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President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence speak at a National Day of Prayer event at the White House.
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MSNBC panel baffled that Bill Barr doesn’t have the confidence to go up against a congressional staffer
During a Thursday morning panel discussion with Daily Beast reporter Betsy Woodruff and Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake speculated on why Attorney General Bill Barr is too afraid to show for a Congressional hearing about the decisions around the special counsel's report.
Barr was scheduled to appear before Congress for a short 30-minute hearing to answer questions about Robert Mueller's report and the reasons Barr misled the public about what was in it.
Members of Congress wanted to have a Congressional staffer ask questions, much in the way Republicans did with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during her hearing. Barr refused to appear, saying he didn't like the format and refused to answer questions from someone who wasn't an elected official. During his Senate hearing, Barr ignored tough questions by claiming "I don't know," and rambled on to run out the five-minute clock for members who had questions.
"I’m a little surprised that William Barr doesn’t want to submit to this, even if it’s by counsel for the committee," said Blake. "Whatever you think of his actions, in this case, I don’t think Democrats landed a lot of gloves on him yesterday. In the confirmation hearings, they largely were nullified by answers he gave them and suggested answers were good."
Blake went on to say that Barr is "good on his feet" when it comes to quick questions. Indeed, Barr has been a lawyer for over 40 years.
"Whatever you think about him, he is smart," Blake said. "He is good on his feet. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. The idea that some 30-minute questioning round by actual counsel rather than members of Congress is going to trip him up, I have a hard time believing that he really doesn’t believe in himself to get through that."
It's unclear why Barr refuses to sit for a serious hearing the way former Secretary Hillary Clinton did. During the 2016 campaign, Clinton answered questions from House Republicans for 11 hours. Barr is refusing to answer questions for 30 minutes.
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WATCH: Dem lawmaker drops the mic on 'chicken' Bill Barr -- and calls him Trump's new 'fixer'
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) on Thursday demolished Attorney General Bill Barr for refusing to testify before Congress -- and he even brought along a fake chicken to illustrate what he described as Barr's cowardice.
At the start of his brief rant, Cohen hammered Barr for saying that President Donald Trump has the right to end investigations into himself or his associates if he sincerely believes he's being treated unfairly.
"If the president thinks the special counsel's investigation is a witch hunt, he cannot stop it!" Cohen thundered. "But our attorney general thinks so!"
He then took Barr to task for skipping out on Thursday's hearing in the House.
"Chicken Barr should have shown up and answered questions!" he said while holding up a fake chicken. "An attorney general who's picked for his legal acumen would not be fearful of any other attorneys questioning him for 30 minutes! This man was picked to be Roy Cohn and Donald Trump's fixer!"
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Nadler tears into Trump and Bill Barr after attorney general refuses to show up to House hearing
House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) tore into President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr for his refusal to provide the committee with documents and testimony related to Mueller report, saying he was paving the way for a "dictatorship" -- and adding Barr would soon "face a reckoning" if he didn't cooperate.
"Every member of this committee, Democrat and Republican alike, should understand the consequences when the executive branch tells us that they will simply ignore a lawful subpoena from Congress," Nadler said. "If left unchecked this act of obstruction will make it that much harder for us to hold the executive branch accountable for waste, fraud and abuse, or to enact legislation to curb that kind of misconduct or any kind of misconduct."
"Ladies and gentlemen, the challenge we face is that the president of the United States wants desperately to prevent Congress, a co-equal branch of government, from providing any check whatsoever to even his most reckless decisions," Nadler continued. "He is trying to render Congress inert as a separate and co-equal branch of government."
"If we don’t stand up to him together today, we risk forever losing the power to stand up to any president in the future," he went on. "The very system of government of the United States, the system of limited power, the system of not having a president as a dictator is very much at stake."
"We will have no choice but to move quickly to hold the attorney general in contempt if he stalls or fails to negotiate in good faith, but the attorney general must make a choice. Every one of us must make the same choice," he added. "That choice is now an obligation of our office. The choice is simple, we can stand up to this president in defense of the country and the Constitution and the liberty we love, or we can let the moment pass us by. We have seen in other countries what happens when you allow such moments to pass by."
