3 ways Attorney General William Barr is in the hot seat this week
If there is one thing that has been consistent in the Trump White House, it’s this: If a Cabinet official is in the news, they may not be in the Cabinet much longer.
Whether the news coverage comes from the shade thrown in a presidential tweet or from being entangled in some controversy, it bodes ill for the person involved. The best way to go might be that of Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who has had a relatively long tenure in office. Most forget the guy is still around.
Newly installed Attorney General William Barr began the job in the hot seat, and the seat hasn’t become any cooler since. From his first few weeks on the job he was instrumental in the controversial framing of the findings in the 448-page Mueller report. Now he won’t release the redacted portions and the underlying evidence.
This week, in particular, has been a big week for Barr in the headlines. But the good news for him is that there is an obvious path: Do the president’s bidding and brush off the demands of the Democrats.
Here are three ways Barr has been the focus of attention in Washington:
Barr was found in contempt by the House Judiciary Committee
Following the Mueller report, the House Judiciary Committee, which is led by Democrats, asked for Barr not to just answer questions from them but also from the committee’s staff attorneys. Barr refused to show up under those terms last week. They also asked for him to release the full, unredacted Mueller report and accompanying evidence. He said no to that also.
The committee voted this week to find Barr in contempt. The next step is that the whole House could vote to find him in contempt. After that, the next steps really begin to fade. Sure, Barr’s own Justice Department could bring criminal charges against him. Technically, the House could even go to his office and detain him and force him to testify. Congress could also sue him. But this all seems highly unlikely.
We have been here before, in almost the exact same situation. President Obama’s first attorney general, Eric Holder, was found to be in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify in a Republican-led House committee about a controversial program along the Southern border.
Holder continued in his job well after that, left the administration on his own terms, and even pondered a run for president in 2020. And on Wednesday, some seven years after Holder was found in contempt it was announced that the suit against him was officially settled.
Barr is going to have to decide whether Mueller testifies
Congress wants to hear directly from special counsel Robert Mueller. Originally, Barr told reporters at a press conference that he wouldn’t have a problem with that. Then, earlier this week, Trump tweeted that he felt Mueller shouldn’t testify. And since Mueller works for a Justice Department that Barr runs and who reports to the president, both statements matter.
But while Trump may personally believe Mueller shouldn’t testify, Trump said Thursday that the decision will be up to Barr.
“I’m going to leave that up to our very great attorney general. He’ll make a decision on that,” Trump told reporters.
Barr’s legal advice helped the Treasury decide to hold on to Trump’s taxes
The House Democrats feel like they have strong legal grounds to ask for Trump’s tax returns. After all, it is literally in the law that Congress can request records on any individual taxpayer if there is a congressional purpose.
In April, House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, of Springfield, formally requested that the Treasury Department, which oversees the Internal Revenue Service, turn over six years of Trump’s returns for the congressional purpose of “conducting oversight related to our federal tax laws, including, but not limited to, the extent to which the I.R.S. audits and enforces the federal tax laws against a president.”
With a legal assist from Barr, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that wasn’t good enough. He denied the request. In fact, he and Barr said, the real purpose of the request was simply “presidential harassment.”
In the end, while Barr is getting a lot of headlines this week — including calls for him to resign — he might not be feeling that much actual pressure. The path of pleasing the president may be a change from how other administrations have viewed the role of attorney general, but it is the easiest path for Barr to keep his job.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...hot-seat-this-week/ar-AAB91OH?ocid=spartandhp