Kamala Harris asks DOJ IG to check if Trump has asked Barr to investigate political opponents



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Senator Kamala Harris, D-Calif., On Friday sent a letter to the Inspector General of the Department of Justice asking her to investigate whether the White House had asked Attorney General William Barr to investigate the political opponents of President Trump.

"In answer to my questions during the [Senate Judiciary] At the hearing, Attorney General Barr turned out to be incapable or unwilling to say when he had been instructed to open investigations at the request or at the suggestion of the President or the President. 39 other White House officials – an alarming response that strikes at the very heart of the rule of law and threatens to undermine the long-standing independence of the Justice Department, "she said in a letter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

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"I ask the Inspector General's office to determine whether the Attorney General has received or responded to such abusive requests," she said.

The letter came a few days after Harris questioned Barr at the Senate hearing on details of Special Adviser Robert Mueller's report on Russia, citing cases where Trump had suggested or requested the Justice to investigate Hillary Clinton.

Harris asked Barr if Trump or someone from the White House had asked him to investigate anyone – a detailed exchange in his letter to Horowitz.

In this exchange, Harris asked: "Has the President or anyone from the White House ever asked for or suggested opening an investigation on anyone?"

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"I'm trying to argue with the word" suggest. "I mean, there have been discussions about cases that, um, have not asked me to open an investigation, has declared Barr.

When Harris asked if anyone had suggested, suggested or inferred, Barr replied that he did not know. Harris's letter describes Barr as "unable or unwilling to answer the question".

"There is no doubt that the Department of Justice and its leaders stand out from partisan politics and resist abusive attempts to use the power of the federal forces to settle their accounts," writes she.

This letter represents the last step backwards for Democrats against Barr since the publication of the Mueller report. In particular, they focused on handling the publication of the report by Barr, stating that he had a bias for the President in his presentation of the report in his initial four-page summary of his findings.

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Harris criticized Barr's decision not to personally examine the underlying evidence before concluding that there was insufficient evidence to establish that the President had obstructed justice. She joined a number of Democrats saying that Barr should resign.

"This Attorney General lacks any credibility and has, I think, compromised the ability of the American public to believe that he is a justice vindicator," she told reporters after the hearing .

Jason Donner and Paul Steinhauser of Fox News contributed to this report.

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