Five things to watch as Barr takes the reins of Justice, Mueller probe
Five things to watch as Barr takes the reins of Justice, Mueller probe
William Barr was sworn in as President Trump's second attorney general on Thursday, putting a new face atop the Justice Department who will assume oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
The Senate confirmed Barr in a largely party-line vote amid intense speculation that Mueller's probe into links between the Trump campaign and Moscow is wrapping up.
The investigation - and Barr's oversight of it - is likely to dominate his first weeks and possibly months as attorney general, depending on when Mueller submits his final report.
Here are five things to watch.
Mueller investigation
Barr, who already served a stint as attorney general under the George H.W. Bush administration, is taking over a sprawling agency with multiple divisions and more than 110,000 employees.
However, Mueller's investigation is by far the most high-profile issue he will contend with in the immediate term.
During his confirmation hearing, Barr described it as "vitally important" that Mueller be allowed to complete his investigation and pledged not to allow "partisan politics" to interfere with it. Barr also said he would release as much information about Mueller's final conclusions as possible consistent with the law - but he was careful not to commit to releasing the report in its entirety.
It remains an open question how Barr's oversight of the probe will play out. His predecessor, Jeff Sessions, faced tremendous pressure from Trump over the probe, which the president regularly derides as a partisan "witch hunt."
"His biggest issue is the Mueller probe," said Seth Waxman, a former federal prosecutor in the D.C. U.S. attorney's office. "There's only really two questions he has to answer: one, is he going to interfere, and two is he going to make the report public?"
Democrats have taken issue with a June 2018 memo Barr sent to the Justice Department and White House criticizing Mueller's inquiry into whether Trump obstructed justice, as well as Barr's expansive views of presidential power. Some also suggested Barr should recuse himself from the Mueller probe because of his memo.
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