Thread by @chrisgeidner

And, we're back. Here's our report, from @ZoeTillman, on the morning: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

First up this afternoon is Sen. Whitehouse, whose first question is about Rod Rosenstein and the DAG position.

Barr says he made no agreement regarding getting rid of Rosenstein in order to get the nomination and that he did not request Rosenstein to leave, that Rosenstein said he viewed the position as a two-year stint.

On White House communications with DOJ, Barr says only the AG and DAG should be talking w the WH re: criminal matters.

Whitehouse is now asking about FACT and Whitaker's $1 million payday. "I don't see how the department can do a proper" conflict check if we don't know who was funding FACT.

Barr says he'd be concerned about the consequences for other groups if that information about FACT's donors were examined — referencing membership groups and the First Amendment.

Now up: Sen. Joni Ernst. This is the first time a Republican woman has asked questions at a Judiciary Committee hearing. (Ernst and new Sen. Marsha Blackburn are the first two women Republicans ever to serve on the Judiciary Committee.)

The additions followed the fact that no women Republicans were on the committee when Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination was before the committee, leading the Republicans to hire an outside lawyer — a woman — to question Christine Blasey Ford.

Ernst is focusing on immigration.

Barr, in response, echoes Ernst: "It's not just a law enforcement problem, it's a national security problem."

Klobuchar is up, and asks Barr about furloughed DOJ employees. Barr defends Trump's position.

Klobuchar asks about FBI leadership and Trump's criticism. On Wray, Barr says: "From what I know, I think very highly of him."

Asked a thinly veiled question by Klobuchar about whether Trump working on the misleading Trump Tower statement would be obstruction of justice, Barr only says: "I'd have to know the specifics."

Klobuchar asks about voting issues, and Barr gives a non-specific response.

Klobuchar asks whether Barr would ever allow the jailing of a journalist "for doing their job." Barr won't directly answer, then says, basically, yes, telling her that "there could be a situation where someone would be held into contempt."

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Beard) is up.

"Our government is an experiment in how much freedom we can give the people without them tearing themselves apart." - AG nominee William P. Barr, putting it out there

Sen. Coons is up.

Coons references the confirmation hearing of Elliot Richardson, Nixon's AG, noting his answers in questions to questions about deferring to the special prosecutor.

Barr won't give the same commitment, instead referencing the current regulations, saying that if he disagreed with Mueller as to a prosecutorial decision, Congress would be informed. (This, to me, seems essential to DOJ's arguments re: the validity of Mueller's appointment.)

Barr says the special counsel regulations should not be changed while Mueller remains in his investigation.

As for if Trump ordered the regs changed or Mueller fired without cause, Barr says: "I would not carry out that instruction."

Quick analysis: If you read the government's arguments in the past defending the legality of Mueller's appointment, Barr's answers here fit with those arguments — which keep Mueller as an inferior officer and, hence, constitutional under the Appointments Clause.

Now up: Sen. Sasse, who talks about Russia. "Is Putin a friend or a foe?"

Barr: "I think the Russians are a potent rival of our country. ... I think he wants to weaken the American alliances in Europe. I think he wants to become a bigger player in the Middle East."

Barr goes on to say, however, that he thinks China is a bigger foe.

The three roles of the AG, per Barr:
- providing advice to the president and cabinet (and argue at SCOTUS, I think this was part of this one?)
- being a policy adviser on legal and law enforcement issues
- top law enforcement officer enforcing the law

Sen. Blumenthal is up, and tries to get Barr to say that the allegations against Trump are "stomach-churning." Barr appeared to have been confused at first, but I think they got to a point where he was just avoiding answering.

Blumenthal is asking about the Mueller report, and he pretty much continues down the same path as was traveled this morning, asking Barr to be as transparent as possible.

Blumenthal is now going down a similar path as Coons had done regarding whether Barr will allow Mueller unfettered authority, and Barr is responding the same way.

"The president can fire a US Attorney," Barr says — but if Trump fired a US Attorney to stop an investigation: "I would not allow an investigation to be stopped if it was a lawful investigation," Barr says.

Sen. Hawley is up. [Correction: I failed at making a joke with this tweet, and it just led to confusion, so making it just a tweet.]

In Sen. Hirono's questioning, Barr appears to mostly agree with Sessions' policies on (mostly against) consent decrees.

Having 10-minute "comfort breaks" is the first true sign of the Lindsey Graham Era on Judiciary.

We're back. It's Kennedy time. He's asking about leaks.

Kennedy suggests that some of his colleagues think Catholics can't serve in government, a reference to issues raised about certain judicial nominees' positions.

Echoing a Sessions issue, Barr appears to think that there is a potential constitutional flaw with nationwide injunctions.

"I'd like to see these universal injunctions challenged," Barr says.

This is what Kennedy was talking about with the Catholic question, FYI: catholicnewsagency.com/news/senators-…

Sen. Booker is up. To Barr: "You literally wrote the book for mass incarceration."

"When you have violent gangs ... you can take out a gang on drug offenses," Barr says, because it's easier to prosecute than finding the elements of other crimes.

Shocking: "Overall," Barr says, he stands by the idea that the criminal justice system treats black and white people similarly.

Pretty stunning series of questions and answers between Booker and Barr on criminal justice. Booker notes that Barr has not yet met with him. Barr says he would welcome a meeting.

Sen. Blackburn wants more Backpage-like prosecution. Sen. Harris going to join in?

And, Sen. Harris is up.

Here's part of — not even all of — that Booker exchange:

https://twitter.com/DavidWright_CNN/status/1085263759373991938

Harris asks about the role of "a public health response" and "not just a lock 'em up" response to any drug crisis.

Harris asks Barr to look at "more recent" information about drug addiction than that available when he was last AG.

Barr says OK, but presses that DOJ is law enforcement not HHS.

Harris shoots back that Barr himself talked about DOJ's policy advice role.

Sen. Tillis is up — the last person in the first round, he says.

BARR: "There hasn't been a special counsel removed since Archibald Cox, and that didn't work out too well."

In round two, Grassley pushes on FOIA and government openness, noting that agencies too often come up with excuses to keep things quiet.

Feinstein asks if Barr will give Mueller's report to Congress.

Barr says his "goal" is to get as much to Congress and the public as is possible.

"Is waterboarding torture?"

Barr sighs. He says that the law defined waterboarding as illegal. So, he said the issue is clear now.

So, he didn't really answer?

Leahy is up in round two, and Barr said he has not read the Carpenter decision — a decision from this past term that is one of the most important 4th Amendment decisions of the internet era.

And, @ZoeTillman is back and will be tweeting about what's happening now.

I'm going to work on looking back on some of the earlier testimony!