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Barr Opening Statement
William Barr: (00:00)
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Jordan. I’m pleased to be here this morning.
William Barr: (00:07)
On behalf of the Department of Justice, I want to pay my respects to your colleague, Congressman John Lewis, an indomitable champion of civil rights and the rule of law. I think it is especially important to remember today that he pursued his cause passionately and successfully with unwavering commitment to non-violence.
William Barr: (00:29)
As I said in my confirmation hearing, the Attorney General has a unique obligation. He holds in trust the fair and impartial administration of justice. He must ensure that there is one standard of justice that applies to everyone equally and that criminal cases are handled evenhandedly based on the law and the facts and without regard to political or personal considerations.
William Barr: (00:55)
I can tell you that I’ve handled criminal matters that have come to me for a decision in this way. The President has not attempted to interfere in these decisions. On the contrary, he has told me from the start that he expects me to exercise my independent judgment to make whatever call I think is right. That is precisely what I’ve done.
William Barr: (01:16)
Indeed, it’s precisely because I feel complete freedom to do what I think is right that induced me to serve once again as Attorney General. As you just said, Mr. Chairman, I served as Attorney General under President George H. W. Bush; and after that, I spent many years in the corporate world. I’m almost 70 years old. I was almost 70 years old and slipping happily into retirement. I had nothing to prove, and I had no desire to return to government. I had no prior relationship with President Trump.
William Barr: (01:48)
Let me turn briefly to the several pressing issues of the day. The horrible killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis understandably jarred the whole country and forced us to reflect on longstanding issues in the nation. Those issues obviously relate to the relationship between law enforcement and the African-American community. Given our history, it’s understandable that among black Americans, there’s [inaudible 00:02:14] some ambivalence and often distrust toward the police. Until just last 50 years ago or so, our laws and our institutions were explicitly racist, explicitly discriminatory. It was not until the ’60s that the civil rights movement finally succeeded in tearing down the Jim Crow edifice. Our laws finally came to formally embody the guarantee of equal protection. Since then, the work of securing civil rights has rightly focused on reforming institutions to ensure they better conform to our laws and to our aspirations. That work, it’s important to acknowledge, has been increasingly successful. Police forces today are far more diverse than they’ve ever been, and there are both more black police chiefs and more black officers in the ranks.
William Barr: (03:09)
Although the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police was a shocking event, the fact is that these events are fortunately quite rare. According to statistics compiled by the Washington Post, the number of unarmed black men killed by police so far this year is eight. The number of unarmed white men killed by police over the same period of time is 11, and the overall numbers of police shootings have been decreasing. Nevertheless, every instance of excessive force is unacceptable and must be addressed appropriately through legal process, as is happening now in Minneapolis.
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William Barr: (03:45)
But apart from the numbers, I think these events strike a deep chord in the black community because they are perceived as manifestations of a deeper, lingering concern that in encounters with police, blacks will not be treated evenhandedly. They will not be given the benefit of the doubt. They will be treated with greater suspicion. Senator Tim Scott has recounted the numerous times he’s been unjustifiably pulled over on Capitol Hill; and as one prominent black professional in Washington said to me, “African-Americans often feel treated as suspects first and citizens second.” I think these concerns are legitimate.
William Barr: (04:22)
At the same time, I think it would be an oversimplification to treat the problem as rooted in some deep-seated racism generally infecting our police departments. It seems far more likely that the problem stems from a complex mix of factors, which can be addressed with focused attention over time. We in law enforcement must be conscious of the concerns and ensure that we do not have two systems of justice.
William Barr: (04:50)
Unfortunately, some have chosen to respond to George Floyd’s death in a far less productive way by demonizing the police, promoting slogans like, “All cops are bastard,” and making grossly irresponsible proposals to defund the police. The demonization of the police is not only unfair and inconsistent with principles of all people should be treated as individuals, but gravely injurious to the inner city communities. When communities turn on and pillory the police, officers naturally become more risk-averse and crime rates soar. Unfortunately, we are seeing that now in many of our cities. The threat to black lives posed by crime on the streets is massively greater than any threat posed by police misconduct.
