The story that barr has tried to spin is that he just found another candidate to take that job. So they wanted to get Jeffrey Berman out of that job. But of course thats a process that takes several months. There is no reason that berman couldnt be left in that job until clayton was confirmed. The answer the attorney general tells basically it doesnt make any sense. I think its always looked like he was trying to get berman out of that office and put an acting official in. We dont know what the underlying reason was. We dont know if it was a specific case he wanted to impact or if it was general unhappiness with the way berman was managing that office in relation to a larger number of cases. But i would like to hear more delving into the attorney generals explanations for that firing, including why he lied in his initial statement saying that Jeffrey Berman had agreed to step down when that, in fact, was not the case. Joining me now is the host of meet the press, chuck todd, who will pick up our continuing coverage. I think there is another thing at play here, which is that one of the Committee Members is karen bass, on the short list apparently for Vice President for joe biden who, while all of this was going on, was unveiling an economic plan. But from the political side of this, chuck, what is your takeaway from this . Well, it was the partisan whiplash i expected, as everybody who you were just talking to knows, house judiciary, unlike any other committee, is populated with the most ideological folks left or right. So you see this partisan whiplash when you watch it. I have been surprised at how comfortable bill barr is playing a partisan. I say it this way. He lets misstatements go if theyre from allies. He corrects misstatements on the left. He had an odd view of testing, somehow blaming barack obama and the cdc. It was sort of the type of answer youd expect from a political pundit on a certain cable channel, not necessarily from the sitting attorney general. So i was surprised because during his confirmation hearing, chris, he went out of his way to at least look, hes ideological, everybody expected that, but he would try to create a professional side here. Hes kind of let that blur more than i expected. Chris . Lets pick up the hearing right now. And chuck todd will join us on the other side. Interference in our election. You sent a letter the committee mischaracterizing Robert Muellers finding that Vladimir Putin interfered in the 2016 president ial election in sweeping and systemic fashion to benefit donald trump. Mr. Mueller probably sent you a letter calling you out for your mischaracterization and you never corrected it. You delayed the release leaving the American People stewing with your misleading bonus claims. You repeat these claims today, that there was no basis for this investigation and it was politically motivated by calling it the russiagate scandal. The justices departments own Inspector General found that the investigation had been initiated properly and without political bias. Isnt that correct . No. Its not correct . No. You are wrong. Hes found the investigation was initiated properly. Im reclaiming my time without political bias. He said in evidence reclaiming my time. The republican led Senate Intelligence committee unanimously found that russia interfered with our elections and attempted to undermine american democracy, correct . And i said so, too. Is it ever appropriate for the president to solicit or accept foreign assistance in an election . Depends what kind of assistance. Is it ever appropriate for the president or president ial candidate to accept or solicit foreign assistance of any kind in his or her election . No, its not appropriate. Okay. I saw you had to struggle with that one, mr. Attorney general. Now lets turn to the First Amendment. Americans have been exercising their First Amendment rights to peacefully protest Police Brutality against black people. I read your statement. Were aware of certain individuals who engaged in violent acts and we all agree thats wrong. There was a lot missing from your statement. For example, as im sure you have also seen, the vast majority of protesters are peaceful. Despite, that unidentified federal agents have attempted to provent these mothers, veterans and peaceful americans from exercising their First Amendment rights, even using unmarked vehicles to grab protesters off the street and using tear gas ammunitions against them. You forcefully condemned protesters this morning. But let me ask you, sir, why have you not condemned the federal offices you are sending into cities without proper training or attempting to take away the Constitutional Rights of americans peacefully protesting . I havent condemned protesters. Protesters are good. Demonstrations are good. Theyre part of the First Amendment. What im condemning is people that commit crimes. We agree. Do you think it is appropriate for officers to use force against Peaceful Protesters . Not against Peaceful Protesters. You dont mention that federal officers have even tear gassed elected representatives, county commissioner confirmed last night i was tear gassed. I saw throw canisters of poison without warning into a nonviolent crowd including elders and the vulnerable. The mayor ted wheeler was tear gassed. He called the tactics of the officers abhorrent. These are elected representatives are grave concerns that officers are using abhorrent