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Hello on this cold and still-icy morning from the Senate, where the Judiciary Committee will be hearing from Trump's attorney general nominee Bill Barr. What we know so far: Barr plans to say he'll let Mueller "complete his work" buzzfeednews.com/article/chrisg… 
Spotted in attendance at Barr's hearing: Jody Hunt, the current head of DOJ's Civil Division
Barr is in (in the middle greeting former senator Orrin Hatch, who will be introducing him)
New Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham has gaveled in, so we're off. Grassley (the former chair) begins by congratulating Graham on his new post, says he has every confidence Graham will steer the committee in the right direction
New committee members Sens. Ernst and Blackburn are here, and Graham notes that they're making history (as the first women Republicans to serve on the Judiciary Committee)
You may recall Graham's fiery performance during the hearings over Kavanaugh's SCOTUS nomination. Graham today says he'll try to be as "measured" as possible — the "immigration Lindsey" — but he says the "other guy" is in there, too, and "I don't like him any more than you do"
Mueller is in over everyone's minds as Barr's hearing kicks off. Graham says of the memo that Barr wrote about the investigation: "There’ll be a lot of talk about it, as there should be" and Feinstein begins by talking about how the AG must be able to resist "political pressure"
Back to Barr: He is now reading his opening statement, which DOJ release yesterday and you can read here: assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5684… Previously from @chrisgeidner on what he's saying about Mueller: buzzfeednews.com/article/chrisg…
Graham begins by asking Barr is he's familiar with the NYT story saying the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump. Barr says yes. Graham asks if Barr will look into whether this happened. Barr says yes. Has Barr ever heard of such a thing before? Barr says no
Graham reads some of the Peter Strzok/Lisa Page texts criticizing Trump and about stopping him from being elected, and asks what Barr's reaction was to them. Barr says he was "shocked." Graham asks if he'll look into what happened in 2016, and Barr says yes
Graham asks Barr if he believes Mueller is "fair-minded" and Barr says "absolutely." Would he be involved in a witch hunt, Graham asks. Barr: "I don’t believe Mr. Mueller would be involved in a witch hunt."
Feinstein is up. She asks a series of quick questions about Mueller: Barr says 1) he'll ensure scope of probe is maintained (as set by charter + regulations) 2) will commit to providing Mueller with resources/time needed 3) ensure Mueller isn't terminated without good cause
Feinstein asks if Barr received any nonpublic information about Mueller's probe. Barr says he "doesn't recall" getting any confidential info about the investigation
Feinstein asks if Barr talked about the Mueller investigation with Trump or anyone else in the White House. Barr says yes, but not in "any particular substance." Barr offers to go into detail, but Feinstein says not now because she's out of time (she says she may come back to it)
Leahy asks if Barr will commit to seeking the advice of career ethics officials about whether he should recuse from any role in the Mueller investigation. Barr says he will seek their advice, but notes the final decision is up to him
Testifying this morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Bill Barr, Trump's nominee for US attorney general, said he didn't think special counsel Robert Mueller would be involved in a "witch hunt" buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…
Graham is now recessing, and I'm heading over to the federal courthouse, where a judge is hearing arguments at noon on whether to grant a temporary restraining order in litigation over the govt shutdown. Follow @chrisgeidner for more updates on Barr when they resume around 12:15
On what Trump's attorney general nominee Bill Barr has said so far today on Robert Mueller's future, what Trump asked him about Mueller, and The Wall buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…
Back at Barr: Whitehouse asked about Barr's understanding of the word "corruptly" in the context of obstruction of justice. Whitehouse says he was worried Barr was advocating for a narrow interpretation related to things like destruction of evidence, not more broadly about intent
These Qs relate to Barr's memo to Rosenstein re: the Mueller investigation. Barr says his interpretation of the obstruction statute wasn't predicated on the word "corruptly," but that he was saying it's part of reading the law as being about destruction/hiding of evidence
Whitehouse asked if Barr's intention was not to change the standards for obstruction as spelled out in internal DOJ guidance — Barr says that's right
Graham is now taking another short break. Up next: Klobuchar's second round of questions
We're back on with Barr. Klobuchar asks if the AG is the president's lawyer or the people's lawyer? Barr says he prev. said the AG was the president's lawyer per 1789 description. If the president presented a reasonable construction of the law, AG could support that, he says
What about Watergate, Klobuchar asks. Barr says that if the president directed the AG to do something contrary to law, the AG "has to step down"
Klobuchar asks if Barr would support drug courts for nonviolent offenders, Barr says yes, they're "generally a good idea"
Right now it's just Sen. Ernst in the room, and she's chairing — she quips that she loves the "upward mobility" on the committee, given that it's her first hearing
