Schiff, Nadler Call for Inspector General to Review Attorney General Barr’s Comments on Atkinson Firing
Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the Department of Justice’s Acting Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility Jeffrey Ragsdale and Inspector General Michael Horowitz. In the letter, Schiff and Nadler call for a review of comments by Attorney General William Barr regarding the firing of Inspector General Michael Atkinson.
During the interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, Barr blatantly mischaracterized Mr. Atkinson’s conduct and DOJ’s own actions relating to the complaint filed last summer by an Intelligence Community whistleblower and misrepresented DOJ’s legal opinion concerning the whistleblower complaint. This continues a pattern of misrepresentations and false allegations of misconduct by others in order to defend the President’s own misconduct that a federal district court judge called “misleading.”
In the letter, Schiff and Nadler write: “Public confidence in our system of justice depends on the integrity, fairness, and impartiality of DOJ’s leadership. It is, therefore, imperative that the Attorney General be held to the same high standard expected of all Department personnel, particularly in matters involving the President’s own interests.”