tactics, including tear gassing elderly, nonviolent americans. Let me ask you, sir, do you think it is ever appropriate to use tear gas on Peaceful Protesters, yes or no . The problem in these things sometimes occur because it is hard to separate people who may mr. Barr, my question is very specific. Do you think it is ever appropriate to use tear gas on Peaceful Protesters, yes or no . It is appropriate to use tear gas when its indicated to disperse an Unlawful Assembly and sometimes unfortunately Peaceful Protesters are affected by that. Im going to show you there is Video Evidence as well. I will ask you to look at this vid video. This is the video thats capturing the nations attention this weekend. Shot by a tribune reporter. That video is of christopher david, a navy veteran being beaten and tear gassed by the officers. Do appropriate . I didnt see him tear gassed. There seems to be gas in the area. I dont know whether it was directed at him. Do you think what happened to mr. David was appropriate. The Inspector General is reviewing that particular incident. Do you think he deserved to get pepper sprayed and beaten to the point of broken bones. I said the Inspector General is going to review the incident. Do you think americans who show up to peacefully protest should expect to be beaten and pepper sprayed and have their bones broken by federal officers . Well, i dont think that what was happening immediately around the courthouse was a peaceful protest. Thats not my question, mr. Barr. Thats where that is coming from. Reclaiming my time, mr. Barr. My question is do you think as the top Law Enforcement official in this country that americans who show up to peacefully protest should expect to be beaten, pepper sprayed and have their bones broken by federal officials. I dont think Peaceful Protesters should face that. Isnt protecting the First Amendment at least as important as protecting a building from vandalism. I have not posed a question. We fought for a democracy for the right to speak freely, and you are attempting to take that away to further the president s further agenda and generate footage for Trump Campaign officials. The Justice Department is not to serve as the president s personal bully. Speaking of protesters, it is worth remembering, every person was a protester. Protesters arent chaos. Theyre deeply american examples of values, a desire for this country to be at their best self. One of americas most beloved protesters john lewis lies in state 1,000 feet from here. Your failure to respect the role of Peaceful Protesters is a disgrace, unamerican and it is important to remember what these protests are about. Black lives matter. Abuse by the hands of police at black americans. I want you to see a video that fairly represents a peaceful protest happening all across america that you conveniently omitted from your testimony and your statement. There was a nine minute video shown by the other side. Its not all nine, only part of it. Heads of police dont shoot me heads of police dont shoot me dont shoot me heads of police dont shoot me heads of police dont shoot me shoot me heads of police dont shoot me heads of police dont shoot me. With that, mr. Chairman the gentleman yields. Just real quick, i dont think we have ever had a hearing where the witness wasnt allowed to respond to points made, questions asked and attacks made. Not just in this committee, but every committee i have been on. Particularly when you think about the fact we got the attorney general of the United States here. The gentleman does not have the time. I dont want the time. I want the attorney general to be able to have enough time to respond to accusations and questioned asked him and you guys not cut him off. What you want is irrelevant. What is relevant is the rules. Mr. Chairman, am i going to get an additional two and a half minutes . The gentleman is recognized. General barr, thank you for 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 democrats and the left wing media. Be strong and courageous. For the vast majority of the country supports you and supports you rooting out corruption in the fbi and keeping our country safe from rioters, looters and anarchists. Im happy you are at the helm of the doj and supporting the rule of law. I want to support on something that mr. Jordan spoke about in his opening remarks. I want to focus on the Inspector Generals december 9th report on the fbis unlawful surveillance of carter page. The fbi found obama made 17 significant errors in fisa applicants . I think thats right. How many errors are acceptable when the fbi is targeting americans . Well, none are acceptable. Then there was the complete woods files failures, the fbi operating under the Obama Administration. The Inspector General found that 51 factual assertions in the fisa applications to surveil page, one, lack supporting documentation, two, the supporting document did not support the fbis factual assertions or the supporting document showed the fbis factual assertion was accurate. He found 51 errors. Why is it so important for surveillance targeting americans to be error free . Well, especially under fisa, which, you know, is a Counter Intelligence tool and doesnt 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 an you know, you have demonstrated an appropriate basis for doing that. And, therefore, there is a special burden on the investigative agency, in this case the fbi, to have Accurate