Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) on Wednesday accused Attorney General William Barr of intentionally mischaracterizing the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s election interference and possible obstruction of justice by President Trump.
“He intentionally mischaracterized the report. I believe he intentionally is misleading Congress,” Harris, a 2020 presidential candidate, said during an appearance on MSNBC. “I think he has failed to convince the United States Congress that he has conducted himself with integrity.”
Pressed by “Hardball” host Chris Matthews on whether Barr should be impeached, Harris demurred, saying, “We should take it one step at a time.”{mosads}
After grilling the attorney general during his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Harris told reporters, “Yes,” Barr should resign.
“Bill Barr is acting more like the President’s personal attorney than the Attorney General of the United States. His job is to defend the rule of law and serve the American people, not shield the President from justice. He made something very clear today: he must resign,” Harris wrote in a fundraising email to supporters Wednesday.
A former federal prosecutor, Harris made headlines Wednesday when Barr admitted in response to her questioning that he did not review Mueller’s underlying evidence before concluding that Trump did not obstruct probes into Russia’s election meddling.
Barr has become a top target of Democratic presidential contenders after it was reported Tuesday that Mueller voiced frustration to Barr about the attorney general’s four-page summary of Mueller’s Russia probe sent to Congress in late March.
Mueller said in a letter to Barr that the summary of the special counsel probe “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office’s work and conclusions.”