . Mr. Barr yes. In fact, you have no evidence that Foreign Countries could successfully sway elections with counterfeit ballots, do you . Mr. Barr no, but i have common sense. That is what you responded when you said when you were directly challenged. You said it was obvious. According to elections officials, your alleged concerns here are not obvious, but are outrageous. Every state in the union has absentee ballots. Forthirds of states allow vote by mail for any reason. Five states, colorado, oregon, washington, vote entirely by mail and have done so for decades. Even the u. S. Military uses mailin ballots, doesnt it . Mr. Barr yes. Isnt it true that after you suggested without evidence that foreign adversaries could sway elections using counterfeit ballots, experts and officials from around the country said that what you suggested was virtually impossible, preposterous, would never happen and would be readily detected . Mr. Barr there are not multiple levels of security. I dont agree that again, i am happy to supply you with the statements. Mr. Barr before donald trump rescinding my time. Evidence that Foreign Countries can make counterfeit ballots and create a real threat to election security. Are you aware that in may, the president tweeted, mailin voting will lead to massive fraud and abuse. It will lead to the end of our great republican party. Mr. Barr i was not aware that. That suggests the president is spreading disinformation about mailin ballots because he is afraid that if more people vote, he will lose. The fact is that foreign adversaries cannot actually influence our elections by submitting massive counterfeit ballots. The fbi and Intelligence Services have repeatedly warned that those adversaries are trying to sow mistrust of our systems. By repeating misinformation, u. N. The president are helping them. Would like an opportunity to respond. You would agree that prosecutors who make contributions are aligned with a Political Party . Mr. Barr who makes contributions . You said that prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying with a Political Party, yes . You and your wife have donated over 700 30,000 to republican candidates including donations of 58,000 to republican senators and Senate Candidates in the four months preceding your confirmation . Is that correct . Mr. Barr are you surprised them republican . Is that correct . Mr. Barr over a long period of time. Joomla to have a long period of time. Cumulative of a long. Of time. I was talking about time is expired. I would seek unanimous to unanimous consent to submit the Public Health expert letters signed by 800 individuals the attorney generals repeated interviews that our elections can be undermined, the overwhelming reaction from Election Officials around the country and the articles concerning his campaign donations. Without objection the articles will be entered into the record. Mr. Barr, your Department Released Paul Manafort, the president s former Campaign Manager over concern for coronavirus. Your Department Guidelines my criteria by which, priorities by which people would be released early. By your own departments, manafort did not meet that criteria. Since the start of this pandemic, we have are we have repeatedly urged you to use authority to protect vulnerable populations in prisons. Instead, you release the president s former Campaign Manager. Do you know how many federal inmates have tested positive for covid19 as of today . Mr. Barr i have that number. Quickly. A slide. 10,000 inmates have tested positive and over 1000 staff have tested positive. You know how many have died . Mr. Barr almost 100 i think. That is right. 99 inmates have died. Yet only 5 have been released under your guidelines. Mr. Barr 7000 you said you were taking every measure we can to protect federal inmates. The numbers tell a different story, as do your actions. Despite releasing manafort, your lawyers continue to argue against the release of prisoners. In april, vulnerable prisoners who suffer from Serious Health conditions like chronic asthma, Heart Disease and Kidney Disease filed a lawsuit for Early Release in ohio. These prisoners were being becausewded like cattle prisons were not able to social distance. 550 prisoners sought relief, get your own department processed only seven applications and denied them all. Yet, you had time to process manaforts application. Your department did. Not these vulnerable americans living at great risk. In fact, in a series of rulings in april and may, an Ohio District Court ruled your department act with urgency and move inmates out due to continued risk of harm to prisoners and government staff. Sir, your department challenged that court order, did it not . Mr. Barr i am not familiar with that. You did. You did not help move these inmates out as ordered. You tried to block the District Courts order. The Supreme Court on may 26 rejected her to part request. Nine prisoners had died and it has been two months. Do you even know today how many of those prisoners have been released . Or how many more have died . Mr. Barr i dont. It started out with 170,000 prisoners. I need you to explain to me and to america how is it that the former Campaign Manager of the president of the United States, who did not meet the priority criteria, got released even though your own department admitted he did not meet the guidelines, but all of these other folks were not . If it were deadly enough a virus that you needed to protect the former Campaign Manager, why not all of these americans who also have at risk conditions . The contrast says it all. It is not just in ohio. Texas, ae state of federal prison housing women with mental and medical Health Issues just confirmed last week that of the 1000th rendered 57 prisoners, over 500 tested positive. 