Trump-Russia Links: William Barr Refuses to Testify
In all probability this case will eventually get hushed up and Trump will win again in 2020 to retain his presidential position.
By Rakesh Raman
The House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) has expressed his anguish over Attorney General William Barr’s refusal to testify today at a scheduled hearing over special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on President Donald Trump’s links with Russia.
“Attorney General Barr has informed us that he will not appear today. Although we worked to accommodate his concerns, he objects to the prospect of answering questions by staff counsel and to the possibility that we may go into executive session to discuss certain sensitive topics,” Nadler said in a statement released today.
The House Judiciary Committee has raised concerns over Barr’s characterization of Mueller report and even the special counsel himself had written a letter to Barr with his objections, saying Barr has not fully captured the context, nature, and substance of the report. The Committee released the letter on Wednesday.
[ Biased Barr Won’t Release Full Mueller Report. Trump-Russia Collusion Possible ]
The Department of Justice headed by Barr has also decided to ignore the subpoena for the unredacted Mueller report and the underlying evidence that the Congress is demanding.
“Every member of this Committee—Democrat and Republican alike—should understand the consequences when the executive branch tells us that they will simply ignore a lawful subpoena,” Nadler said in his statement.
“If left unchecked, this act of obstruction will make it that much harder for us to hold the Executive Branch accountable for waste, fraud, and abuse, or to enact legislation to curb that kind of misconduct—no matter which party holds this chamber or the White House at a given moment,” the statement added.
[ How Mueller Failed to Deliver a Decisive Trump-Russia Report ]
“President Trump has told Congress that he plans to fight all subpoenas. His promise to obstruct our work extends far beyond his contacts with the Russian government and allegations of obstruction of justice,” Nadler said.
The Democrats are up in arms after the Department of Justice released Mueller’s partial report along with Barr’s misleading conclusion about the report.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that Barr presented a conclusion that the president did not obstruct justice, but special counsel Mueller’s report cites several instances of presidential action that appear to undercut that finding.
[ Trump Obstructed Justice. Need to Impeach Trump ]
After nearly two years of investigation, Mueller delivered a 448-page report on March 20. The report in two volumes – covering Russian interference including charges of conspiracy and the obstruction of justice – is so vague that it is difficult to make heads or tails of his random conclusions.
The vagueness of the report has given an opportunity to Trump to claim that there was no collusion with Russia and no obstruction of justice by him. Trump claims that the Mueller report has completely exonerated him.
Democrats believe that Trump and Barr are lying, but the beleaguered Democrats are not able to get the full report and Barr has flatly refused to appear before the House Judiciary Committee.
In all probability this case will eventually get hushed up and Trump will win again in 2020 to retain his presidential position.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He also creates and publishes a number of digital publications on different subjects.
