Attorney general nominee William Barr faces confirmation hearing

The Senate on Thursday confirmed William Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general.

Barr, who previously held the position under President George H.W. Bush, will now become head of the US Department of Justice. He’ll replace Matthew Whitaker, who became acting attorney general after Jeff Sessions resigned from the job last year.

The Senate just confirmed William Barr to be President Trump’s new attorney general, a vote that garnered some Democratic support in spite of broader party opposition and ongoing questions regarding his oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference.

Republicans broadly voted in favor of Barr. They were joined by Democrats Doug Jones (AL), Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), all of whom are from states where Trump remains popular.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has delayed a vote for attorney general nominee William Barr until next week, in the wake of Democratic opposition.

This lag is standard for the committee, particularly on controversial nominees, which gives lawmakers the opportunity to postpone votes by a week if they have outstanding concerns. Numerous Democrats on Tuesday raised questions about Barr’s nomination and his willingness to share a final, unredacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference with Congress.

The Trump administration’s war on marijuana legalization may soon end.

A year ago, the Department of Justice, under the leadership of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, made a move widely interpreted as a signal to federal prosecutors and other law enforcement officials to crack down on cannabis — and marijuana businesses — in states that had legalized pot: It rescinded guidance issued during Barack Obama’s presidency that allowed states to legalize pot without the threat of federal interference even as marijuana remained illegal under federal law.

William Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, showed during his confirmation testimony Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he’ll be a loyal foot soldier for Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda.

Barr (predictably) defended Trump’s demands for a “wall” at the US-Mexico border, decried “sanctuary cities” (and claimed with no evidence that they entice criminals to come to the United States), and said that because most asylum seekers coming to the US don’t ultimately prevail, it would be better to process their applications without letting them enter the country to begin with.

Key exchanges between William Barr and senators on the Judiciary Committee add up to a picture of a potential attorney general who would serve as a typical Republican on policy, but whose answers raised questions about the extent to which he’d consider the political and personal needs of President Donald Trump.

Barr offered standard conservative answers to questions about issues ranging from guns to abortion to immigration.

During attorney general nominee William Barr’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) asked Barr whether he had ever committed sexual misconduct.

“Since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?” she asked.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), a likely Democratic contender for the 2020 presidential nomination, pushed back on attorney general nominee William Barr’s statements about race and the criminal justice system at a Senate hearing Tuesday.

Barr has argued in the past that “there’s no statistical evidence of racism in the criminal justice system,” according to comments cited by Booker. The senator pressed Barr on the point, detailing evidence of exactly such a bias.

Attorney general nominee William Barr — much like his predecessor Jeff Sessions — declined to offer a definitive response about whether or not he would jail journalists when pressed on the issue during his Tuesday confirmation hearing.

“If you’re confirmed, will the Justice Department jail reporters for doing their jobs?” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) asked Barr, who has faced heavy scrutiny for his stance on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference.

William Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, is on board with the president’s position on the border wall and the government shutdown — and his mischaracterization of Democrats’ position on border security too.

In an exchange with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) during his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Barr backed the president’s wall-money-or-nothing approach to funding the government that has resulted in what is now the longest partial government shutdown in US history. Klobuchar asked Barr if he had a message to Justice Department employees who have been furloughed or are working without pay because of the shutdown.

The big question heading into attorney general nominee William Barr’s confirmation hearing was whether he’d act as an independent head of the Justice Department under a president who has gone to extreme lengths to try to impede special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation — despite elements of his record that have raised some concerns.

So as the hearing began Tuesday, Barr tried to offer some assurances and commitments — saying he almost surely wouldn’t fire Mueller, and making clear he believed self-interested presidential interference with an investigation could raise constitutional concerns.

Asked by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) about ongoing litigation arguing that President Trump’s various business interests represent a violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause, attorney general nominee William Barr professed to have no idea what she’s talking about.

“I think there is a dispute as to what the emoluments clause relates to,” Barr told the Senate while maintaining that he’s never researched the subject. “I couldn’t even tell you what it says.”

The US Department of Justice is shut down this week, with many staff furloughed and many others working without pay, but the Senate is starting the work of installing a new boss in the form of William Barr, President Donald Trump’s selection to succeed Jeff Sessions as attorney general.

Barr, who served as both attorney general and deputy attorney general during George H.W. Bush’s administration, is certainly qualified for the job.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the new Judiciary Committee chair, opened up the confirmation hearing for President Trump’s new attorney general pick with a series of questions about right-wing conspiracy theories related to the Russia investigation.

That doesn’t exactly bode well for the rest of the hearing — and perhaps his whole tenure at the committee’s helm.

William Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, January 15, for what is likely to be a contentious hearing over his confirmation to head the Department of Justice.

The hearing is slated to begin at 9:30 am on Tuesday and will continue into Wednesday. It will be shown on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s website and C-SPAN.

William Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, goes before the Senate Tuesday for his confirmation hearing.

He’s been here before.

Democrats who want to speak with William Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, ahead of his confirmation hearing have had a harder time doing so than normal. But after the Justice Department initially said he was too busy for sit-downs because of the partial government shutdown, it now, at least in some cases, seems to be reversing course.

Barr will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to replace former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and current acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. Some committee Democrats have complained that ahead of the hearing, Barr is declining invitations to meet, which is generally customary.

President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, Bill Barr, blasted the Mueller investigation’s obstruction of justice inquiry in a private memo to the Department of Justice this June.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the existence of Barr’s memo Wednesday night, and the New York Times posted the full 19-page memo on Thursday. In it, Barr admits that he is “in the dark about many facts,” but went on to make a lengthy argument that special counsel Robert Mueller appeared to be “proposing an unprecedented expansion of obstruction laws” that he claims could have “grave consequences” to the executive branch.

President Donald Trump will nominate William Barr as his next attorney general — and criminal justice reformers are very worried.

The news means Barr, who formerly served as President George H.W. Bush’s attorney general, will replace former Attorney General Jeff Sessions if the Republican-controlled Senate approves Trump’s nomination. (Matthew Whitaker is currently serving as acting attorney general.)

President Donald Trump says he will nominate William Barr, a conservative lawyer and former attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, to be the next attorney general.

The president announced his pick Friday, after reports circulated that Barr was the top contender for the job. Barr served as attorney general about 25 years ago, from 1991 to 1993, and was one of the youngest people to ever hold the position at the time. His ties to a past Republican administration may benefit him in what’s sure to be a bruising confirmation fight.