Thread by @DavidWright_CNN

Lindsey Graham, in opening remarks at Barr hearing: "So about me. I want us to do better. And I'll be as measured as possible. The immigration Lindsey will show up. But the other guy's there too, and I don't like him any more than you do."

Graham: "You will be challenged, you should be challenged. The memo, there will be a lot of talk about it. As there should be."

Graham: "But I just want to let you know Mr. Barr that we appreciate you stepping up at a time when the country needs somebody of your background and your temperament to be in charge of the rule of the law."

Feinstein: "In [your] memo, you conclude, I think, that special counsel Mueller is ‘grossly irresponsible for pursuing an obstruction case against the president, and pursuing the obstruction inquiry is fatally misconceived.’ So I hope we can straighten that out in this hearing."

Feinstein: "Your memo also shows a large sweeping view of presidential authority and a determined effort, I thought, to undermine Bob Mueller, even though you state you have been friends and are in the dark about many of the facts about the investigation."

Feinstein: "So it does raise questions about your willingness to reach conclusions before knowing the facts, and whether you prejudge the Mueller investigation. And I hope you’ll make that clear today."

here we go:

Barr: "President Trump has sought no assurances, promises, or commitments from me of any kind, either express or implied, and I have not given him any, other than that I would run the department with professionalism and integrity."

Barr: "If confirmed, I will not permit partisan politics, personal interest or any other improper considerations to interfere with this [investigation], I will follow the special counsel regulations scrupulously... & on my watch, Bob [Mueller] will be allowed to finish his work."

Graham opens up by going through the points of the Page, Strzok, Ohr cases -- "we need to look at," "get to the bottom"

Barr: "I don’t believe Mr. Mueller would be involved in a witch hunt."

Graham: "Do you believe that AG Sessions had a conflict because he worked on the Trump campaign?"
Barr: "Uh… I’m not sure of all the facts but I think he probably did the right thing recusing himself."
Graham: "I agree. I think he did the right thing to recuse himself."

On Barr's 19 page memo:
Graham: "Don’t you think President Trump is a one-pager kind of guy?"
Barr: "Excuse me?"
Graham: "President Trump is a one-pager kind of guy?"
Barr: "I suspect he is."

Feinstein: "Have you discussed the Mueller investigation with the president or anyone else in the White House?"
Barr: "Um, I discussed the Mueller investigation, but not in any particular substance."

Key exchange between Feinstein & Barr -- Barr: "If a president attempts to intervene in a matter that he has a stake in, to protect himself, that should first be looked at as a breach of his constitutional duties"

Feinstein: "Including the emoluments clause of the Constitution?"
Barr: "I -- well, I think there’s a dispute as to what the emoluments clause relates to ... I think it’s being litigated right now."

Barr, detailing his June 2017 meeting with the president:

Barr: "In June of 2017, middle of June, Ambassador David Friedman, who is the US Ambassador to Israel ... he reached out to me and we talked one evening, and he said that he -- well, my understanding was, he was interested in finding lawyers that could augment the defense team."

Barr on Comey's first Clinton announcement: "I thought that to the extent that he actually announced a decision, was wrong, and the other thing is, if you’re not going to indict someone, then you don’t stand up there and unload negative information about the person."

Barr on prior opposition to sentencing reform: "I understand that things have changed since 1992. I -- you know, I held on a little bit longer to keeping strong sentences, maybe, than others -- part of that was, I wasn’t involved in the business anymore."

Barr on tech companies/antitrust concerns: "The purpose of the antitrust laws obviously is to protect competition...At the same time, I’m sort of interested in stepping back & reassessing or learning more about how the antitrust division has been functioning & [their priorities]"

Barr: "I don’t think big is necessarily bad, but I think a lot of people wonder how such huge behemoths that now exist in Silicon Valley have taken shape under the nose of the antitrust enforcers."

Barr: "And you know, you can win that place in the marketplace without violating the antitrust laws, but I want to find out more about that dynamic."

Barr's full answer on tech company antitrust concerns:

Barr on border wall: “We need money right now for border security, including barriers and walls and slats and other things, anything that makes sense in different areas of the border... "

Barr: "... I would like to see a deal reached where by Congress recognizes that it’s imperative to have border security, and that part of that border security as a common sense matter needs barriers.”

Amy Klobuchar: "If you’re confirmed, will the Justice Department jail reporters for doing their jobs?"
Barr: "I can conceive of situations where, you know, as a last resort ... there could be a situation where someone would be held in contempt"

Barr on religious liberty: "I believe in the separation of church and state, but I am sometimes concerned that we not use governmental power to suppress the freedoms of traditional religious communities in our country."