Trump: Democrats treating Barr 'differently' than anybody else
The House Judiciary Committee has been informed that Attorney General Bill Barr, after grueling testimony Wednesday, will not attend a planned hearing Thursday, an aide to the panel told Fox News -- even as the Democrats who lead the committee vowed to hold the hearing anyway, and threatened a possible contempt citation against Barr.
A key sticking point, as reported by Fox News, was that Nadler wants to have House Judiciary Committee staff -- rather than members of Congress -- question Barr on his handling of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report. But DOJ officials said members should conduct the inquiry.
Following the developments, Wednesday, President Trump, in an interview on FOX Business’ “Trish Regan Primetime,” criticized how Barr is being treated.
“Well, I guess they want to treat him differently than they have anybody else, and for many, many years they have never done it this way, where they’re bringing in outside counsel or something. That’s not the way – you know, you elect people, they’re supposed to be able to do their own talking. But he did a fantastic job today, I’m told. I got to see some of it. He did a fantastic job. And it’s all a big hoax, this whole thing with Russia. Turns out there is no collusion, there is no obstruction,” said Trump.
In remarks to reporters, Nadler said Democrats had "worked around the clock" to address Barr's concerns, and slammed what he called Barr's "lack of candor."
Following the long, tense hearing - Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey - joined a growing number of Democratic White House hopefuls calling on Barr to resign. Trump reacted to those calls.
"Well, I haven’t even heard that. I mean, that’s so ridiculous. He’s an outstanding man. He’s an outstanding legal mind, and I heard he was really - he performed incredibly well today," Trump said adding that Harris was "well, she was probably very nasty."
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You can watch the full interview with President Trump Wednesday on FOX Business Network at 8 pm ET.