"I do not know what Attorney General Barr will choose. I do not know what my Republican colleagues will choose," he said. "But I am certain that there is no way forward for this country that does not include a reckoning with this clear and present danger to our constitutional order."
"If he does not provide this committee with the information it demands and the respect it deserves," Nadler said, "Mr. Barr’s moment of accountability will come soon enough."
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WATCH: House Dems cut off Trump apologist's microphone in contentious hearing over Barr's absence
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) got cut off at the end of a brief House Judiciary Committee the attorney general refused to attend.
Attorney General William Barr notified the Democratic-led panel that he would not attend the hearing because lawmakers intended to have committee lawyers question him, rather than individual lawmakers.
The Republican minority complained bitterly during the brief hearing, which featured an empty chair in place of the attorney general, saying they were deprived from hearing Barr's testimony due to demands they insisted were unreasonable.
Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), however, disagreed and said the panel had constitutional authority to conduct oversight of an executive branch that refuses to comply with lawful requests.
"We will make sure that no president becomes a monarch," Nadler said, bringing the hearing to a close. "We need the information without delay. The hearing is adjourned."
Gaetz, one of President Donald Trump's staunchest defenders, tried to comment before Nadler gaveled the hearing to an end.
"Mr. Chairman," he said.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), who had complained at length about the Democratic conditions set for Barr's testimony, groused again.
"And we'll do so trampling minority rights," Collins said.
"If it's going to be, Mr. Chairman," Gaetz said, "that there is not going to be a recognition of members who seek legitimate inquiry as to the procedures --"
That's when the microphones, which are controlled by the committee's leadership, were shut off.
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'Outrageous questioning!' Sarah Sanders goes berserk on Fox News over Senate's Barr hearing
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders flew into a fury when Fox News' Bill Hemmer asked her about the Senate Democrats' interrogation of Attorney General William Barr.
"Has the president told Bill Barr what he should do, Sarah?" asked Hemmer.
"I'm not aware that he has instructed him to do anything," said Sanders. "What I am aware of is how much the Democrats embarrassed themselves yesterday. The outrageous questioning that they laid out to the Attorney General frankly was astonishing. You showed a clip of Senator Hirono. The outrage that she came to the Attorney General who came there and sat for five hours of questioning was just unbelievable."
Sanders then attacked the House Judiciary Committee's follow-up hearing, which Barr did not attend. "There is no witness ... because the Democrats saw what happened yesterday and they've decided they are incapable of actually asking questions of the Attorney General," she said. "I lost confidence in [House Judiciary chairman] Jerry Nadler a long time ago," raged Sanders. "I was unaware he had lost confidence in himself and his ability to do his job. That is to ask questions. The fact that he needs to staff that out is unbelievable. Frankly it's pathetic. Democrats have to step up."
When Hemmer pointed out that House Democrats invited Barr and he refused to attend the hearing, Sanders said, "Naturally the Democrats have changed the rules in the middle of the game. They took a vote yesterday, a special vote in order to allow staff to question the Attorney general. He is a cabinet member for the president of the United States. And this is a straightforward oversight hearing in which members of Congress should be able to ask those questions."
"It's rare but not unprecedented to do this," Hemmer pressed her. "1987 Iran-contra. It happened during Watergate."
"It's pathetic they can't do their job," Sanders continued, undeterred, adding, "We've been fully transparent. This thing is over. Time for Democrats to move on ... there was no collusion, there was no obstruction." (The report doesn't say there was no collusion and offers clear evidence of obstruction.)
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WATCH LIVE: House Judiciary Committee opens hearing with empty chair in place of absent Barr
The House Judiciary Committee convened for a hearing with an empty chair in place of Attorney General William Barr.
The attorney general decided Wednesday he would not testify before the panel after appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, complaining that House Democrats intended to have committee lawyers ask him questions.
