During a wide-ranging interview with CNBC's John Harwood, Rep. Jerry Nadler did not pull any punches about his feelings for Donald Trump's Attorney General.
In response to William Barr's mischaracterization of the Mueller report about claims of no collusion with the Russians and no obstruction of justice, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said, "Bill Barr is just a liar"
John Harwood brought up the impeachment of Andrew Johnson in the 1800s and the advocates that were for impeachment.
Jerry Nadler: Certainly on many issues, you have to deal with the specifics. And the larger issue – well, you’ve got three issues, really.
It starts off with, this president and his campaign. If you read the Mueller report, there was tons of evidence that they knew the Russians were interfering with the election on their behalf. They welcomed it, they wanted it, and they coordinated with it. Colluded, in a word. There’s no question about that.
John Harwood: Despite Bill Barr saying over and over, “no collusion.”
Jerry Nadler: Bill Barr is just a liar. And, he’s just representing the president.
The second clear conclusion is, there are 12 episodes of obstruction of justice. Beyond all that is the basic question: They’re trying to say that Congress, representing the American people, can’t get information, and therefore, can’t function. The effect of that is to make the president a monarch, to make him a dictator. And that’s what we’ve got to fight.
John Harwood: You actually think Bill Barr is just lying, as opposed to being a defender of the person who put him in the attorney general’s job?
Jerry Nadler: You could have two interpretations of Bill Barr’s motives. The less charitable interpretation is he’s doing whatever he has to do, to protect the president personally. And he’ll hide whatever he has to hide. Lied may be too strong a word, but he certainly misrepresented very strongly what was in the report.
Chairman Nadler described William Barr's view of an imperial presidency and called it a very dangerous doctrine.
William Barr is now a co-conspirator with the Trump administration and will always be remembered as such.
