House Judiciary Committee postpones Barr hearing amid coronavirus crisis
The Attorney General’s testimony — which could provide insight into the president’s affairs in Ukraine — has been delayed indefinitely.
The novel coronavirus has caused many public and private events alike to be postponed or cancelled in attempts to “flatten the curve.” Federal affairs are no exception, as many members of Congress and their staff test positive for COVID-19.
As the government turned to focus on the health crisis, the House Judiciary Committee postponed Attorney General William Barr’s hearing on his handling of the two infamous reports concerning President Donald Trump: Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and the whistleblower report that triggered the impeachment inquiry around an alleged pressuring campaign in Ukraine.
Originally scheduled for March 31, the hearing was announced a little over a week after the Senate acquitted the president of two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of congressional investigations into the aforementioned. Trump was impeached by the House on both counts after inquiries into his supposed quid pro quo attempt to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
Barr has continually found himself and the Justice Department in the midst of allegations and investigations concerning the Trump administration. Barr had not appeared before the House Judiciary Committee during his 14-month term as Attorney General; this hearing would have been the first chance for the committee to ask about his decisions in handling the whistleblower report under oath. Barr’s role in reading investigative reports could have provided crucial details on Trump’s involvement in both the Russian and Ukrainian scandals.
Not only this, but the president has been accused of involving himself frequently in D.O.J. affairs — even interfering in some cases, such as the one recently wrapped on Trump’s long-time friend Roger Stone, spurring action on Barr’s part which led prosecutors around the country to ask him to step down. The Attorney General overruled four D.O.J. prosecutors’ decision of seven years in prison for Stone, suggesting the judge consider a lower penalty.
Those four prosecutors later quit the department.
This controversy also would’ve made an appearance on the House floor, giving legislators the opportunity to review documents in this case and query if the president attempted to interfere in judicial affairs to help one of his friends. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) had sought interviews from the D.O.J., asking for documents and high-level witnesses — including with the four former prosecutors.
We don’t know whether or not the D.O.J. complied with Nadler’s request, however it is plausible the documents and witnesses appear once the hearing date is rescheduled.
Delaying the hearing was a necessary measure for the safety of lawmakers and their staff given the coronavirus’ spread and severity, which has penetrated 176 countries and regions; there are almost 587,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 27,000 deaths as of March 27, according to Johns Hopkins’ Center for Systems Science and Engineering live tracker. In the U.S., there have been close to 98,000 recognized cases across all states and more than 1,500 deaths.
The U.S. became the country with the most overall diagnoses and active cases in the world on March 26, surpassing China and Italy.
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