California Rep. and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is having a tantrum after Attorney General Bill Barr roasted Democrats on Capitol Hill.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi castigated Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday for comments he made during congressional hearings this week about the federal probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“Let me just say, I’m very, very dismayed and disappointed that the chief law enforcement officer of our country is going off the rails yesterday and today,” Pelosi told reporters at a Democratic Party retreat in Virginia.
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“He is attorney general of the United States of America, not the attorney general of Donald Trump.”
Pelosi said Democrats first of all want to see Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and any links to the Trump campaign.
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Russia’s activities were an assault on U.S. democracy – “there is no doubt about that,” Pelosi said.
During two congressional hearings this week, Barr defended his handling of the 400-page report Mueller submitted to him on March 22 after a two-year investigation.
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It was the attorney general released a four-page letter to Congress providing a broad outline of its assessments.
Barr said he would make public a redacted version of the report next week. Democrats have been calling for full disclosure.
Barr, who was appointed by Trump, said on Wednesday he would look into whether U.S. agencies illegally spied on Trump’s 2016 campaign, but acknowledged under sharp questioning by lawmakers that there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
The tantrum came hours after Barr told Senators that he believes there was illegal spying of President Donald Trump’s campaign.
Attorney General William Barr has unleashed another bombshell, this time on Senators, showing that Russian hoaxsters better get attorneys.
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Speaking to a group of Senators on Wednesday he said that there was illegal spying against President Donald Trump’s campaign.
“I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal,” he told Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who is on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“You’re not suggesting, though, that spying occurred?” she asked him, not expecting the answer that Barr gave her next.
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“I think spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur. But the question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated,” he said.
“I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicted, but I need to explore that,” he said to the Democrat senator.
This came a day after Attorney General Barr told members of the House that an investigation was being started against those who perpetrated the hoax.
The media has largely ignored the biggest bombshell to come from Attorney General Bill Barr during his hearing on Capitol Hill.
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He appeared before the House and told them that it was time to investigate the investigators, which could lead to criminal charges.
“Justice has submitted almost $30 billion dollars of taxpayer dollars to use, and I want to remind my colleagues that that is what the purpose of the Attorney General being here today is, to talk about that $30 billion of taxpayer dollars that’s going to be used,” Rep. Robert Aderholt said during the hearing.
Rep. Robert Aderholt: "Are you investigating who leaked the existence of the FISA order against Carter Page?"
AG Barr: "I haven't seen the referrals yet from Congressman Nunes, but obviously if there is a predicate for an investigation, it will be conducted." pic.twitter.com/r0fUnnaaUA
— The Hill (@thehill) April 10, 2019
“And unfortunately, I see so many of the questions here this morning have gone toward a grassy knoll conspiracy theory regarding the Mueller report,” he said.
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“So I hope we can focus on the questions of having the Attorney General, giving him his time this morning to be here, to answer these questions, regarding the budget,” he said.
And when it came time for him to ask the attorney general questions he asked what was going to be done about it.
“Now that President trump has been exonerated of Russian collusion, is the Justice Department investigating how it came to be that your agency used a salacious and unverified dossier as a predicate for a FISA order on a U.S. citizen?” he asked.
“The Office of the Inspector General has a pending investigation of the FISA process in the Russia investigation. I expect that will be complete in probably May or June, I am told,” Barr said.
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“So hopefully we’ll have some answers from Inspector General Horowitz on the issue of the FISA warrants,” he said before hitting them with a bombshell.
“More generally, I am reviewing the conduct of the investigation and trying to get my arms around all the aspects of the counterintelligence investigation that was conducted during the summer of 2016,” he said.
This was big news and Rep. Jim Jordan told The Hill in an interview that it was about time that an investigation was done.
“I think this is huge,” he said. “We’ve always wanted someone with authority to go back and see how this started and whether it was done by the rules. And now we have that chance.”
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And Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett told Sean Hannity that the investigation could lead to criminal charges against those who perpetrated the hoax.
“A headline today is that William Barr’s personally reviewing the conduct of the FBI in launching the Trump Russia collusion hoax. He knows and there is a plethora of evidence that the process by the FBI was corrupted by political bias and personal animus,” he said.
“There was never any credible evidence to launch the investigation and Lisa Page verified that in her own testimony, Comey grudgingly admitted it. And then they made matters worse, they lie to FISA judges to obtain a wiretap warrant. So all of this I think William Barr is going to investigate,” he told Hannity.
“And when he receives, sometime this week from members of Congress, a criminal referral he will read what they are laying out the facts, the evidence and the law which will initiate, I believe, a criminal investigation by Barr,” he said.
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Barr says the DOJ IG is working on a review of FISA process as it relates to Trump/Russia investigation (phony Dossier was cited to obtain warrant on Carter Page.) Says review will be complete in May or June. Barr also overseeing a separate, wider review. Reckoning coming soon.
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) April 9, 2019
AG Barr speaking in House appropriations hearing just confirmed that Inspector General Horowitz has an active investigation into the origins of the Russia investigation and FISA abuses.
Investigation is expected to be complete in May or June.
— Adrian Norman (@AdrianNormanDC) April 9, 2019
NEW: Attorney General William Barr revealed to Congress that DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s long-anticipated investigation into alleged FISA abuse by the DOJ and FBI should be finished very soon — by May or June.https://t.co/6nFTMQfi7i
— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) April 9, 2019
“The Office of the Inspector General has a pending investigation of the FISA process in the Russia investigation. I expect that will be complete in probably May or June, I am told," Barr explained, giving the first concrete timetable for the IG probe https://t.co/zCHXSTmHdr
— Dan Mellis (@MtgGuyDan) April 10, 2019
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Reuters contributed to this report.