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| Live Updates: Barr Testifies as Democrats Criticize Handling of Mueller Report | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| • Attorney General William P. Barr has begun testifying before Congress to discuss the Justice Department budget, a usually staid affair that could become dramatic if lawmakers grill him about the Mueller report. | |
| • Members of the House Appropriations Committees may also question him about the Justice Department’s decision to stop defending the Affordable Care Act in court. | |
| • Mr. Barr is likely to try to keep the conversation focused on the department’s proposed $29.2 billion budget, which includes money for 100 new immigration judges as President Trump hardens his stance on immigration along the southwestern border. | • Mr. Barr is likely to try to keep the conversation focused on the department’s proposed $29.2 billion budget, which includes money for 100 new immigration judges as President Trump hardens his stance on immigration along the southwestern border. |
| Appropriations hearings are ostensibly about asking cabinet officials to justify their budgets, but Democrats who lead the House Appropriations Committee were eager to press Mr. Barr on Tuesday on what one called “the elephant in the room”: his handling of the highly anticipated special counsel’s report. | |
| “The American people have been left with many unanswered questions; serious concerns about the process by which you formulated your letter; and uncertainty about when we can expect to see the full report,” Representative José E. Serrano, Democrat of New York and the head of the appropriations subcommittee that covers the Justice Department, said in his opening remarks. | |
| “I think it would strike a serious blow to our system and yes to our democracy if that report is not fully seen,” he added. | |
| Democrats have criticized Mr. Barr’s decision to share Mr. Mueller’s top-line findings in a four-page letter that quoted sparingly from the report itself and his declaration that Mr. Trump had not committed an obstruction-of-justice offense after Mr. Mueller declined to make a prosecutorial judgment. They renewed their complaints after The New York Times revealed last week that some of Mr. Mueller’s investigators have complained that Mr. Barr failed to fully represent their findings and that they were more damaging for the president than the attorney general indicated. | Democrats have criticized Mr. Barr’s decision to share Mr. Mueller’s top-line findings in a four-page letter that quoted sparingly from the report itself and his declaration that Mr. Trump had not committed an obstruction-of-justice offense after Mr. Mueller declined to make a prosecutorial judgment. They renewed their complaints after The New York Times revealed last week that some of Mr. Mueller’s investigators have complained that Mr. Barr failed to fully represent their findings and that they were more damaging for the president than the attorney general indicated. |
| On Tuesday, they had their first chance to level criticism in person. | |
| Representative Nita M. Lowey, Democrat of New York and the chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, called Mr. Barr’s handling of the Mueller report “unacceptable” and questioned how quickly he summarized the findings in his March 24 letter. | |
| “Even for someone who has done this job before,” she said, referring to Mr. Barr’s first stint as attorney general in the 1990s, “I would argue it is more suspicious than impressive.” | |
| Mr. Barr has insisted that he is being as transparent as he can be and that he wrote the letter to share the main investigative findings with the public as soon as possible while he and other law enforcement officials review the full report. He has vowed to give copies to Congress by mid-April, after lawyers from the special counsel’s office and the Justice Department have had time to redact classified materials, secret grand jury testimony and information related to open investigations. | Mr. Barr has insisted that he is being as transparent as he can be and that he wrote the letter to share the main investigative findings with the public as soon as possible while he and other law enforcement officials review the full report. He has vowed to give copies to Congress by mid-April, after lawyers from the special counsel’s office and the Justice Department have had time to redact classified materials, secret grand jury testimony and information related to open investigations. |
| [Congress waits as Barr blacks out parts of the Mueller report.] | [Congress waits as Barr blacks out parts of the Mueller report.] |
| Mr. Barr was expected to avoid giving any answers that could generate headlines, especially given that his pick for the No. 2 spot at the Justice Department, Jeffrey A. Rosen, goes before senators for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday. Mr. Barr is likely to decline to answer questions about the Mueller report and instead stick with his budget priorities, which include more money to combat the opioid epidemic, crack down on violent crime and protect the country against national security threats. | Mr. Barr was expected to avoid giving any answers that could generate headlines, especially given that his pick for the No. 2 spot at the Justice Department, Jeffrey A. Rosen, goes before senators for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday. Mr. Barr is likely to decline to answer questions about the Mueller report and instead stick with his budget priorities, which include more money to combat the opioid epidemic, crack down on violent crime and protect the country against national security threats. |
| Mr. Barr is requesting an additional $72.1 million for immigration enforcement — an amount that would fund 100 new immigration judges — at a time when Mr. Trump has hardened his stance against illegal immigration and asylum seekers. Over the past two days, he has purged top immigration and security leaders to accelerate that goal. | Mr. Barr is requesting an additional $72.1 million for immigration enforcement — an amount that would fund 100 new immigration judges — at a time when Mr. Trump has hardened his stance against illegal immigration and asylum seekers. Over the past two days, he has purged top immigration and security leaders to accelerate that goal. |
| [Trump says he alone can do it. His attorney general usually agrees.] | [Trump says he alone can do it. His attorney general usually agrees.] |
| Lawmakers have demanded that the White House provide answers. | Lawmakers have demanded that the White House provide answers. |
| While Mr. Barr said in his prepared remarks that the additional judges will “provide some relief from a critical backlog in the immigration courts,” he also said that the continuing influx of cases along the southwestern border “constrains our ability to manage the backlog of cases, and other reforms are necessary.” | While Mr. Barr said in his prepared remarks that the additional judges will “provide some relief from a critical backlog in the immigration courts,” he also said that the continuing influx of cases along the southwestern border “constrains our ability to manage the backlog of cases, and other reforms are necessary.” |
| The Justice Department oversees the nation’s immigration judges, who are separate from the judicial branch. | The Justice Department oversees the nation’s immigration judges, who are separate from the judicial branch. |