This image was removed due to legal reasons. Following up on her intense questioning of Attorney General William Barr earlier this week in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Kamala Harris sent a letter Friday to the Justice Department’s Inspector General seeking an investigation of Barr. Advertisement Specifically, Harris wants to know if President Donald Trump or anyone else in the White House sought to compel Barr to investigate Trump’s political enemies, particularly Hillary Clinton. In one of the more revealing exchanges with Barr on Wednesday, the Democratic senator from California and 2020 presidential candidate asked Barr if Trump or anyone in the White House asked or suggested that he open an investigation of anyone. Barr uncharacteristically stammered, indicating he was carefully considering his next words. Harris pounced: “Yes or no?” she asked. Barr asked for the question to be repeated. He stalled again. He said he was “trying to grapple with the word ‘suggest.’” In the letter to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Harris expressed “grave concern about the independence of the Department of Justice under the leadership of Attorney General William Barr.” Advertisement She called Barr’s answers “an alarming response that strikes at the very heart of the rule of law and threatens to undermine the longstanding independence of the Justice Department.” She added that the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller had documented “repeated attempts to target [Trump’s] perceived opponents using the power of federal law enforcement.” The se include three occasions in which Trump asked or suggested that then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions open an investigation into Clinton. Trump also tweeted about it . Advertisement “In light of the disturbing conduct documented in the Special Counsel’s report, as well as Attorney General Barr’s failure to demonstrate his own independence from the President on such matters, I urge the Office of Inspector General to investigate whether the Attorney General has received or acted upon requests or suggestions, whether implied or explicit, to investigate the President’s perceived enemies, ” the letter stated. Advertisement Harris’ letter is the second this week sent to the department’s inspector general by Democrats. Several senators, led by Senate Judiciary Committee member Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, sent an earlier letter urging the inspector general to investigate whether Barr misled the public when he issued his now notorious four-page “summary” of Mueller’s report, Politico reported. Mueller had written a letter of his own to Barr complaining that the attorney general’s summary failed to reflect the “context, nature, and substance” of his report. Advertisement The senators also asked the inspector general to review whether Barr should have recused himself from overseeing the Mueller probe, given that he had written an unsolicited 19-page memo last year, before becoming attorney general, arguing that the investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice was flawed. Harris, who formerly served as California’s attorney general, did such a good job at questioning Barr this week that it prompted Trump to complain on Fox Business Network that Harris had been “probably very nasty” to Barr. Advertisement Harris responded to that comment by saying, “Trump’s primary interest has been to obstruct justice. My primary interest is to pursue justice.” Advertisement Harris’ campaign already has turned the exchange with Barr into a campaign ad.<doc-sep>(CNN) — Sen. Kamala Harris Thursday asked Attorney General William Barr to clarify whether President Donald Trump ever pressured Barr to open an investigation into any individual. The letter comes hours after Trump called for former Secretary of State John Kerry to be prosecuted for violating the Logan Act by negotiation with the Iranian government – a charge Kerry immediately denied. Barr waffled last week when Harris asked him at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing if Trump had ever asked him to open an investigation into anyone. In the letter to Barr, Harris, who is running for president, wrote, “Today, the President all but confirmed that he has made such a request when he called publicly for the prosecution of a former Cabinet secretary and then stated that his ‘people’ disagreed with him.” “In light of the President’s deeply troubling statements, I request that you supplement your testimony and clarify your answers to my question,” Harris’ letter reads. During Barr’s contentious congressional hearing, Harris asked, “Has the President or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone. Yes or no, please, sir.” Barr said, “Um, the President or anybody else…” “Seems you’d remember something like that and be able to tell us,” Harris said. “Yeah but I’m trying to grapple with the word ‘suggest,’” Barr replied. “I mean, there have been discussions of matters out there that they have not asked me to open an investigation, but –” “Perhaps they’ve suggested?” Harris followed up. “I don’t know, I wouldn’t say suggest –” Barr said. “Hinted?” Harris asked. “I don’t know,” Barr said. “Inferred? You don’t know. OK,” Harris said. It was one of the most contentious and stand out moments from a long day of testimony for Barr on Capitol Hill. Harris called on Barr to resign following the hearing. Harris followed up on that line of questioning on Thursday by demanding Barr respond definitively to the question. Harris wrote, “In order for the American people to retain trust in the Department of Justice, the public must have confidence that the women and men who enforce our laws act with fairness and impartiality.” “Your failure to categorically respond to my question in the negative undermines that confidence,” Harris continued. Harris cited special counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and exploration of potential obstruction of justice by the President as a reason behind her request. She wrote Trump asked then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions three times to open an investigation into his former opponent, Hillary Clinton. “Among the potentially obstructive acts examined by the Special Counsel were repeated attempts by the President to target his perceived opponents using the power of federal law enforcement.” CNN’s Phil Mattingly contributed to this report.<doc-sep>Senator Kamala Harris questioned Attorney General Bill Barr during this week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about whether anyone in the White House suggested he open an investigation of anyone. Barr said, “I’m trying to grapple with the word ‘suggest.’ There have been discussions of matters out there that they’ve not asked me to open an investigation.” Harris is now calling for the DOJ inspector general to investigate whether anyone from the White House has directed Barr to open investigations into anyone and whether Barr’s “acted on” such. She sent a letter to the IG, Michael Horowitz, and spoke with Rachel Maddow about it last night. Maddow asked directly, “Do you believe that it’s possible that he’s been getting direction from the White House or from the president about opening investigations into the president’s perceived enemies?” “Based on his non-response,” Harris said, “I am now suspicious… The attorney general is supposed to act on behalf of the people and not act as the president’s henchman.” “He was buying time for himself by asking that the question be repeated and he was parsing his language,” she told Maddow. You can watch above, via MSNBC. [image via screengrab] Have a tip we should know? [email protected]<doc-sep>
California Senator Kamala Harris’ pointed questioning of Attorney General Bill Barr during this week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings garnered a lot of attention. Not only because Harris asked questions with unflinching precision but because she left Barr with no choice but to obfuscate about whether or not President Donald Trump or other White House officials “asked or suggested” Barr open an investigation into anyone. On Friday, Harris sent a letter to the Justice Department’s inspector general Michael Horowitz asking for an investigation into the matter. According to CNN, Harris said in the letter that, “Such inappropriate requests by the President have been well documented. Special Counsel Mueller … documented a disturbing pattern of behavior on the part of the President—repeated attempts to target his perceived opponents.” The letter continued: “There must be no doubt that the Department of Justice and its leadership stand apart from partisan politics, and resist improper attempts to use the power of federal law enforcement to settle personal scores.” Harris appeared on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show later that night, and Maddow asked the Democratic 2020 presidential candidate: “Do you believe that it’s possible that [Barr has] been getting direction from the White House or from the president about opening investigations into the president’s perceived enemies?” Harris answered flatly, “Based on his non-response, I am now suspicious.” She went on to say that is why she sent the letter to the inspector general requesting an investigation. “The Attorney General is supposed to act on behalf of the people and not act as the president’s henchman,” Harris added. Harris then hammered Barr’s overall testimony in front of the committee and his previous statements and actions. “The issue that is really at play is the integrity of our system of justice, literally. This is the top law enforcement and top law official of the United States Department of Justice who through his testimony and then all of the weeks leading up to him testifying before us has called into question his integrity,” Harris said.