Thread by @briantashman

Lindsey Graham is grilling Barr on whether he will investigate the people who investigated Trump

Barr is now facing questions about FISA and the Trump investigation.

He helped build the surveillance state and once criticized FISA as too restrictive:
aclu.org/blog/national-…

“President Trump is a one-page kind of guy.” — Lindsey Graham

Barr pleads ignorance on the emoluments clause: “I can’t even tell you what it says.”

Feinstein asks Barr about his views on presidential power.

Barr has time after time argued that the president has sweeping powers, especially in a national security context.
aclu.org/blog/national-…

Chuck Grassley asks Barr about his support for mass incarceration.

@ACLU: “Barr was an ardent champion of policies that have transformed America into the world’s leading incarcerator, and there’s little reason to believe that his opinions have changed.” aclu.org/blog/smart-jus…

Leahy: Trump sees the Justice Department “as an extension of his political power” and wants to use it to target his perceived enemies.

“If confirmed, the president is going to expect you to do his bidding.”

Barr does not pledge to recuse from the special counsel investigation, but says he will make the decision after consulting Justice Department officials

Leahy asks Barr if a president could build a border wall without congressional approval or appropriation.

Barr says he can’t answer “in the abstract,” while adding “there are moneys that the president may have power to shift.”

Cornyn is now asking Barr about the Hillary emails investigation.

Barr says he agreed with the Rosenstein memo on the firing of James Comey over his handling of the Hillary emails investigation.

Of course, Trump has offered different reasons for firing Comey, including the Russia investigation.

Durbin questioning Barr on the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy, mentioning his previous support for anti-immigrant policies.

While serving in the Bush administration, Barr championed attacks on asylum-seekers: aclu.org/blog/national-…

Lee asks Barr about civil asset forfeiture, saying that law enforcement agencies are using it to “line their own coffers.”

Barr says he has heard the concerns, but calls it a “valuable tool” for law enforcement.

Barr says he agrees with Trump on immigration, says asylum-seekers are being "coached" and "abuse" the system

Barr talks a big game about respecting "the rule of law" on immigration, but a federal judge rebuked his policy of detaining Haitian asylum-seekers in Guantanamo Bay and denying them access to legal counsel aclu.org/blog/national-…

Barr is now criticizing sanctuary cities and touting Trump's border wall plan that led to the government shutdown

Klobuchar asks if a president drafting a misleading statement to conceal the purpose of a meeting amounts to obstruction, a reference to the Trump Tower meeting.

Barr says he would need specifics.

Klobuchar asks if Barr would jail journalists "for doing their jobs."

After a very long pause, Barr says "there could be a situation" where that happens.

Ted Cruz asks about the now-discredited IRS targeting conspiracy theory. He doesn't ask Barr to respond, but wants the DOJ to take another look at it washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-lin…

Barr's now dodging Blumenthal's questions about the FBI's reported counterintelligence investigation into Trump

Blumenthal asks Barr if he still believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned.

Barr says he doesn't expect to change Justice Department policy on Roe

Hirono asks whether Barr will recuse himself from the Muller investigation, noting that Trump "will do anything to protect himself" from legal inquiries.

Hirono asks whether he agrees with Sessions' policy that made it much harder to negotiate consent decrees addressing police misconduct.

Barr says he does agree, undermining the ability to hold law enforcement accountable for engaging in unlawful practices
aclu.org/blog/criminal-…

.@CoryBooker tells Barr: "You literally wrote the book on mass incarceration."

Read more about Barr's criminal justice record here: aclu.org/blog/smart-jus…

Barr, sounding like a Fox News pundit, defends his pro-mass incarceration stance by bringing up gang violence in Chicago

Booker slams Barr's Chicago rhetoric and presses him on his previous statements that downplay racial disparities in the justice system.

Barr, once again, tries to plead ignorance about the effects of mass incarceration.

Blackburn asks Barr about Facebook and Google "violating users' privacy and recklessly sharing users' personal data with third parties without explicit permission."

Barr has a terrible record on privacy: aclu.org/blog/national-…

Barr says he is "not going to go after" people who use marijuana in states where it is legal with federal prosecution, but says the current system isn't sustainable and breeds "disrespect for federal law"

@KamalaHarris: If confirmed, will you commit to no longer renewing private prison contracts?

Barr, dodges: I'll follow up with you.

Feinstein is now asking Barr about torture.

In 2005, Barr defended Bush's torture record:
nytimes.com/2019/01/14/us/…

Barr said he will try to get "as much as he can" of Mueller's report to Congress and the public. As in, not all of the Mueller report.

Feinstein: "Is waterboarding torture?"
Barr: "You know, I'd have to look at the legal definition. Right now, it's prohibited, so the law has definitively dealt with that. I can't remember what the old law was."

.@SenatorLeahy is now questioning Barr's record on privacy.

Barr tells Leahy that he hasn't read Carpenter, the SCOTUS decision which rejected his view that Americans do not have a Fourth Amendment-protected privacy interest in data held by third parties:
aclu.org/blog/national-…

Durbin correctly reminds Barr that Trump's wall won't stop drug smuggling since the vast majority of illegal drugs enter the U.S. through legal ports of entry washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2…

Barr agrees that if a president tries to conceal evidence or coach a witness to mislead investigators that would amount to obstruction of justice, but not necessarily firing an official involved in the investigation (like Comey)

Barr criticizes district courts that blocked different versions of Trump's Muslim ban.

He thinks the president has nearly unchecked powers as long as they cite "national security" aclu.org/blog/national-…

Barr offers very tepid support for the First Step Act, saying he "would have urged a few changes" but "overall, I don't have a problem with it."

Hirono: "Are you concerned about the way Donald Trump undermines the institutions in our society?"

Barr: "No, Senator."

Barr suggests "there is no more separation" of families on the border, but that's not true: propublica.org/article/border…

Barr says he hasn't "looked at the issue" of whether birthright citizenship is constitutional or not.

Uh, hasn't he read the 14th Amendment?
aclu.org/citizenship-bi…

Coons asks what Barr would do if Trump tries to stop the SDNY investigation into "Individual 1."

Barr says he wouldn't support any effort to cover up wrongdoing.

Coons asks Barr on Trump potentially pardoning someone to change their testimony.

Barr: "If a pardon was a quid pro quo to altering testimony, that would definitely implicate an obstruction statute."

Barr says of sanctuary cities, "I don't think those cities should be getting federal--," but Marsha Blackburn cuts him off to ask a different question before he could finish.

.@SenBlumenthal asks Barr about the Bush admin. policy of detaining Haitian asylum-seekers at Guantanamo Bay in the early '90s, where they were denied access to legal counsel.

Barr is a big fan of anti-immigrant policies and executive overreach:
aclu.org/blog/national-…

Barr: "I would always prefer to process asylum-seekers outside of the United States," again warns of "abuses" in the system committed by people seeking asylum

Mike Lee asks about the problems with civil asset forfeiture, but Barr again calls it "an important tool" for law enforcement

Barr says that his view that being gay is immoral *hasn't* changed since he wrote an article criticizing the "homosexual movement"

Barr suggests that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act *does not* prevent job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity

Barr dodges @maziehirono's questions on Trump's attacks on transgender rights, pleading ignorance about the administration's anti-trans policies

Hirono asks about ICE and DOJ voter record subpoenas, but Barr again dodges cnn.com/2018/09/05/pol…