William Barr: (05:38)
The leading cause of death for young black males is homicide. Every year, approximately 7,500 black Americans are victims of homicide. The vast majority of them, around 90%, are killed by other blacks, mainly by gunfire. Each of those lives matter. It is for this reason then, in selected cities where there has been an upsurge in violent crime, we are stepping up and bolstering the activities of our joint anti-crime task forces.
William Barr: (06:09)
Finally, I want to address a different breakdown in the rule of law that we’ve witnessed over the past two months. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, violent rioters and anarchists have hijacked legitimate protests to wreak senseless havoc and destruction on innocent victims. The current situation in Portland is a telling example. Every night for the past two months, a mob of hundreds of rioters have laid siege to the Federal Courthouse and other nearby federal property. The rioters have come equipped for fight, armed with powerful slingshots, tasers, sledgehammers, saws, knives, rifles, and explosive devices. Inside the courthouse are a relatively small number of federal law enforcement personnel charged with the defensive mission to protect the courthouse. What unfolds nightly around the courthouse cannot reasonably be called protest. It is, by any objective measure, an assault on the government of the United States.
William Barr: (07:17)
As elected officials of the federal government, every member of this committee, regardless of your political views or your feelings about the Trump administration, should condemn violence against federal officers and the destruction of federal property.
William Barr: (07:32)
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I appreciate your listing for me the areas of concern in your opening statement, and I’m looking forward to addressing them all.
https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/william-barr-congressional-hearing-opening-statement-transcript-july-28
Another rigged hearing. How many Republicans spoke?
Nadler's Opening Statement
Jerry Nadler: (00:00)
Thank you for your testimony. We will now proceed under the five minute rule with questions, and I will recognize myself for five minutes. On July 22nd, you joined the president as he announced the expansion of Operation Legend, a initiative…
Jerry Nadler: (00:20)
Let me start that again. On July 22nd, you joined the president as he announced the expansion of Operation Legend, an initiative to combat violent crime in Kansas City with approximately $61 million in DOJ grants. I am confused, however, as to the purpose of launching Operation Legend at this moment in time. In December of last year, you announced that the department would divert over $70 million in grants to seven US cities under an initiative called Operation Relentless Pursuit, correct?
William Barr: (00:50)
That’s right.
Jerry Nadler: (00:51)
And Operation Relentless Pursuit targeted a familiar list of cities, places like Albuquerque, Baltimore, and Kansas City, correct?
William Barr: (00:58)
Correct.
Jerry Nadler: (00:59)
At the same July 22nd press conference, you initially claimed that over 200 arrests had been made under Operation Legend, correct?
William Barr: (01:09)
Correct.
Jerry Nadler: (01:11)
But you misspoke?
William Barr: (01:12)
Correct.
Jerry Nadler: (01:13)
The US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri later confirmed that only a single arrest had been made under the auspices of Operation Legend, correct?
William Barr: (01:22)
I don’t know.
Jerry Nadler: (01:24)
And the 199 other arrests were made under Relentless Pursuit or other programs. Well, that was correct. I think you could be forgiven for being confused. Operation Legend appears to be little more than a repackaging of existing operations in these cities. So why all the drama? Why join the president, the White House to announce a bold new operation that appears to be neither bold nor new? Understandably, Americans are very suspicious of your motives here. There are those who believe you are sending federal law enforcement into these cities, not to combat violent crime, but to help with the president’s reelection efforts. The president has made clear that he wants conflict between protesters and police to be a central theme of his campaign. So let me ask you directly, Mr. Barr. Yes or no. Yes or no. Did you rebrand existing projects under the [inaudible 00:02:21] Legend in order to assist the president in an election year?
William Barr: (02:25)
I wouldn’t call it-
Jerry Nadler: (02:26)
Mr. Attorney General, would you agree with me at least on principle that it is improper for the Department of Justice to divert resources and law enforcement personnel in an effort to assist the president’s reelection campaign?
