William Barr filed his written answers to senators’ questions this week shortly before the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed until February 7 the vote on his confirmation as attorney general. The answers did nothing to soften his harsh views on criminal justice, civil rights, and reproductive choice. Nor do they allay concerns about his handling of the Mueller investigation. Rather, his answers suggest that we will never know whether career ethics officials advise him to recuse himself from the Mueller investigation. Further, while promising transparency, Barr’s answers clear a path for burying Mueller’s final product.
At his hearing, Barr stated that he would consult career ethics officials regarding recusal from oversight of the Mueller investigation, but refused to commit to following their advice, as previous nominees, including Jeff Sessions, had done. He insisted that he would make his own determination, regardless what ethics officials said. In his written answers, he refused to budge and added that he would not commit to making officials’ advice public. The public, therefore, likely will never know whether ethics officials told him to recuse himself, though the public likely will hear if officials do not urge recusal. In any event, Barr appears firmly committed to supervising Mueller.
Regarding release of any Mueller report, Barr repeated his statement that his “goal will be to provide as much transparency as I can consistent with the law, including the regulations discussed above, and the Department’s longstanding practices and policies.” In context, this reasonable-sounding language provides the rationale for a spare notification to Congress that the special counsel investigation is complete and little more.
View the complete January 31 article by Bill Yeoman on the Alliance for Justice website here.