Senate Democrats on Tuesday delayed a final Judiciary Committee vote on the nomination of William Barr to be President Trump’s next attorney general, although Republicans on the committee expect to confirm him next week.
It’s standard practice for the committee to delay votes on nominees. But Barr is expected to sail through next week, as Republicans control the panel, and then be scheduled for a Senate floor vote.
At Tuesday morning’s business meeting, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she’s still worried about a memo Barr wrote, unsolicited, to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in which he criticized special counsel Robert Mueller’s possible investigation into obstruction of justice by President Trump.
“This memo is of serious concern to me and appears to be seminal in his appointment to his position,” Feinstein said. “If this view is applied in the current context, there will be little check on the president.”
“I’m troubled by the idea that the individual seeking to oversee this investigation has predetermined whether allegations can even be pursued,” Feinstein added.
Feinstein also said she’s worried about whether Barr will end up releasing Mueller’s final report.
Under Justice Department policy, Barr will receive a final report when Mueller finishes his investigation, and then Barr will send his own summary of the report to Congress. Congress can then make that public, depending on what is considered classified.
[Read more: AG nominee William Barr: ‘Vitally important’ that Robert Mueller finish his investigation]
During his confirmation hearing this month, and in written answers to senators released Monday, Barr sought to ease lawmakers’ worries about the report and said he remains committed to transparency.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., used the hearing to say he’s worried about the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel opinion that says a sitting president cannot be indicted.
“We’re both lawyers, and we know there are weasel words that can be put into sentences,” Whitehouse said. “The question of what transparency is consistent with the law is a ginormous loophole in his transparency pledge.”
Whitehouse specifically mentioned Justice Department policy to avoid publishing “derogatory information about an uncharged person.” He wondered what would happen if in the final Mueller report, there was mention of there being enough evidence to charge Trump with a crime, but because he is president, he cannot be indicted and remains an uncharged person.
Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said that when Mueller is finished, he wants to see what is in the report “as much about it as you do.”
“But he does have discretion, and I have to trust the guy to make good judgements,” Graham said.
Graham noted that Whitehouse made good points and said he wanted to set up a meeting or call with Barr to ask him.
“The OLC office being used to knock out information to the public is really a legitimate question,” Graham said. “Executive privilege claim by any White House not to divulge information is a legitimate question.”