William Barr: (02:38)
No. Mr. Chairman, in the fall, we did inaugurate an anti-crime initiative because we were concerned about increasing violent crime in a number of cities, and we call that Relentless Pursuit. Unfortunately, COVID intervened and our agents who were detailed for these assignments could not perform the operation. So the operation was squelched by COVID, so we couldn’t complete or make much progress on Relentless Pursuit. However, in the intervening time, we saw violent crime continuing to rise, and a lot of that was triggered by the events after the death of George Floyd. So we did reboot the program after COVID started breaking and we could commit the law enforcement resources to actually accomplish the mission, which is to reduce violent crime. Now I regret that COVID interrupted our law enforcement activities, but it doesn’t obviate the fact that there is serious violent crime in these cities, these police departments and mayors have been asking us for help, and we have put in additional federal agents and investigators to help deal with it.
Jerry Nadler: (04:00)
Now, yes or no, have you discussed the president’s reelection campaign with the president, or with any White House official, or any surrogate of the president?
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William Barr: (04:10)
Well I’m not going to get into my discussions with the president.
Jerry Nadler: (04:12)
Have you discussed that topic with him, yes or no?
William Barr: (04:15)
Not in relation to this program.
Jerry Nadler: (04:17)
I didn’t ask that. I asked if you discussed that-
William Barr: (04:20)
I’m a member of the Cabinet and there’s an election going on. Obviously the topic comes up.
Jerry Nadler: (04:24)
So the answer’s yes. The answer’s yes.
William Barr: (04:24)
Well, the topic comes up in Cabinet meetings and other things.
Jerry Nadler: (04:28)
Okay, [crosstalk 00:04:29].
William Barr: (04:28)
It shouldn’t be a surprise that the topic of the election comes up.
Jerry Nadler: (04:31)
I didn’t say I was surprised. I just asked if you’d done that. So as part of those conversations with the president or his people about the reelection campaign, have you ever discussed the current or future deployment of federal law enforcement?
William Barr: (04:45)
In connection with what?
Jerry Nadler: (04:47)
In connection with what you just said, in connection with your discussions with the president or with other people around him of his reelection campaign, have you discussed the current or future deployment of federal law enforcement?
William Barr: (05:00)
Well, as I say, I’m not going to get into my discussions with the president, but I’ve made it clear that I would like to pick the cities based on law enforcement need and based on neutral criteria.
Jerry Nadler: (05:09)
But you can’t tell me whether you discussed-
William Barr: (05:11)
No, I’m not going to discuss what I discussed with the president.
Jerry Nadler: (05:13)
Can you commit today that the department will not use federal law enforcement as a prop in the president’s reelection campaign?
William Barr: (05:20)
We are not using federal law enforcement-
Jerry Nadler: (05:20)
I just want to close with this thought. You really can’t hide behind legal fictions this time, Mr. Barr. It’s all out in the open where the people can see what you are doing for themselves. The president wants footage for his campaign ads, and you appear to be serving it up to him as ordered. In most of these cities, the protests had begun to wind down before you marched in and confronted the protestors. And the protestors aren’t mobs. They are mothers, and veterans, and mayors. In this moment, real leadership would entail deescalation, collaboration, and looking for ways to peaceably resolve our differences. Instead you use pepper spray and truncheons on American citizens. You did it here in Washington. You did it in Lafayette Square. You expanded to Portland. And now you are projecting fear and violence nationwide in pursuit of obvious political objectives. Shame on you, Mr. Barr.
William Barr: (06:19)
Can I just say, Mr.-
Jerry Nadler: (06:19)
Shame on you.
William Barr: (06:20)
Can I just say, Mr.-
Jerry Nadler: (06:20)
My time has expired.
https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/jerry-nadler-questioning-transcript-at-william-barr-hearing-americans-are-very-suspicious-of-your-motives