Whitehouse Hand-delivered Letter Calls on Ag Nominee to Prepare for Questions on Nixon-era Mueller Protection Agreement, Political Interference, and Dark Money

Whitehouse Releases Key Lines of Questioning for Barr

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released today a letter he hand-delivered to attorney general nominee William Barr at their meeting Thursday, which contains detailed questions he may pose during Barr’s nomination hearing tomorrow.

Whitehouse’s lines of questioning cover:

1. Barr’s contacts with the Trump administration about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation;
2. Whether Barr would be prepared to enter an agreement to safeguard Mueller, like the delegation agreement forged to protect Nixon-era Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski;
3. Observing long-standing rules and norms protecting law enforcement efforts from political interference;
4. The inadequacy of Justice Department ethics rules in guarding against conflicts of interest arising from dark money, like the conflicts swirling around Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.

Whitehouse writes that he expects Barr to be prepared to cover the topics in detail at Tuesday’s hearing.

Full text of the senator’s letter is below. A PDF copy is available here and below.