Before Attorney General William Barr even testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff was mulling over with a CNN host how Congress could get him removed from office. Schiff and other Democrats are frustrated with Barr's handling of the conclusion of Robert Mueller's Russia investigation - even more so after a new report from the Washington Post, published on Tuesday, suggested that Mueller was not happy with Barr's four-page summary of his findings. Barr's summary conclusively read that President Trump did not collude with Russia, nor did he obstruct justice. But, according to the WaPo piece, Mueller found Barr's summary rather misleading.
"We now have very direct confirmation that Barr willingly misled Congress," Schiff asserted on Wednesday, suggesting it may be tantamount to "perjury."
He "deliberately" misled Congress last month, he said, when asked if he knew how Mueller felt about this summary.
"I think his statement is deliberately false and misleading and yes, most people would consider that to be a lie," Schiff added. "He's a very smart man, he knew exactly he was being asked by Congress and he knew his answer was false."
As such, we "can’t" trust what he says today.
Considering his belief that Barr lied to Congress, CNN's Alisyn Camerota encouraged Schiff in asking if there's anything Congress can do to get him removed as attorney general. The congressman said Barr should "never" have been appointed in the first place because he was too close to Trump. But, they are looking into what they can do.
Other congressional Democrats are on board.
Rep. Ted Lieu is calling for the resignation of Attorney General Bill Barr following a report that Robert Mueller had expressed misgivings to Barr about his 4-page memo: "He is supposed to be America's attorney, not Trump's stooge" https://t.co/vshYG1Z7f4 pic.twitter.com/KKZtwT0nWb
— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) May 1, 2019
The president weighed in ahead of the hearing.
NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION. Besides, how can you have Obstruction when not only was there No Collusion (by Trump), but the bad actions were done by the “other” side? The greatest con-job in the history of American Politics!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 1, 2019