Bennie Thompson warned that the content contained strong language.
At its first hearing, the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol was going to show never-before-seen footage. William Barr, flanked by lawyers in a nondescript conference room, recalled conversations with former President Donald Trump after the 2020 election.
Barr told the president that he did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen.
Barr has only continued to feature prominently in the House committee's hearings, with the former Trump ally emerging as an unlikely star in a public presentation that places the blame for January 6 squarely on Trump and his relentless stoking of widespread election fraud claims.
Barr's aides dubbed him the "buffalo" for his hard-charging approach and penchant for profanity. The first two hearings of the House January 6 committee have showcased Barr's strong language and demeanor.
The House committee used recorded testimony from Barr, who only appeared for a closed-door deposition a week before the panel's first hearing. According to Barr, he believed that Trump had become delusional as he insisted on furthering his claims of election fraud.
"He's detached from reality if he really believes this stuff," Barr told the panel, in recorded testimony played publicly on Monday.
Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell peddled increasingly wild and unverifiable conspiracy theories as they claimed that the election had been stolen.
Barr said it was like playing a game of Whac-a-Mole.
Barr could not stop laughing at the absurdity of the claims, which included an alleged scheme involving the late Hugo Chavez.
The pro- Trump documentary, 2,000 Mules, claimed to have evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
He said he hasn't seen anything since the election that makes him change his mind.
He said he was not impressed with it.
The House committee featured other Republicans and Trump allies who told Trump he had lost the election. Legal experts said that testimony could be used to prove Trump's intent in any case related to his efforts to overturn the election results.
The House committee believes that Trump's former attorney general makes for a good narrator. The renewed attention on Barr's private pushback against Trump has brought renewed criticism and questions about why he didn't tell the public sooner.
Barr warned of the dangers of mass mail-in voting and exaggerated the facts of a small ballot fraud case. The then president tout the inquiry as proof of widespread fraud after Barr told him about it. There was a case of human error.
The politicization of the Justice Department and the intervention in prosecutions to the benefit of Trump's political allies was criticized by Barr. Within months of his confirmation, Barr faced criticism that he spun the findings of the special counsel's investigation to present them in a positive light for Trump. The special counsel office's work was not fully captured in the summary written by Barr.
Barr resigned from the Justice Department in December 2020 with glowing praise for Trump despite his private beliefs. He said in April that he would not rule out voting for Trump.
If he was the nominee, Barr would vote for him over the democrat.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
