Senate

Harris requests probe into if Trump pressured Barr to open investigations

by Jordain Carney - 05/03/19 6:15 PM ET

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is requesting that the Justice Department’s top watchdog investigate if President Trump or White House staff pressured Attorney General William Barr to open up any criminal investigations.

Harris, one of multiple Democratic senators running for president, sent a letter on Friday to Michael Horowitz, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) inspector general, asking for the watchdog office to dig into the issue, which she brought up with Barr during his appearance this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

{mosads}”There must be no doubt that the Department of Justice and its leadership stand apart from partisan politics, and resist improper attempts to use the power of federal law enforcement to settle personal scores,” Harris wrote in her letter.

She added that she had “grave concern” about Barr’s independence and that previous “inappropriate requests” by Trump were “well documented” in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

“I urge the Office of Inspector General to investigate whether the Attorney General has received or acted upon requests or suggestions, whether implied or explicit, to investigate the President’s perceived enemies,” Harris wrote.

Harris’s request for an investigation comes after she signed on to a letter earlier this week, spearheaded by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), asking the DOJ inspector general and the Office of Professional Responsibility to probe Barr’s handling of Mueller’s report.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who like Harris is seeking the party’s 2020 nomination, also wants to know if Mueller reviewed Trump’s taxes as part of his investigation.

Harris captured national headlines when she asked Barr, during his Judiciary Committee testimony on Wednesday, if Trump or anyone at the White House had ever asked or suggested he open up an investigation into anyone.

Barr, who appeared to be caught off guard, hesitated, asking Harris to repeat the question and saying that he was “trying to grapple with the word ‘suggest.’ “

“There have been discussions of, of matters out there that, uh — they have not asked me to open an investigation,” he said.

Harris pressed him further, asking if officials had “hinted” he should investigate someone. Barr said he didn’t know.

Harris, in her letter to Horowitz, called Barr’s remarks “an alarming response that strikes at the very heart of the rule of law and threatens to undermine” DOJ’s independence.

I’m calling on the DOJ Inspector General to investigate whether the White House improperly ordered or pressured Barr to investigate the president’s perceived enemies.

Barr refused to answer this under my questioning in the Senate Judiciary Committee. We need answers.

— Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) May 3, 2019