1350 seven prisoners, over 500 tested positive. Yes, none have been released. Have you seen those statistics . Guidelines put out to propel the release of you have not released anyone. Mr. Barr i put out guidelines. One of those prisoners is a mother who had to give birth on a ventilator because your department prioritizes releasing Paul Manafort instead of vulnerable americans. If you weeks after this photo, she died along with two other women housed in this facility from covid19. Saving lives while reducing the prison population, yet you blatantly abandon your duty to this women. You have shamelessly abandoned your oath of office. You have prioritized giving special favors to the president s friends. This is not equal justice under the law. It is not the law that you and i learned in law school. One for the president s friends and one for everyone else. Mr. Barr . The director of the i yelled back. Mr. Barr the director testified under oath that the gentlelady yields. The gentleman has not been given an opportunity to respond. Mr. Negus is recognized. Thank you mr. Chairman. Go through a couple of your prior statements. April 18, 20 19, you stated the white house fully cooperated h the special today, to the penalty of perjury, is that statement true . I thought it to be true at the time i made it. Wise and true . I will get to that. Mr. Barr does it have to be i have another question. On june 19 mr. Barr i need to answer that. You did. Mr. Barr you said under penalty of perjury. Im going to answer the dam question. Are you say no . Mr. Barr what i was referring to was the documents. The statement was not limited to the supply of documents. [indiscernible] april 19, 2019, the white house fully cooperated with the special counsels investigation. You knew at that time the president had not agreed to be viewed by special counsel. Mr. Barr . Mr. Barr i said it was referring to the production of documents. On june 18 of this year, the department of justice issued a statement saying that mr. Berman , a former u. S. Attorney new york had stepped down. You are aware of that . Mr. Barr yes. Do testified today that that statement was true at the time the department to shoot it . It . Epartment issued mr. Barr he may not have known. He may not have known . Mr. Barr he was being removed. The statement did not say he was being removed. It did not say he was being fired. It said he was stepping down. According to your testimony today is that that was accurate even though mr. Berman has testified it was not. Mr. Barr he was removed. I wanted an opportunity to offer the rationalization for your answer mr. Barr it is not a rationalization. Earlier this year, President Trump stated he had planned to make what he described [no audio] stande a. G. Barr i disagree. I made it clear that is a vetting process available to anybody. Attorney regarding President Trump . A. G. Barr maybe if they had vetted the dossier we wouldnt have the whole there is no u. S. Attorney general to do that. With respect to this process it is unprecedented. A. G. Barr it was cautionary so we did not dilute the process with ukrainian disinformation. My standing is you directed a. G. Barr are you going to give me an opportunity . I intend to write now. Right now. My understanding is you asked the u. S. Attorney in the district of new york to be for that process. In the Eastern District was given oversight of all ukrainian related cases. Any new cases involving ukraine. We faced a problem with ukraine which was unreliable information. There is a lot of corruption there. It is a hall of mirrors and i wanted to make sure that before we got into criminal proceedings, to everyones benefit, that the information was scrubbed. The memo youte issued said any and all matters dealing with ukraine shall be directed to the Eastern District of new york. The u. S. Attorney responsible in the Eastern District of new york was recently changed. My understanding was you wouldced Seth Ducharme take over rich donahue. Mr. Barr is in charge of vetting. Ther. New charm worked at department of justice . Mr. Barr he was a counselor to me, and then the Principal Assistant Deputy Attorney general. Thats right. Deputy district attorney. You have appointed your prior counsel to oversee that process. I yield back my time. Ms. Mcbeth. Before we go to ms. Mcbeth, can i enter documents with unanimous consent, the two memos are referred to, setting guidelines for who gets released, Washington Post article about Paul Manaforts testimony from the council of prison locals the record. Without objection. Thank you mr. Chairman. I want to start by thanking you attorney general barr for joining us and for the work your department are doing to keep our country safe. A few months ago, you said you would be taking the president s position in urging the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care act. When asked if you will still that will still take that position even if it means stripping millions of americans of health care in the middle of , youc, quote stated it would not be argued until october and that the president expects to fix and replace obamacare. Attorney barr, lets be very clear. As Public Health officials and data have shown, this pandemic is not going away. Was reported that one hospital was planning to send coronavirus patients home to die due to limited resources to treat them. We are still facing an extremely critical and serious situation. Even if you expect the president to figure out a new plan by october, the president has not yet put in place another system. Nor is there any guarantee that he will do so by october, as you expect. When you say you expect the president to figure out a new risk withare taking a millions of americans lives. You are risking the lives of a millions. Forle will not be covered preexisting conditions if the Supreme Court agrees with your position Civil Servants in your own department have disagreed with you on this matter. In fact, i am introducing a statement by one of the lead whorneys on the aca case resigned in protest when your department refused to defend the law as it is required. In my district, the sixth district of georgia, there are over 300 thousand people that have preexisting conditions. I am one of them. A two time Breast Cancer survivor. Our state is continuing to battle hard against a resurgence of covid19 cases. Not to gambleu with american lives. Not to gamble with my life. I would like you to confirm that if the president has no other plan in place by october, you will reverse course and drop your position that i quote you directly, the entire aca must fall. Children i have two who are cancer survivors. I feel strongly about this. Policy. Ter of i believe the president has had made clear that he will ensure answer my question. Will you stop playing politics with Americans Health care in the middle of a pandemic . Mr. Barr i am not playing politics come i am not in charge of health care. Will you reverse course and make sure millions of americans like me that depend on health care and treat to stay alive, will you reverse course to make sure we have the ability to live in this country freely with Quality Health care . Mr. Barr people will have the health care protection. Ifill be accomplished the government loses the case i take this as a no. Mr. Barr based on history i would like to mention my concerns related to gun violence. Mr. Barr what . I want to go