Pelosi: Attorney General Barr 'off the rails' on Mueller report

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Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:53 pm

LEESBURG, Va. (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi castigated Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday for comments he made during congressional hearings this week about the federal probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“Let me just say, I’m very, very dismayed and disappointed that the chief law enforcement officer of our country is going off the rails yesterday and today,” Pelosi told reporters at a Democratic Party retreat in Virginia.

“He is attorney general of the United States of America, not the attorney general of Donald Trump.”

Pelosi said Democrats first of all want to see Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and any links to the Trump campaign.

Russia’s activities were an assault on U.S. democracy – “there is no doubt about that,” Pelosi said.

During two congressional hearings this week, Barr defended his handling of the 400-page report Mueller submitted to him on March 22 after a two-year investigation.

It was the attorney general released a four-page letter to Congress providing a broad outline of its assessments.

Barr said he would make public a redacted version of the report next week. Democrats have been calling for full disclosure.

Barr, who was appointed by Trump, said on Wednesday he would look into whether U.S. agencies illegally spied on Trump’s 2016 campaign, but acknowledged under sharp questioning by lawmakers that there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Alistair Bell)