Pass suffrage back in the early 1900s here in the United States of america. Those were torn down. Just yesterday a woman, a social worker who teaches at a local school, just outside of madison in mt. Horab, she was charged with beating a state senator. Her name is samantha hailer. Hopefully shell be given justice. But i want to emphasize to my colleagues on left that if you think youre insolated from antifa, which is supposedly a myth, you should really think about that. Because them and other radicals, they will not spare violence on anyone. Their anarchy is meant to destroy our country. If you want to contact state senator tim carpenter, a democrat, hell tell you he was beat to a pulp on that night at midnight when they were tearing down those statues. It is not a myth. So, mr. Attorney general, i would ask mr. Burnett trammel, i dont know if our attorney general, attorney general call in wisconsin or the mayor of milwaukee are going to pursue what appears to be a political execution, are you familiar with that situation in milwaukee. You mean the shooting of that gentleman . Yes. Ive read about it. If the attorney general and other Law Enforcement in wisconsin do not act, will the federal government study the situation and bring justice for mr. Trammel and his family . Yes, well certainly study that situation. This is not a myth. Youre hearing it from all over the country and were hearing all of the time about portland and seattle. This happened in madison, wisconsin, also. Where a mayor, a far leftist mayor proudly carries that banner. Sat on a street, actually not a street, a highway, with protesters and shut down traffic and then state street, one of the most iconic streets in the state of wisconsin, in madison, was destroyed. And im not so sure that those businesses are going to get their businesses back. It is not a myth, folks what is happening here is real across our country. And we need to stop the riots. These are not peaceful protest. These are riots that are happening. And we need to call an end to it. And i hope you, mr. Attorney general, will work towards that end. Thank you. Gentleman yields back. Mrs. Scanlon. Attorney general barr, i want to follow up on some questions from one of my colleagues. You testified earlier that you have at times voted by mail, is that correct . I remember i think once voting by mail. So if public records show you voted by mail in 2012 and 2019, you would agree with that. I cant remember the details. On one occasion i had to go to a station and vote about. But you did it but before the election. Im reclaiming my time sir. Yeah. I raise this because in may of this year, 800 Public Health experts from across the nation sent a letter urging congress to, quote, prepare for a president ial election by mail to allow americans to vote from home and assure their health and safety. Youre aware that Health Experts have emphasized that voting by mail is critical to protect Public Health in this upcoming election, correct. When was that . In may of this year. If youre not aware of it i could provide this to your staff. Yes. Great, i have a extra copy for you. This public advice is important to the citizens in the commonwealth of pennsylvania because we have a Large Population of seniors that are at high risk for the coronavirus. They shouldnt have to choose between risking their lives and the right to vote. But the problem were facing is the president has repeatedly sought to cast doubt on the secure of mailin ballots saying the 2020 election could be rigged with millions of mailin ballots printed by Foreign Countries, end quote, and you, sir, have repeated this disinformation. Well it is not disinformation. I dont have a question for you yet. Here it comes though. Last month you echoed the Conspiracy Theory when you suggested in at least three interviews that Foreign Countries could plaintiff counterfeit ballots to influence the president ial election, correct. You did that in at least three interviews. Yes. Okay. But in fact, you have no evidence that Foreign Countries could successfully sway our elections with counterfeit ballots, do you have . No, i dont. But i have common sense. And that is what you responded and you were directly challenged on that. You said no, didnt have evident but it was obvious. According to state Election Officials your alleged concerns here are not obvious but, in fact, are outrageous. Every state in the union has absentee ballots. Twothirds of states allow for vote by mail more any reason. Five states, colorado, oregon, washington, hawaii and utah vote entirely by mail and have done so for decades. Even the u. S. Military uses mailin ballots, doesnt it. Yes. Okay. So isnt it true that after you suggested without evidence that foreign adversaries could sway our elections using counterfeit ballots, election experts and officials from around the country said that what you suggested was virtually impossible, preposterous, would never happen and would be readily depected due to the multiple levels of security used with mailin ballot systems. Theyre not multiple levels of security. And i dont agree that it is a that its a okay, reclaiming my time. And again im happy to supply you with the statements that were before donald trump, there was concerned about it reclaiming my time, sir. In fact, there is no evidence that Foreign Countries can make counterfeit ballots and create a real threat to our election security. Are you aware that in may, the president tweeted and i quote, mailin voting will lead to massive fraud and abuse. It will also lead to the end