Information as to the basis of their surveillance. And, you know, i think the bureau has been working very hard to correct those problems and to put in place a much more effective system of guaranteeing that the information is accurate. Isnt it true that the fbi under the Obama Administration cherry picked favorable evidence to obtain a fisa warrant and ignored facts that cut against probable cause . I dont want to characterize it. This is part of whats under review. Exculpatory information was not passed along to the court. Let me just put it that way. Thats evident in the Inspector Generals report. I will yield the remainder of my time to mr. Jordan. Thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Attorney general, do you deploy federal Law Enforcement to enforce federal law . Yes. To protect federal property . Yes. Would the Federal Building in portland be standing today if you had not deployed federal Law Enforcement . I dont think so. There had been multiple attempts to set it afire. I have to say, i dont understand why a small contingent of marshalls inside the court poses a threat to anybodys First Amendment rights. They set up a fence on federal property, i am told, around the court and when people are arrested, its because theyre trying to come into the fence. These arent Peaceful Protesters. They bring power tools to cut through the wire and so forth to get in. This is a strange occupation of a city when you have, you know, 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 a city . Thank you. Did the chicago fraternal order of Police President ask for your help . Did who ask for my help . The head of the fop in chicago, did they ask for your help . I think they did. I think they did. Previous exchange, they talked about mr. Horowitzs report. Do you have anything else to add . My understanding of my recollection of the fact is they didnt find there was no bias. And he made that clear in subsequent testimony. What he said was he couldnt find no documentary or other evidence demonstrating bias. And it would be helpful if he could come in front of this committee and the individual who was raising that concern with you, mr. Attorney general, could ask mr. Horowitz himself what he found in that report and subsequent report that we have not yet had a hearing on. The gentlemans time has expired. Did i hear you correctly that the unleashing of this assault on 2,000 nonviolent protesters in Lafayette Square was to secure and defend the st. John . I said the purpose was to move the perimeter to i street which had been the perimeter as far as im aware all day. So it was legitimate in that case im talking about the june 1st. The june 1st assault on a lot of people, including my constituents. And i could bring them to your office to talk about it. I dont think it was an assault. They were told by loud speak their the park police were preparing to move a street. I think you said something that the church would have been overrun. On sunday night i believe. Are you aware the director of the church, the arch bishop of washington and the presiding bishop nationally along with the Catholic Bishop of the arch die dees of washington all denounced this assault . Did they do that before or after the fire was put out . Well, all that i know is they denounced what you did. And if you read what the arch bishop of washington wrote, said that using police force to clear nonviolent protesters without notice in order to conduct this grow decembpro foe was awrong. We lead the world in covid19 case count and death count. President trump promised the disease would disappear. He advertised quake medical cures, he told his people to slow down all the testing and refused for months to wear a mask. Last night he retreated a number of messaging claiming that dr. Fauci misled the American People by dismissing hydroxychloroqine as a disease. We lose more than a thousand people a day. One american every 90 seconds. But you called his Public Health leadership superb and threw the weight of the Justice System behind his campaign to shut down state Public Health orders in march and april. If you look at the screen, you will see two tweets from the president of United States. Liberate michigan, liberate virginia. He retreated the slogans of right wing protesters blocking access to hospitals and trying to overthrow Public Health orders in those states. And you snapped to attention on april 27th. You designated a prosecutor to try to bring down those very Public Health orders in michigan and virginia. Two days later, armed right wing protesters and White Supremacists disrupted the Michigan Legislature leveling death threats, forcing the legislature to force down as they brandished their long guns and shouted in the faces of Police Officers. But you didnt send in a secret military force to unleash tear gas, pepper spray, billy clubs and rubber bullets among these protesters storming the cape capital of michigan. No. You embraced their cause by joining litigation against the governors of michigan and virginia. Now, of course, your side lost your motions for emergency injunction. But you got to spread trumps message that it was time to call off the stayathome orders, the masks and social distancing. Here is what you said on national tv, echoing the claim in april that the cure was worse than the disease. Quote, you cant just keep feeding the patient chemotherapy and say, well, were killing the cancer because we were g