AG Barr slays Eric Swalwell and his misguided ‘standards’ in brutal hearing beatdown

Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE.


U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell sparred with Attorney General William Barr in a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

The California Democrat seemed to relish the opportunity to showboat, grilling Barr who was voluntarily testifying on Capitol Hill about multiple issues in a long-awaited appearance. But it was only a few moments in before Barr torched the Democrat for a “gotcha” question.

Swalwell’s questioning followed his Democratic colleagues’ repeated queries thrown at the nation’s top law enforcement officer while talking over his attempts to respond.


(Source: Fox News)

Swalwell delivered more of the same as he jumped in to question Barr, interrupting him almost immediately.

“Have you ever intervened other than [the Roger Stone case] for the president’s friend?” the Democrat asked, continuing the line of questions about Trump ally, Roger Stone, whose sentence was commuted by the president earlier this month.

“Not that I recall,” Barr responded.

“Does that seem like something you would recall?” Swalwell interrupted.

“I’m saying I can’t really remember — if you let me finish the question, I can’t remember — 30 years ago I was attorney general,” Barr fired back.

“No, I didn’t. That’s because issues come up to the attorney general in a dispute,” he continued, raising his voice slightly as Swalwell began to speak over him again. “And I’ve never heard of a dispute in the department where line prosecutors threatened to quit because of a dispute over sentencing.”

“Americans from both parties are concerned that in Donald Trump’s America, there are two systems of justice,” Swalwell said. “One for Mr. Trump and his cronies, and another for the rest of us. But that can only happen if you enable it.”

“Are you investigating Donald Trump for commuting the prison sentence of his longtime friend and political advisor, Roger Stone?” he asked.

“No,” Barr replied simply.

“Why not?” the Democrat asked.

“Why should I?” Barr shot back as Swalwell used his allotted time to recount issues with Stone before questioning the attorney general about the president’s tweets.

“You don’t read the president’s tweets?” Swalwell asked, to which Barr responded, “No.”

“Well there’s a lot of evidence in the president’s tweets, Mr. Attorney General. I think you should start reading them,” the lawmaker stated, going on to read remarks by Stone saying he was pressured to turn on Trump.

“Are you familiar with that Stone statement?” Swalwell asked.

“Actually, I’m not,” Barr responded.

“So how can you sit here and tell us ‘why should I investigate the president of the United States’ if you are not even aware of the facts concerning the president using commutation power to swap the silence of a witness?” Swalwell smugly demanded.

Barr schooled the Democrat in a few words.

“Because we require a reliable predicate before we open a criminal investigation,” he began, adding that if he “applied this standard, there’d be a lot more people under investigation” and that the two standards of justice were apparent in the “tail end of the Obama administration.”

The exchange sent Swalwell’s name trending on Twitter as social media users weighed in on Barr’s scathing comeback even while liberals applauded Swalwell as a hero.

SEE HIGHLIGHTS OF BILL BARR’S HEARING

 

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Frieda Powers

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles