Thread by @voxdotcom

Sen. Dianne Feinstein: “Top of mind for all of us is the ongoing investigation. Importantly, the attorney general must be willing to resist political pressure and be committed to protecting this investigation.” #BarrHearing

Sen. Orrin Hatch says Barr, in his last stint as attorney general, “prioritized fighting violent crime and became known as the law and order attorney general.”

Criminal justice reformers worry about that history: bit.ly/2sqwzfb #BarrHearing

Barr takes the floor at his confirmation hearing and introduces his family to the committee.

"My son ... will someday be in the Department of Justice," he says. #BarrHearing

Barr, in opening statement: "I regret that I come before this committee at a time when much of our government is shut down, and my thoughts are with the dedicated [workers], many of whom continue to perform their critical jobs." #BarrHearing

Barr address a big question lawmakers are sure to ask:

"President Trump has sought no assurance, promises or commitments from me of any kind, either express or implied ... my allegiance will be to the rule of law, the constitution and the American people." #BarrHearing

"I would like to briefly address the memorandum that I wrote last June ... [it] is narrow, explaining my thinking on a specific obstruction of justice theory under a single statute that I thought the special counsel might be considering." #BarrHearing

The “memo,” explained:

Barr sent DOJ a document last year blasting Mueller’s probe, calling the special counsel’s obstruction of justice theory “fatally misconceived” and “premised on a … unsupportable reading of the law.”

It'll be a big topic today. bit.ly/2AN3uz2

"The memo did not address or in any other way question the special counsel's core investigation into Russian efforts to interfere in the election," Barr insists. #BarrHearing

Sen. Graham mentions the @NYtimes report stating that the FBI opened an investigation into whether Trump was working on Russia’s behalf.

"Would you promise me and this committee to look into this and tell us whether or not [an investigation] was opened?" bit.ly/2T3d8EI

Graham: “Do you trust [Mueller] to be fair to the president and the country as a whole?”

Barr: “Yes.”

Graham: “When his report comes to you, will you share it with us as much as possible?”

Barr: “Consistent with the regulations and the law, yes.”
#BarrHearing

Barr says he has "a very high opinion of [Rod Rosenstein] and his service in the department."

Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller, recently announced that he'd step down from his post as Deputy Attorney General in the coming weeks. bit.ly/2sBVvAF #BarrHearing

Feinstein: “Will you commit to providing Mr. Mueller with the resources, funds and time needed to complete his investigation?“

Barr: “Yes.” #BarrHearing

Feinstein: “Will you commit to insuring that special counsel Mueller is not terminated without good cause consistent with department regulations?”

Barr: “Absolutely.” #BarrHearing

Feinstein: “If the president orders the attorney general to halt a criminal investigation for personal reasons, would that be prohibited … by the Constitution?”

Barr: “I think it would be a breach of the president's duties to faithfully execute the law.” #BarrHearing

Feinstein: "Have you discussed the Mueller investigation with the president or anyone else in the White House?"

Barr: "I discussed the, uh, Mueller investigation, but not in any particular substance." #BarrHearing

Sen. Grassley references Barr’s record of opposing “attempts enact criminal justice reform.”

The Senate recently passed the First Step Act. When asked, Barr says he will commit to implementing it even if he is personally opposed. bit.ly/2ALEecH #BarrHearing

Sen. Leahy: Trump “obsesses over the Russia investigation. He attacks the special counsel almost daily. He fired the previous FBI director and attorney general for not handling the investigation as he pleased ... the rule of law can no longer be taken for granted.” #BarrHearing

Leahy: “You were very critical of the Russia probe. I can't think of anything that would jump out more for this president because of his commitment to it … some have said on both sides of the aisle that it looked like a job application.”

Barr: “That's ludicrous.” #BarrHearing

Sen. Durbin: “When you consider this president has lashed out on a personal basis against federal judges who ruled against his administration … when you see [people] leaving the White House at every single level, why do you want this job?” #BarrHearing

Barr: “I love the department and all its components, including the FBI. … I will not be bullied into doing anything I think is wrong. By anybody. Whether it be editorial boards or Congress or the president. I'm going to do what I think is right.” #BarrHearing

Sen. Durbin asks Barr if he agrees with separating families at the US-Mexico border.

“My understanding is that DHS makes the decision as to who they're going to apprehend and hold. You can claim asylum, but that doesn't mean you can waltz into the country freely.” #BarrHearing

As George H.W. Bush’s attorney general, Barr built border barriers and turned away asylum seekers. bit.ly/2RM5Bgs

Also during that time, Barr was an architect of policies that shaped the war on drugs and mass incarceration. bit.ly/2ssyIaf

In the first line of questioning after break, Sen. Whitehouse asks Barr if he “communicate[ed] in any way” that he wanted Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, who plans to resign, to go.

Barr: “Absolutely not.” #BarrHearing

Sen Joni Ernst: How do you plan on restoring the rule of law in our immigration system?

Barr: “Until we're able to do that, we're just not going to be able to get control over illegal immigration, and it creates a lot of unsafe conditions for many people.” #BarrHearing

Trump’s obsessions with physical border barriers and immigrant street gangs are better suited to 1992 than to 2018. So Barr, who served as AG in 1992, hardly has to update his agenda to fit right in. bit.ly/2HeiSdC

Barr: "We need a barrier system across the border, and part of that is illegal immigration, but a big part of it also is preventing the influx of drugs." #BarrHearings

(It’s true that a lot of drugs consumed in the US come in via the border with Mexico. But the majority of them, consistently, come into the US at ports of entry — official border crossings. A wall would have no impact). bit.ly/2suJOvg

Sen. Klobuchar: What would you say to furloughed or unpaid employees during this shutdown?

Barr: “I would like to see a deal reached where Congress recognizes that it's important to have border security and that parts of it need barriers.” #BarrHearing

Klobuchar: Would it be obstruction of justice “if a president told a witness not to cooperate with an investigation or hinted at a pardon?”

Barr: “I would have to know the specific facts.” #BarrHearing

Klobuchar: “Will DOJ jail reporters for doing their jobs?”

#Barr: “I can conceive of situations where, as a last resort, where a news organization [knows] they're putting out stuff that will hurt the country...there could be a situation where someone could be held in contempt.”

"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.” —#Barr

Sen. Coons: “What if the president asked you to rescind or change special counsel regulations?"

Barr: “I think those special counsel regulations should stay in place for the duration of this investigation … I have no reason to think they're not working.” #BarrHearing

Asked what he would do if the president instructed him to fire Mueller with “no good cause,” Barr says he would “not carry out that instruction.” #BarrHearing

Sen. Sasse: Is Putin “a friend or a foe” of the US?

Barr: “I don't hold myself out as a foreign policy expert, but I think that he is — I think the Russians are — a potent rival of our country.” #BarrHearing

Sasse: “Is there any sense in which it’s the attorney general's job to protect the president?”

Barr: “In the policy arena, the attorney general is someone who should be sympathetic to the administration and its policy goals." #BarrHearing

#Barr adds: "If I was ever asked to do something I felt was unlawful and directed to do that, I wouldn't do it and I would resign rather than do it.”

Asked if he'll allow Mueller to exercise his judgment on subpoenas and indictments, Barr says: "You would not like it if I made some pledge to the president that I was going to exercise my responsibilities in a particular way...I'm not going to make a pledge to [this] committee."

Sen. Blumenthal: "Would you defend Roe v. Wade if it were challenged?"

#Barr: "I think the justices — the recent ones — have made clear they consider Roe v. Wade an established precedent. It's been on the books 46 years."

Sen. Mazie Hirono: "I ask these questions of every nominee who comes before [my committees]...Since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors, or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?"

#Barr: "No."

What does #Barr's testimony so far reveal about his views on the Mueller probe? He said it's “unimaginable” that Mueller would do anything to justify his firing, but he didn’t quite commit to making Mueller's report public.

Read more from @awprokop: bit.ly/2H9QiKe

Responding to a question about federal guidelines re: sexual assault on college campuses, #Barr said, "The word of a victim has to be taken very seriously and has to be pursued, but we can't do it at the expense of the bill of rights or basic fairness and due process."

@awprokop Barr and Sen. Cory Booker are discussing Barr's record on criminal justice.

Barr once said that it was “simply a myth” that there were “sympathetic people” and “hapless victims of the criminal justice system” in prisons, Salon reports. bit.ly/2srFhtF

Barr doesn’t just have a record of supporting the war on drugs and mass incarceration. He was one of the architects for federal policies that supported both. bit.ly/2RMyVDq

Booker to Barr: “I believe your intentions are well. But I think some of the things you've said in the past lead me to believe your [criminal justice] policies might be misguided.” #BarrHearing

Sen. Kamala Harris, on the US-Mexico border: “Are you advocating a wall?

Barr: “I’m advocating a system, a barrier system in some places. And I'd have to find out more about the situation since I last visited the border.” Says his last visit was a couple decades ago.

Barr says a wall “certainly would” address his concern about drugs coming across the border.

As @DLind explains, the majority of the drugs that make it into the US come at ports of entry — meaning a wall wouldn't have an impact. bit.ly/2suJOvg

Sen. Feinstein: “Do you believe that torture is ever lawful?”

#Barr: “No.”

Feinstein: “Is waterboarding torture?”

Barr: “You know, I would have to look at the legal definition … right now, it's prohibited.”

Sen. Hawley asks Barr what he thinks of nationwide injunctions by federal district courts, such as a court this week striking down a rollback of Obamacare’s birth control mandate. (bit.ly/2HcwhCI)

#Barr says he finds it concerning, citing the travel ban as an example.

Barr tells Sen. Coons that a president *does* have the power to pardon a family member simply because they're family, but "he would then have to face the fact that he could be held accountable for abusing his power.” #BarrHearing