on another concern i have related to gun violence. Mr. Barr ok. The nation has seen a dramatic increase in firearms sales and skyrocketing numbers of sales background checks. Systemh, the background blocked 33,000 attempted sales. Were 23,000, there attempts to get a firearm by a person who was not allowed to possess one under current law. It is a federal crime for anyone to lie in an attempt to get a firearm, which is what i expect most people tried to do. I would like to know how many of these march blocked sales were investigated . Mr. Barr i sent a directive we should start prosecuting if we can come of these cases. Previously we had not been pursuing them. I take that as a no. Mr. Barr we are pursuing those cases. This fits a larger pattern of your administration that has neglected the health and safety of americans. This administration is failing to keep my constituents and people all over the country healthy and safe. I demand better. Americans demand better. I want you to provide the answer that you are willing to these are relevant questions. Mr. Chairman. I have a question. For what purpose . Four months to have tried to get the attorney general to come. He is here. Why dont you let him speak . The gentleman is not recognized. If you want the attorney general to come, let him answer the questions. The gentlemans rudeness is not exercised. Rudeness . You refuse to let the attorney general answer the questions. Mr. Stanton is recognized. Maybe the last few witnesses will mr. Stanton is recognized. Thank you very much for being here. Since the passing of the Voting Rights act of 1965, those who have thoughts to suppress the minority route suppress the minority vote conceal their intentions. Set out tothey were advance all trista goals like election security. History has proven those rationalizations relies designed to fend off those rationalizations were lies. Those who aimed to suppress the minority vote has never said it out loud. Not donald trump. He did not try to keep it secret. He blurted it out. He said he will lose the 2020 election if more americans are able to vote. That is one reason why this president needed a fixer at the department of justice. From letting rush off the hook to rewarding roger stone. Mr. Barr, you have proven willing and able. Ago, thisa Year Committee heard testimony about a resurgence in discriminatory voting practices. These practices include unnecessarily strict photo id requirements and the abuse of signature match requirements to reject absentee ballots. Despite that, your department has a lax approach to enforcing Voting Rights act. You filed just one case to do so. To doj has done nothing block the suppression practices we heard about over a year ago. Us. Our credit, you warned you told the New York Times magazine this spring that the dojs role in protecting the rights to vote will be limited this year. It will be up to states to police themselves. Isnt that right . Mr. Barr i dont recall saying that. It is in the New York Times article from last article . It is in the article from last month. You say it would be up to the voters to referee the election. Dont remember the context of that it was i talking about foreign influence . No, sir. You will be able to review it and submit additional testimony. When we have more time someday you will have to expand to me how a person whos right to vote is denied by a discriminatory practice can referee and election. But i digress. It troubles me that you have not been consistent in your coach. As the attorney general, you have sued stood down on discrimination and made it harder for states to vote. You have used the doj as a sword when attempting to make it easier to vote. Voting rights advocates in South Carolina and alabama sought to andent people from voting risking their health by making it easier and safer to complete absentee ballots ring the dojemic, but your intervened to try to block the accommodation. Did you discuss either of those cases with the president . No. The American People i dont even know the cases youre talking about. Cases in which tell me the name. I dont know the names. North carolina and alabama. You can comment after your testimony here today is done. The American People have good reason to believe that you will continue to use your authority to carry out the wishes of the president to suppress the vote and there are fears that you in the president are laying the foundation to interfere with the upcoming election, specifically with vote by mail, as my colleagues have review sling noted, because you have both andnced false security ares i hope we can put some of those fears to rest here today. Mr. Far, can you commit to the American People to will not interview interfere with state and local authorities use probe by mail at absentee ballots in the 2020 elections . Mr. Barr i think the federal government has very limited ability to give involved but im not going to give up the ability that we have to ensure the tech really the integrity of the election. My observation was that it would open up i got i think the mr. Barr, the president suggested that only the voters vote on election day should be counted. Saying that it shouldnt counted all of it is cast before the day. I want to reassure your commitment to making sure every this upcomingf in election, the president asks you to intervene to try to stop states from counting legal ballots after election day, will you do the right thing and refused . Yes or no . I will mr. Barr follow the law. Says ite has a law that has to be cast on election day, thats the law. Rep. Stanton will you commit to making sure the department of justice doesnt get involved in a contested election . Mr. Barr i will follow the law. Rep. Stanton so disappointing that we cannot get a clear answer from him. I would like to submit the item from the bears from guardian, second New York Times magazine, William Barrs state of emergency, what would happen if you refused. Mr. Chairman without objection following the law that objection x thats something the Judiciary Committee knows is pretty darn clear. Without objection, the material will be entered into the record. Could we take a five minute break . No. Its a common courtesy of every witness. We waited an hour for you. I havent had lunch. We are almost finished. We are going to be finished in a few minutes. Break. Certainly take a mr. Barr you are a real class act. He wants a break now . Rudeness on display. Let the attorney general have a break. The committee stands and recess now. Mr. Barr thank you, mr. Chairman
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