There's only one way Trump's AG nominee can restore faith that he won't impede Mueller: conservative columnist

A conservative Washington Post columnist made the case for the extreme scrutinizing of Donald Trump's attorney general pick in a Monday op-ed.

Columnist Jennifer Rubin wrote that in the case of AG nominee William Barr, "the Senate should insist on the Jeff Sessions standard: The attorney general must consult with and follow the advice of Justice Department ethics lawyers."

Rubin noted that although Barr released a statement ahead of his Tuesday confirmation hearing claiming he believes it's "very important" that special counsel Robert Mueller be allowed to finish his probe and that the results be made public, such a promise isn't enough.

She then offered a detailed series of questions for the nominee.

"Have you changed your mind about the appropriateness of the investigation?" Rubin, posing as a senator, wrote. "Is there anything unconstitutional about it? Does [special counsel] Robert S. Mueller III have any conflicts of interest? Has he done anything to raise concerns about his ethics?"

The columnist added that Barr should be asked whether he believes the special counsel investigation is a "witch hunt," why he thinks Hillary Clinton should be probed for her Uranium One deal and if he thinks Trump does "damage to the rule of law" when he smears Mueller.

"If a White House staffer or the president tells you to drop charges against, or not file charges against a president’s family member or crony, what would you do?" Rubin mused. "If this has been done in the past, would it have been wrong and would it have constituted an abuse of power?"

"There are plenty of other questions," she wrote after adding over a dozen other queries, "but that should provide a good start."

Read the exhaustive list of questions Rubin has for AG nominee Barr via the Post.