House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) ripped AG Barr while vowing to make sure that Trump will not become a monarch.
Jerry Nadler: Barr has failed America
Nadler said at the hearing that Barr blew off:
The challenge is if we don’t stand up to him together risk losing the power to stand up to any president in the future. The very system of government of the United States, the system of limited power, the system of not having a president as a dictator is very much at stake. The attorney general of the United States is sworn to uphold the constitution as our nation’s chief law enforcement officer. He has an obligation to do everything in his power to warn the president of the damage he risks and the liability he assumes by directly threatening our system of checks and balances. Sadly the attorney general has failed in that responsibility.
He has failed to check the president’s worst instincts. He has not only misrepresented the findings of the special counsel, he has failed to protect the special counsel’s investigation from unfair political attacks. He has himself unfairly attacked the special counsel’s investigation. He has failed the men and women of the Department of Justice by placing the needs of the president over the fair administration of justice. He has even failed to show up yes, we will continue to negotiate for access to the full report for another couple of days. And, yes, we will have no choice but to move quickly to hold the attorney general in contempt if he stalls or families to negotiate in good faith.
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But the attorney general must now make a choice. Every one of us must make the same choice. That choice is now an obligation of you our office. The choice is simple. We can stand up to this president in defense of the country and the constitution and the liberty we love, or we can let the moment pass us by. And we have seen in other countries what happens when you allow such moments to pass by. I do not know what attorney general Barr will choose. I do not know what my Republican colleagues will choose. But I am certain that there is no way forward for this country that does not include a reckoning with this clear and present danger to our constitutional order.
The President Will Not Become A Monarch
Nadler closed the hearing by vowing that he will not let Trump become a monarch, “We will defend the prerogatives of Congress. We will defend the rights of the American people to know what is going on. We will defend the constitutional scheme of equal and coordinated branches of government. We will make sure that no president becomes a monarch. We need the information without delay.”
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There is much more at stake here than the Mueller report or Barr’s testimony. Trump and Barr are trying to destroy the constitutional foundation of co-equal branches of government. Barr is trying to help Trump give unlimited power to the Executive, and if their precedent is allowed to stand, it will fundamentally change democracy in the United States.
Barr’s testimony isn’t as important as Mueller’s big picture damage to our system of governance will linger forever if Trump and Barr are not stopped.
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Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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