"The Committee will convene at 9:00 tomorrow morning, as planned," said committee chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY. "My colleagues will be present. I hope and expect that Attorney General Barr will be there as well.”
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Kamala Harris slams Bill Barr's lack of integrity: 'This guy doesn’t take his job seriously'
California Democratic senator and presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Thursday blasted Attorney General Bill Barr, telling MSNBC he didn't take his job "seriously" and was hurting America by staying in the position.
"As a former prosecutor and the former attorney general of a state of 40 million people, one of the most important things that I took away from it is that this guy doesn’t take his job seriously," Harris said.
"You cannot be the attorney general of the United States of America where your responsibility is to do the work of justice," Harris continued, "and you declare in front of television cameras, you make statements about a case and you purport to be familiar with the evidence when you make these statements and guess what? It turns out he didn’t even look at the evidence."
"He doesn’t appreciate the significance of the job. It is a job that comes with it an incredible amount of power and it should be conducted with the highest level of integrity," Harris went on angrily, waving her hands in exasperation. "He has contributed to weakening our standing in the world."
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'My hair's on fire!' MSNBC's Claire McCaskill shreds former GOP colleagues over Barr debacle
MSNBC's Claire McCaskill blasted her former Republican colleagues for abrogating their constitutional responsibility during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General William Barr.
The former Democratic senator said GOP senators -- many of them experienced and skilled lawyers -- failed to ask a single worthwhile question of Barr, who revealed disturbing details about his service to President Donald Trump and his role in overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
"He played rope-a-dope all day, you know, he was wiggling, he was zigging, he was zagging -- it was so obvious," McCaskill said. "I just wish a jury was listening to this guy all day, because whatever he was charged with, they would have convicted him. He was clearly evasive, clearly as Sheldon (Whitehouse) said, splitting hairs."
The lawmaker-turned-political analyst was disturbed by the behavior of her former GOP colleagues.
"But the thing I've got to get off my chest," McCaskill said, "because my hair's on fire about this, you've got Harvard- and Yale-educated Republican lawyers on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and they sat there and listened to the attorney general of the United States say that any president, if he feels an investigation is unfair, can shut it down. That's banana republic stuff. That is North Korea, that is Russia, that is China."
"What separates us from the rest of the world, and those guys know it, is our respect for the rule of law," she added, "and this guy is trampling all over it."
"Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough agreed, saying Barr was serving an autocrat.
"The contempt, just the utter contempt that man has for any oversight whatsoever -- he is a dictator's lawyer," Scarborough said. "That guy could go to Turkey right now or to Russia and would fit right in. It's incredible."
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'So insulting!' Fox & Friends cries bitter tears after Mazie Hirono calls Trump a 'grifter president'
The hosts of "Fox & Friends," who normally delight whenever President Donald Trump lobs personal insults at his political foes, were deeply offended on Thursday that Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) would refer to Trump as a "grifter."
Reacting to Hirono grilling Attorney General Bill Barr on Wednesday, co-host Brian Kilmeade complained that the Democratic senator didn't give either Barr or Trump the proper respect that they're owed.
"Sen. Hirono, so inappropriate!" Kilmeade fumed. "I don't care if anything happens in the future with future presidents or senators, for her to come out there and for her first words to be, 'You and this grifter president,' goes out and says the most disparaging things. Do they know people are watching around the world? Is that what the people of Hawaii want?"
Kilmeade then complained that Hirono's insults to Barr and Trump took away time she could have used to ask questions.
"Don't sit there for five minutes and give a speech!" he said. "So insulting!"
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'Impeach this man': MSNBC's Morning Joe annihilates Bill Barr for acting as 'Trump's stooge'
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough called for the impeachment of Attorney General William Barr after his "shameful" congressional testimony.
The "Morning Joe" host excoriated the attorney general for acting like President Donald Trump's "stooge" by shielding him from legal consequences after special counsel Robert Mueller found compelling evidence that he obstructed justice on multiple occasions.
