While much of Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee Hearing with Attorney General Bill Barr was wasted with imprecise and circuitous questions that let him filibuster and avoid accountability, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) managed to use his brief time to zero in on a key issue. He exposed Barr’s excessive fealty and deference to President Donald Trump and effectively debunked the attorney general’s claims to be an impartial defender of the rule of law.
Swalwell began by addressing an issue that had been discussed previously in the hearing without much clarity: Barr’s interference in the sentencing recommendation of Roger Stone.
“Mr. Barr, have you ever intervened, other than to help the president’s friend get a reduced prison sentence, in any other case where a prosecutor had filed a sentencing recommendation with the court?” he asked. Continue reading.