Bill Barr may have 'opened himself up to prosecution': ex-US attorney

On Saturday's edition of MSNBC's "AM Joy," multiple former U.S. attorneys suggested that Attorney General William Barr is vulnerable to perjury charges based on his previous claim, to Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), that the president has never asked him to open an investigation for political purposes.

"Is what we saw from William Barr when questioned by Kamala Harris perjury or contempt of Congress, in your view?" asked Joy Reid.

"Well, we have to know the facts," said former Eastern District of Michigan Attorney Barbara McQuade. "It's very difficult to prove perjury. You have to prove that he, then and there, knew what he was saying was false. With further investigation, a case could be made."

"I agree with Barb," said former Northern District of Alabama Attorney Joyce Vance. "This turns on what conversations Barr had with people inside of the White House, or perhaps with people at DOJ, on this same timeline. If he, in any way, had the suggestion planted that he should open investigations — and we know that he did, by the way, in his early days as attorney general, he began to revisit all of these key steps in the Mueller report investigations — so, if there is evidence that he lied in response to Kamala Harris, he could open himself up to prosecution."

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