Washington, DC – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has released the following statement on his decision not to support the nomination of William Barr to serve as Attorney General after today’s party-line vote on the nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee:
“Before the committee, Mr. Barr said plenty of things that sounded reassuring, but the devil is always in the details. I remain concerned that we still don’t know if he will hide behind Office of Legal Counsel guidance that prohibits indicting a sitting president to withhold from Congress possible evidence of criminal wrongdoing by President Trump. Second, we don’t know whether dubious claims of executive privilege will prevent disclosure of the Mueller Report. Those baseless claims have become a hallmark of the Trump administration and they must stop. After the hearing and with Chairman Graham’s support, I asked him to clarify his answers. Even given that chance, he did not.
“Finally, we are headed for multiple constitutional conflicts between the executive and legislative branches, and in those conflicts I expect Attorney General Barr to take extreme and unreasonable positions favoring the executive branch. I cannot support his nomination.”
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