Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler Request Investigation Into AG Barr
Source: PoliticusUSA
We write to request that you investigate whether recent public statements by Attorney General William Barr regarding former Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (ICIG) Michael Atkinson violated applicable Department of Justice (DOJ) policies and rules of professional conduct.
In a televised interview on April 9, 2020, Mr. Barr blatantly mischaracterized Mr. Atkinson’s conduct and DOJ’s own actions relating to the complaint filed last summer by an Intelligence Community whistleblower. The complaint detailed President Trump’s efforts to coerce Ukraine to announce a politically-motivated investigation of his rival in the 2020 presidential election.
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In the year since Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Mr. Barr has persistently sought to mislead the American public in an effort to undermine the Special Counsel’s investigation and findings, as well as those of the Department’s own Office of Inspector General. Indeed, a federal judge recently examined Mr. Barr’s “lack of candor” and concluded that Mr. Barr “distorted the findings in the Mueller Report,” which “cause[d] the Court to seriously question whether Attorney General Barr made a calculated attempt to influence public discourse about the Mueller Report in favor of President Trump.”
Read more: https://www.politicususa.com/2020/04/20/adam-schiff-and-jerry-nadler-request-investigation-into-ag-barr.html
Barr has deserved investigation and many would say impeachment since he took over as Attorney General. Barr has turned his position into acting as Trump’s personal attorney, as he has been involved with squashing the Mueller investigation, trying to get dirt on Joe Biden, and has personally taken overseeing and shutting down investigations that involve Trump or his family.
Keep the heat on the swamp dwellers. Lock them up and throw away the keys.
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Schiff, Nadler call on DOJ watchdog to investigate Barr's remarks about firing of intelligence community IG
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/493721-schiff-nadler-call-on-doj-watchdog-to-investigate-barrs-remarks
By Olivia Beavers - 04/20/20 03:26 PM EDT
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Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) in a letter Monday urged Justice Department (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz and acting Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility Jeffrey Ragsdale to review Barr's claim that Atkinson ignored a DOJ opinion and therefore deserved to be removed.
"In a televised interview on April 9, 2020, Mr. Barr blatantly mischaracterized Mr. Atkinson's conduct and the DOJ's own actions relating to the complaint filed last summer by an Intelligence Community whistleblower," the two wrote in the letter.
"Mr. Barr’s misleading remarks appear to have been aimed at justifying the President’s retaliatory decision to fire Mr. Atkinson."
Atkinson, who had served as the intelligence community inspector general since May 2018, was terminated from his position earlier this month in what was widely seen as retaliation for his handling of the whistleblower complaint about President Trump's conduct with Ukraine.
Atkinson deemed the whistleblower's allegations both urgent and credible — a conclusion that triggered a process for Congress to be alerted to the complaint and ultimately launched an impeachment inquiry, which culminated with Trump’s acquittal in a Senate impeachment trial.
Democrats, oversight watchdogs, and some Republicans have defended Atkinson, saying he correctly followed processes in place to deal with whistleblower complaints. Their defense of the official contrasts with remarks Barr made in an interview with Fox News's Laura Ingraham earlier this month.
"[Atkinson] was obliged to follow the interpretation of the Department of Justice and he ignored it," Barr said, referring to an opinion issued by DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). "I think the president was correct in firing him."....................................
Chairs of House Intel and Judiciary Committees Request Investigation into AG Barr Over Recently Fired Inspector General
by Jerry Lambe | 3:29 pm, April 20th, 2020
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, on Monday called for an investigation into Attorney General William Barr stemming from comments Barr made during a Fox News interview about former Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) Michael Atkinson.
“In a televised interview on April 9, 2020, Mr. Barr blatantly mischaracterized Mr. Atkinson’s conduct and DOJ’s own actions relating to the complaint filed last summer by an Intelligence Community whistleblower,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Acting Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility Jeffrey Ragsdale and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Per the letter:
During the Fox News interview, Barr said Trump “did the right thing” in firing Atkinson.
More:
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/chairs-of-house-intel-and-judiciary-committees-request-investigation-into-ag-barr-over-recently-fired-inspector-general/