House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants Attorney General William Barr held accountable for "lying" to Congress in April. He was asked if he knew of any concerns Robert Mueller might have of his 4-page summary and said no. But a new report from the Washington Post suggests Mueller sent him a letter complaining about his interpretation. So, he did know how the special counsel felt?
“He lied to Congress," Pelosi said at a news conference Thursday. "He lied to Congress. And if anybody else did that, it would be considered a crime. Nobody is above the law. Not the president of the United States, and not the attorney general.”
By her logic, then, former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is also in trouble. According to many people in his circle, Cohen fibbed in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee when he said he never wanted a job in the Trump White House. Plenty of witnesses can vouch that he did lobby for a job in the administration, to no avail of course.
President Trump also asserted that his old attorney lied when he said he never asked him for a pardon.
Bad lawyer and fraudster Michael Cohen said under sworn testimony that he never asked for a Pardon. His lawyers totally contradicted him. He lied! Additionally, he directly asked me for a pardon. I said NO. He lied again! He also badly wanted to work at the White House. He lied!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2019
So, if you're keeping count, that's two apparent lies and would have therefore qualified him for Pelosi's punishment. Yet, when Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) introduced a resolution to send Cohen’s testimony to the DOJ for a perjury investigation, the speaker rejected it.
The same goes for other Democrats. House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings pledged to hold Cohen accountable for his fabrications.
Cummings tells @mkraju that warned Cohen against lying to the House Oversight Committee: "I will nail you to the cross" he recalls telling Cohen. pic.twitter.com/kb3ivx7N3O
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) March 7, 2019
But, a few months later and Cummings has yet to make good on that promise.
Are Democrats letting Cohen skate because he was highly critical of Trump and Barr was not? Rep. Green seems to think so.
"Democrats refused to defend the integrity of the House," he said. "By voting against the resolution referring Cohen’s testimony to the DOJ, they’ve now suggested you can lie to Congress as long as testimony tries to hurt Trump. Democrats have just endorsed a two-tiered system of justice!"
Barr defended his performance from last month, clarifying that while he spoke with Mueller after receiving the March 24 letter, the special counsel told him his summary was fine. According to Barr, it was "clear" to him that Mueller didn't think he had misrepresented his report.