Attorney General William Barr
In the least surprising news of the week, Attorney General Bill Barr has declined to testify today before the House Judiciary Committee. After Senators Harris and Hirono ate his liver with a nice Chianti yesterday, Mr. Barr has no intention of facing Jerry Nadler for another round while he’s still pissing blood, thankyouverymuch.
But instead of politely declining because he’s currently straddling a bag of frozen peas, Barr insists that he can’t possibly testify if Democratic Chairman Nadler subjects him to the gross indignity of answering questions from staff lawyers. According to DOJ Spokeswoman Kerri Kupec, “Chairman Nadler’s insistence on having staff question the Attorney General, a Senate-confirmed Cabinet member, is inappropriate.”
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Let us not think too hard about the irony of being lectured on propriety by the DOJ as the Attorney General opines that the president can end any investigation of himself with impunity as long as he knows he’s innocent. This way madness lies.
In point of fact, it is routine for witnesses to be questioned by professional staff at hearings — both Nixon and Clinton agreed to it during impeachment hearings; Peter Strzok and Lisa Page agreed to it; James Comey agreed to it; and most famously, Christine Blasey Ford agreed to it when the Senate Judiciary Committee realized that having an all-male panel interrogate an alleged sexual assault victim was a bad look. Then they shoved that lady lawyer out of the way so Lindsey Graham could screech in rage, but the point is, having outside counsel pose questions is not, as Barr declares, “inappropriate.”
Ms. Kupec continued:
Unfortunately, even after the Attorney General volunteered to testify, Chairman Nadler placed conditions on the House Judiciary Committee hearing that are unprecedented and unnecessary. Congress and the Executive branch are co-equal branches of government, and each have a constitutional obligation to respect and accommodate one another’s legitimate interests.
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The president is currently suing the House Oversight Chair to get him to stop issuing nosy subpoenas, but Mr. Nadler is no doubt grateful for the reminder of his constitutional obligations to respect the president.
President Trump: "We're fighting all the subpoenas." pic.twitter.com/bATW8yjL2z
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 24, 2019
Perhaps Bill Barr’s objections arise from the White House’s stated intention to defy all oversight coming from the Democratic House. Perhaps he’s hiding under the covers with a bottle of single malt and refusing to come out after the kicking he took yesterday. Or perhaps he is genuinely afraid of being questioned by the sharks hired by the Judiciary Committee.
NBC reports that the Committee signed former White House ethics lawyer Norm Eisen as “special oversight counsel.” Eisen co-founded Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, aka CREW, which has filed multiple lawsuits and complaints against the Trump administration. The Committee also hired renowned trial lawyer Barry Berke, currently on leave from Kramer Levin. These two are not trying to get re-elected next year, and they did not come to play. They will not be grandstanding, they will be out for blood.
Whether Eisen and Berke will ever get to take a crack at Barr is an open question. Chairman Nadler has promised to subpoena the Attorney General and vote to hold him in contempt of Congress if he fails to appear. The odds of Attorney General Barr arresting himself are … remote. But Congress has, of late, considered resurrecting its inherent contempt powers, which would allow it to jail or fine contemners.
Ah, but would it be “appropriate?” Are we not bound by precedent and the unwritten rules of Washington? Whatever happened to bipartisanship and comity? Next you’ll be suggesting we get rid of the filibuster and blue slips for federal judges, jam massive legislation through using the budget reconciliation process, and declare a national emergency every time Congress refuses to fund presidential pet projects.
OH WAIT.
House Judiciary Committee hires two outside counsels [NBC News]
Barr Refuses to Testify Before House Judiciary Committee on Thursday [New York Magazine]
Elizabeth Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.