Category Archives: William Barr

Barr assigns attorney to find how Trump-Russia investigation began – live updates

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Attorney general’s new investigation follows years of Trump and supporters claiming justice department and FBI spied on his campaign

On the subject of markets – the Dow Jones Industrial Average has opened up slightly, a half a point in the green on the day so far. It fell a bit more than three points on Monday.

Donald Trump spent at least an hour and some 1,400 characters on Tuesday morning tweeting a defense of his tariffs on Chinese goods, which China has responded to with retaliatory tariffs, precipitating a dive on Monday in the US markets. Asian markets fell less sharply and European markets opened Tuesday slightly up.

Trump said on Tuesday that “Tariffs have rebuilt our Steel Industry - it is booming!”, “we are in a fantastic position”, “We are in a much better position now than any deal we could have made” and “Other countries are already negotiating with us because they don’t want this to happen to them.”

Related: Trump defends China tariffs as trade war leaves allies and opponents in bind

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Trump praises Hungary’s far-right leader Orbán: ‘He’s a respected man’ – as it happened

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Trump welcomes Viktor Orbán to White House as Pompeo heads to meeting of EU nations in apparent attempt to soothe relations over Iran deal

Oh, the places you’ll go indeed, Rod Rosenstein.

After giving a commencement address and quoting Robert Mueller - you know, the man whose investigation he oversaw - Rosenstein went on to speak at the annual meeting of the Greater Baltimore Committee, where he continued to make waves.

Ex-Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein in a speech in Baltimore tonight is defending his handling of the Mueller probe and taking aim at ex-FBI director James Comey.

Rosenstein also says: “Based on what I knew in May 2017, the investigation of Russian election interference was justified.”

In his prepared remarks, Rosenstein said Trump, “did not tell me what reasons to put in my memo,” but noted what the special counsel report had said. He said he did not include what Trump wanted because it was not relevant, and he did not have personal knowledge of what Comey had told Trump.

Rosenstein said he “did not dislike” Comey but that Comey took steps that were “not within the range of reasonable decisions” during the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. Rosenstein suggested that if he — rather than Trump — had been in charge, “the removal would have been handled very differently, with far more respect and far less drama.”

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#ConstitutionalCrisis? Trump’s battle with Congress comes to a head

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The president’s claims of executive privilege over the Mueller report have set new alarm bells ringing for the fate of democracy

Police this week arrested an alleged arsonist who started a fire outside the National Archives building in Washington, claiming that voices told him to “burn buildings down”. The archives display a four-page handwritten document to countless tourists and schoolchildren: the US constitution.

While the physical object remains fragile but secure, the political framework it represents is facing one of the severest threats in its 232-year history. The arsonist is Donald Trump and he is getting ever closer with his tiki torch.

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House Democrats vote to hold attorney general Barr in contempt of Congress

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Panel takes action after Barr refused to provide unredacted Mueller report, as Schiff subpoenas attorney general

House Democrats voted on Wednesday to hold the US attorney general, William Barr, in contempt of Congress, citing his failure to hand over the full, unredacted version of the special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The decision came on a day of escalating tensions between Congress and the White House.

Earlier on Wednesday, the White House invoked executive privilege to block the House judiciary committee’s request for the full Mueller report and underlying evidence.

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William Barr: is his defence of Trump paving the ‘road to tyranny’?

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The attorney general stands accused of acting as the president’s personal lawyer rather than a guardian of the constitution

Moments before a highly anticipated congressional hearing at which the star witness, the attorney general William Barr, was no longer expected to appear, Representative Steve Cohen placed a porcelain chicken on the dais.

It was 9am and Barr was officially a no-show.

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Trump and Putin discussed Mueller report during phone conversation, says White House – as it happened

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Sarah Sanders says pair had ‘very good’ talk on Friday morning in which Venezuela was also discussed

Here’s an updated recap of today’s political news as we close out the Friday night live politics blog:

The president elaborated his complaints about conservative “censorship” on social media, highlighting his concerns about the treatment of Diamond and Silk, two online commenters who have been championed by Republicans for being black women who support Trump, James Woods, and Paul Watson, a British editor of Infowars, Alex Jones’ conspiracy site.

Trump appeared on Infowars, which has promoted multiple conspiracy theories, including the conspiracy that the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting was a hoax, in 2015, and told host Alex Jones “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.”

The wonderful Diamond and Silk have been treated so horribly by Facebook. They work so hard and what has been done to them is very sad - and we’re looking into. It’s getting worse and worse for Conservatives on social media!

So surprised to see Conservative thinkers like James Woods banned from Twitter, and Paul Watson banned from Facebook! https://t.co/eHX3Z5CMXb

He is very very very very very very very very very very very obviously an extremist. https://t.co/4pK2klhbqi

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Nancy Pelosi accuses Barr of lying to Congress: ‘That’s a crime’ – video

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The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, accused William Barr of lying to Congress on Thursday and said neither the attorney general nor the Republican president were above the law.

'That's a crime,' Pelosi said, although she did not specify the comment to which she was referring.

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Democrat mocks absent William Barr with fried chicken – video

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Steve Cohen, a representative from Tennessee, brings a bucket of fried chicken to Thursday morning’s House judiciary committee in a pointed message to the attorney general, who refused to appear for questioning after he testified before the Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday

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Pelosi says Barr lied to Congress: ‘That’s a crime’ – live

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House speaker criticized attorney general’s failure to show up for House hearing during her weekly press conference

President Trump is now touting a number of issues important to evangelical Christians, including ending the Johnson Amendment and saying “Merry Christmas.”

The Johnson Amendment prevented houses of worship with tax exempt status from endorsing political candidates. The Trump administration ended enforcement of that provision.