"He was his defense lawyer from the beginning to the end," Scarborough said. "It was pathetic, it was shameful. He was wrenching words from their proper context, he took on the Trumpian task of throwing an insult at Robert Mueller, one of the most successful and beloved FBI directors in the history of this republic, a war hero, a man who has served his country ably his entire adult life, called him 'snitty.'"
Scarborough was outraged that Barr suggested a president could shut down an investigation simply because it angered him, and said he was simply unfit for office.
"That's how autocrats think," Scarborough said. "You look at everything else that Barr did yesterday, stumbling and hesitating, the lies that he told in front of everybody. I understand it doesn't make political sense to impeach Donald Trump, but for the life of me I don't know why Democrats would not start gathering evidence to impeach this man. He is as dangerous in the position of attorney general as Donald Trump is as president of the United States, and he's unfit and unworthy to be there."
"If you ask any judge these questions, they would not answer them the way that Donald Trump's defense lawyer did," he added. "Barr is not an attorney general of the United States, he is Donald Trump's defense attorney. He's his lackey, he's his stooge."
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'That's a red flag': Ex-US Attorney reveals the disturbing details of how Barr overruled Mueller on Trump obstruction
A former U.S. Attorney blasted Attorney General William Barr for behaving like President Donald Trump's legal protection during a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Barr testified Wednesday before the Republican-led panel before abruptly refusing to return to Capitol Hill for another hearing before the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee, and MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance explained what she found surprising about his decision to override Robert Mueller's concerns about obstruction.
"The attorney general as a practical matter can't read every piece of evidence in the case, he has to be able to rely on his team," said Vance, who served nearly eight years as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. "Here's when I find Bill Barr's, his practice in this regard surprising."
"It's surprising to me that having made a decision that he was, in essence, going to overrule the (special counsel) team on obstruction," she added, "(Barr) didn't meet with them, hear their views and talk with them about the evidence and then decide whether it was witness testimony or pieces of financial documentation he needed to go back and personally review."
Vance didn't fault Barr for not looking at every single piece of evidence, which she said was impractical, but she was concerned about his decision-making process.
"He should have interacted with the team and heard their views," Vance said. "The fact he didn't do that is a red flag."
Mueller explicitly told Barr in a letter that he disagreed with his summary of the investigative report, and Vance said the attorney general was not forthcoming about their four interactions before the full report was released.
"It casts the attorney general's testimony, I think, in a really distasteful light," Vance said. "Whether or not it's technically perjury, because perjury is a tough charge to prove, there has to be statement and Barr, I thought, yesterday was very careful to try to distinguish on a very narrow basis his comments in Mueller's letter."
"Even if it's not technically perjury or some sort of a contempt," she added, "it really isn't the kind of behavior that we should seek from an attorney general. It was disingenuous, it was an effort to mislead. That's not the attorney general's job. He shouldn't be a political actor protecting the presidency. He's there to protect the country and uphold his oath to the Constitution."
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‘Kellyanne Conway broke the law again today’: Lawrence O’Donnell has video busting White House official’s crimes
MSNBC anchor Lawrence O'Donnell used video evidence on Wednesday to bolster his argument that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has broken federal law -- at least twice so far this week.
"Kellyanne Conway is going to need a lawyer. I hope she knows a good one because Kellyanne Conway broke the law again today," O'Donnell said.
He played a clip of Conway saying, "while I'm on the subject of [Joe] Biden."
"It's against the law for her to be on the subject of Biden," O'Donnell noted. "She said that yesterday in the White House driveway to a group of reporters as she was illegally campaigning against Joe Biden for Donald Trump while holding her position on the federal payroll."
"Kellyanne Conway did the same thing again today in the White House driveway," he continued.
"She violated the Hatch Act. The Hatch Act says that a federal government employee -- including the White House staff -- 'may not use his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.' In other words, they cannot participate in campaigning," he explained.
"Another provision of the Hatch Act prohibits campaigning at federal buildings, which the White House most certainly is," he noted.
"So Kellyanne Conway violated two sections of the Hatch Act -- two days in a row -- standing in the White House driveway campaigning against Joe Biden," O'Donnell concluded.
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