of our great republican party, end quote. I wasnt aware of that tweet. Well that tweet suggests, sir, that the president is spreading disinformation about mailin ballots because hes afraid that if more people vote he and his party will lose. The fact, mr. Barr, is that our foreign adversaries cannot actually influence our elections by submitting massive counterfeit ballots but the fbi and our Intelligence Services have repeatedly warned that those adversaries are actively trying to sow mistrust of our election systems and by repeating this information about mailin voting you and the president are helping them. Just switching gears. You would agree. Well i would like an opportunity to respond to that. Identifying fairly strongly with a political party. Who makes contributions . You said in 2017 that prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with the political party, correct. Yes. And in fact, you and your wife have donated over 730,000 to republican and conservative candidates including donations of 58,000 to republican senators and Senate Candidates in the four months preceding your confirmation. Are you surprised im a republican . Is that correct, that you made those donations . Over a long period of time. Including just before that is a cumulative of a long period of time. But basically i never hid the fact im a republican. I was talking about career prosecutors generally have generally avoiding making contributions. 130,000 is not of the gentle lady has expired. Mr. Chairman, i would seek unanimous consent to introduce the 800 the Public Health expert letters signed by 800 individuals, the attorney generals repeated interviews in which he suggested that our elections could 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. Miss garcia. Thank you mr. Chairman. Mr. Barr, your Department Early in prison from may out of concern for the coronavirus. In march of 26th and april 3rd your Department Released guidelines, criteria, by which priorities by which people would be released early. By your own department admission, manafort did not meet that criteria. Since the start of this pandemic, we have repeatedly urged you to use your authority to protect vulnerable populations in prisons and instead you released the president s former Campaign Manager. Sir, do you know how many federal inmates have tested positive for covid19 as of today . I have that number. Quickly, sir, because the clock ticks. Well well, we have a slide. If youll bring it up, that shows us that 10,000 inmates have tested positive and over 1,000 staff have tested positive. Do you know how many have died . About a hundred. Almost a hundred i think. That is right. It is about 99 inmates have died. And yet only 5 have been released under your guidelines. 7,000 you stated in may you were taking, quote, every measure we can to protect federal inmates. The numbers, however, tell a different story as do your actions. Despite releasing manafort, your lawyers continued to argue against the release of prisoners. In april vulnerable prisoners who suffer from serious atrisk Health Conditions like chronic asthma, health, heart and Kidney Disease filed a lawsuit for Early Release in ohio. These prisoners were being, quote, overcrowded in like cattle because prisons were not able to social distance them. 550 prisoners sought release yet your own department processed only seven applications and denied them all. Yet, you had time to process manaforts application. I didnt process manaforts application. But your department did. But apparently not the vulnerable americans living at grave risk. In fact in a series of rulings in april and may, an Ohio District Court ordered that your department, quote, act with urgency and to, quote, move inmates out due to continued risk of harm to prisoners and to government staff. And, sir, your department challenged that court order, did it not . Im not familiar with that. Well yall did. You about not help move the inmates out as ordered. In fact, you tried to block the District Courts order. However the Supreme Court on may 26th rejected your departments request. Sir, nine prisoners have died and its been two months since the Supreme Courts order. Do you even know today how many of those prisoners have been released or how many more have died . No, i dont. We had a hundred started out this with 170,000 prisoners so weve lost i just need you to try 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 yourine department admitted that he didnt meet the guidelines but all of these other folks were not. If it were deadly enough of a virus that you needed to protect the former Campaign Manager, why not all of the americans who also have vulnerable are vulnerable and have atrisk conditions. Mr. Barr, the contrast said it all. An it is not just in ohio. In fact, in my own home state in texas, a federal prison housing women with mental and medical Health Issues just confirmed last week that of the 1,357 prisoners, over 500 tested positive for covid. One prisoner recounted, were like a whole bunch of hamsters in a cage chasing our own tails and yet none have been released. Mr. Barr, have you seen those statistics, yes or no . The i put out guidelines, general guidelines. Sir to release you have not released anyone. I put out guidelines. One of the pribers is a mother who had to give birth on a vooents in that facility because your department prioritized releasing paul plana for the instead of vulnerable americans. A few weeks after this photo, miss bear died along with two other women housed in this facility from covid19. Sir, you