President Donald Trump is now speaking at the Rose Garden for the National Day of Prayer. Watch live here.

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‘Purposefully misleading’: US attorney general William Barr grilled by senators – video

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William Barr was defiant during his appearance before Congress on Wednesday, defending his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. In uncomfortable testimony for Trump's chief legal officer, Democrats called for his resignation and accused him of deliberately misrepresenting Mueller's  findings in the president’s favour.

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Barr reportedly to skip House testimony after Senate grilling – live

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Trump’s attorney general testified before the Senate Wednesday after Mueller criticized his summary of the Trump-Russia investigation report

Here’s the full statement from House judiciary chair Jerry Nadler:

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler says if Attorney General William Barr doesn't provide the unredacted Mueller report to Congress in the next day or two, "the next step is seeking a contempt citation against the attorney general." https://t.co/muIkjgd0aT pic.twitter.com/s0q6kBctHw

Here’s attorney general William Barr’s full statement for why he won’t be testifying tomorrow before the House judiciary committee:

Barr’s statement makes clear that the sole basis for his refusal to testify before House Judiciary is that they intended to have a staff attorney ask questions.

Apparently Barr doesn’t want to face 30 minutes of well-crafted questions. pic.twitter.com/4pWMoFzKHp

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Mueller criticized attorney general’s memo on Russia findings

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In letter to Barr, special counsel said attorney general ‘did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance’ of investigation

The special counsel Robert Mueller wrote a letter to US attorney general William Barr expressing frustration with how the attorney general characterized the conclusions of Mueller’s investigation into potential ties between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia, according to multiple reports.

The Washington Post, the New York Times and NBC reported on Tuesday that Mueller penned the letter in late March, after Barr wrote a four-page summary of the special counsel’s work that largely cleared Trump on potential obstruction of justice.

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Barr threatens to skip House hearing on Mueller report over format dispute

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Attorney general has expressed objections to House judiciary committee’s questioning format, according to Democratic aide

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has informed the powerful House of Representatives judiciary committee that attorney general William Barr may not attend a Thursday hearing to review special counsel Robert Mueller’s report of the Trump-Russia investigation.

Barr has expressed objections over the panel’s questioning format, according to a senior Democratic committee aide.

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Mueller report: House issues subpoena for full unredacted version

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Jerry Nadler issues subpoena for Robert Mueller’s full report and the underlying documents ‘to make informed decisions’

The House judiciary chairman, Jerry Nadler, on Friday issued a subpoena for the full, unredacted report by special counsel Robert Mueller on Russian interference in the 2016 US election and the Trump campaign.

Related: 'No new information': Russia shrugs off Mueller report

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The key unanswered questions from the Mueller report

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Almost two-thirds of the section on Russian hacking is redacted and the special counsel refrained from deciding whether Trump committed a crime

The public release of the special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Thursday finally brought into the open key findings from the two-year investigation into Russian interference in the US election. The special counsel team found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Moscow but disclosed damning revelations about Donald Trump’s repeated attempts to interfere with the Russia investigation and possible obstruction of justice.

But the 448-page report includes substantial redactions – on the subject of Russian hacking, nearly two-thirds of the section is blacked out. Those redactions, as well as Mueller’s decision to punt on the question of whether Trump committed a crime, raise a series of fresh questions about the conduct of Trump and his aides.

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Nadler says Mueller report shows ‘disturbing evidence’ of obstruction of justice – video

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US judiciary committee chair Jerry Nadler has said the special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation report outlines 'disturbing evidence' that Donald Trump engaged in obstruction of justice. Nadler also accused US attorney general William Barr of undermining his own department in order to protect the president. He said it was 'disingenuous and misleading' of Barr to say Trump is 'clear of wrongdoing'. 

Barr is scheduled to testify before the committee on 2 May and Nadler has requested Mueller testify before the committee as well because 'we can’t believe what Barr tells us'

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Mueller’s report would have signaled the end for anyone other than Trump

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Analysis: activity discovered by Mueller was not, as Trump and his allies falsely insist, standard stuff for a political campaign

For all his bluster about being a master builder, Donald Trump really made his millions through branding. From chewy steaks to failing casinos, Trump has spent decades putting lucrative lipstick on pigs.

So when faced with a sprawling criminal investigation into how Russia worked to get him elected – and how he then repeatedly tried to obstruct the inquiry – the president devised a brutally effective public relations campaign.

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‘I’m having a good day’: Trump reacts after release of Mueller report – video

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The US president said on Thursday he was having a 'good day' after the release of the special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the now-closed Russia investigation. The US attorney general, William Barr, told a news conference before the report’s release that the investigation did not find Donald Trump or members of his campaign worked with Russia during the 2016 presidential election

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Five key things to look for in the Mueller report

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Barr has said the report has two parts: one on Russian tampering efforts and one on alleged obstruction of justice by Trump

On Thursday, the US justice department is expected to release a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report on Russian election tampering and the Donald Trump campaign to the public. The attorney general, William Barr, has announced a press conference at the justice department at 9.30am to discuss it.

Related: Mueller report: redacted Trump-Russia findings to be released today – live

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Democrats condemn attorney general’s plan for rollout of Mueller report

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Attorney general has sought to ‘put his own spin’ on special counsel’s report, say lawmakers before report’s release

On the eve of the long-anticipated release of the report by special counsel Robert Mueller on Russian tampering in the 2016 election and alleged Trump campaign involvement, Democrats accused the attorney general, William Barr, of trying to “cherry-pick” and “put his own spin” on the conclusions of the investigation.

Representative Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House judiciary committee, appeared with colleagues at a press conference in New York City late Wednesday to protest against Barr’s plan for rolling out a redacted version of the Mueller report.

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