AG Barr Nukes Democrats Over ‘Bogus Russiagate Scandal’
Attorney general blasts Dems' anti-Trump investigations during House testimony
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Attorney General Bill Barr has slammed Democrats' anti-Trump investigations, harshly condemning the "grave abuses" in the "bogus Russiagate scandal," according to his prepared remarks for his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
In his first-ever appearance before the Committee on Tuesday, AG Barr will also highlight black-on-black violence as he responds to the ongoing anti-police protests across the country.
The attorney general will speak in defence of law enforcement officers in no uncertain terms, according to a transcript of his prepared remarks obtained by Fox News on Monday night.
Barr's unusually aggressive posture will reportedly be matched by similarly full-throated arguments from GOP lawmakers on the panel, including ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).
GOP lawmakers plan to highlight former Attorney General Eric Holder's remark that he was then-President Barack Obama's "wingman," noting their close relationship to preempt accusations that Barr is President Trump's yes-man.
A strategy document from the GOP side also suggests they will defend the Roger Stone commutation and the recent controversial removal of a U.S. attorney.
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"Ever since I made it clear that I was going to do everything I could to get to the bottom of the grave abuses involved in the bogus Russiagate scandal, many of the Democrats on this committee have attempted to discredit me by conjuring up a narrative that I am simply the president’s factotum who disposes of criminal cases according to his instructions," Barr is expected to say at the outset of his remarks.
"Judging from the letter inviting me to this hearing, that appears to be your agenda today."
Barr will go on to deny that Trump has improperly interfered with any of his decisions.
He will then point to statistics showing progress on racial-justice issues, according to his prepared remarks.
Barr goes on to declare that liberal activists' "demonization of police is not only unfair and inconsistent with the principle that all people should be treated as individuals but gravely injurious to our inner-city communities."
"When a community turns on and pillories its own police, officers naturally become more risk-averse and crime rates soar," his prepared testimony states.
"Unfortunately, we are seeing that now in many of our major cities.
"This is a critical problem that exists apart from disagreements on other issues.
"The threat to black lives posed by crime on the streets is massively greater than any threat posed by police misconduct."
The attorney general also shreds leftist mayors for allowing serial violence to persist in their cities while supporting efforts to undercut police department authorities and funding.
"Unfortunately, some have chosen to respond to George Floyd’s death in a far less productive way — by demonizing the police, promoting slogans like ACAB (All Cops Are Bastards), and making grossly irresponsible proposals to defund the police," he plans to tell lawmakers.
"To tacitly condone destruction and anarchy is to abandon the basic rule-of-law principles that should unite us even in a politically divisive time," he later adds.
Barr also directly challenges Democrats' claims he has been a lapdog for Trump, declaring the president has not interfered in his decisions.
"My decisions on criminal matters before the Department have been my own, and they have been made because I believed they were right under the law and principles of justice," he said.
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Barr suggests that Democrats' criticisms seek to undercut his efforts to investigate abuses in the now-discredited FBI investigation of Trump-Russia collusion.
The attorney general said his desire to get to the bottom of the Russia probe abuses was not driven by pressure from Trump but rather by his own view the investigators engaged in misconduct.
"As an outsider, I became deeply troubled by what I perceived as the increasing use of the criminal justice process as a political weapon and the emergence of two separate standards of justice," Barr explains.
"The Department had been drawn into the political maelstrom and was being buffeted on all sides," he adds.
"When asked to consider returning, I did so because I revere the Department and believed my independence would allow me to help steer her back to her core mission of applying one standard of justice for everyone and enforcing the law even-handedly, without partisan considerations.
"Since returning to the Department, I have done precisely that."