could be saving lives by reducing the prison population. Yet you blat blatantly abandon these women and because 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 both learned in law school. It is too simple systems of justice. One for the president s friends, and one for everyone else. The director of the blp it is flat wrong and i yield back. And the director of the blp testified under oath that no one from the Justice Department was involved. The gentle lady yields back. But hes not been given an opportunity to respond and that is a problem. Mr. Neg oous is identified. Good afternoon. I want to go through a couple of your prior statements. On april 19th excuse me april 18th of 2019 you tated that the white house cooperated with the special Council Investigation. Youre aware of that. Mmhmm. Do you testify that that statement was true at the time you made it . I thought it to be true at the time i made it. On why isnt it true. Ill get to that. Does it have to mr. Barr, i will get to it. You answered my question. I have another question. On june 19th actually i need to answer that. You did answer the question. No, you said under penalty of perjury. Im going to answer the damn yes, okay. You said you said yes. Are you saying no. I think what i was referring to and i would have to see the context of it was the supplying of documents. No, the statement was not limited to the supply of documents. Mr. Attorney general, reclaiming my time. You stated in the press conference on april 19th of 2019 that the white house cooperated with the special Council Investigation and you knew that the president had not agreed to be interviewed by the special council. I was referring to the production of documents. On june 18th of this year, the department of justice issued a statement saying that mr. Berman, the former u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of new york, have, quote, stepped down. Youre aware of that statement being released by the department. Yes. And do you testify today that that statement was true at the time that the department issued it . He may not have known it but he was stepped down. He may not have known that he was stepping down. That is your testimony today . He was being removed. Mr. Attorney general, the statement did not say that he was being removed. It did not say that he was being fired. It said he was stepping down and apparently your testimony today is accurate when mr. Berman testified under oath to this committee that it, in fact was not. No, he was removed and i wanted an opportunity to offer him another job and to the rationalization for your answer. It is not a rationalization. Mr. Attorney general, earlier this year, President Trump stated that he had planned to make what he described as Vice President s quote, ukraine dealings an issue on the campaign trail. This year on february 10th you stated that you had set up a, quote, intake process for submission of information excuse me, end quote for submission of information relating to the ukraine. To the Justice Department. And that includes, quote, these are your words, anything mr. Giuliani might provide. Do you recall making those comments . Something along those lines. You concede there isnt anything standard about the attorney general creating a special process for information related to advancing i disagree. And i also made it clear that that is a vetting process that is available to anybody. Which u. S. Attorney have assigned to receive information from Vice President bidens personal lawyers regarding President Trump . Well maybe if they had vetted the dossier there is no if they vetted the dossier, we wouldnt have the whole problem there is no u. S. Attorney that you pointed to do that. What are you talking about. With respect to this process is unprecedented. It was precautionary so we dont have ukrainian disinformation. You have directed youre going to give me an opportunity. I continue end to. The Eastern District of new york, the u. S. Attorney responsible for that district, my understanding is that you haved that u. S. Attorney to be responsible for the intame process, is that right . No. That is wrong. The u. S. Attorney in the Eastern District was given oversight of all ukrainian related cases. Any new cases involving ukraine. We face a problem which is unreliable information coming in. There is a lot of corruption there. It is a wall of mirrors and i wanted to make sure that before we got into criminal proceedings, and this is to everyones benefit, particularly Vice President biden, that the information was scrubbed and and i appreciate with the memo that you issued which said any and all new matters related to ukraine should be directed to the Eastern District of new york for appropriate handling just as youve described. The u. S. Attorney responsible in the Eastern District of new york was recently changed. My understanding is that a few weeks ago you announced that seth deshaun would take over to replace rich donahue. Mr. De sharm prior to is in charge of vetting. Mr. Attorney general, prior to taking this position, mr. Due sharm worked at Main Department of justice, is that correct. Yes. He was a counselor to me and then he was the Principal Deputy assistant Deputy Attorney general. That is right. And now acting u. S. Attorney, the deputy u. S. Attorney in that they wanted to swop jobs. You have appointed your Prior Council to oversee that same process , with that i yiel back my time. Mr. Mcbeth. Could i enter a couple of domes of the two memos that i referred to setting the guidelines for who gets re