The Department of Justice is sounding off on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who accused Attorney General Barr of committing a crime by lying to Congress following his contentious Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Wednesday.
“What is deadly serious about it is the attorney general of the United States of America was not telling the truth to the Congress of the United States. That’s a crime,” Nancy Pelosi said to reporters during a press conference on Thursday, adding that she stays open to the possibility of Barr facing jail time.
Pelosi appeared to be referencing Barr’s earlier testimony in which he claimed to be unaware of concerns from special counsel Mueller or his team about the attorney general’s handling of his report after news broke that Mueller complained about Barr’s summary.
The DOJ, however, responded to her accusation in a scathing statement issued by the department’s spokeswoman.
“The baseless attack on the Attorney General is reckless, irresponsible and false,” Department of Justice spokeswoman Kerri Kupec posted.
Pelosi’s claim about William Barr comes as the attorney general skipped attending a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday after the Dems voted to allow congressional staff and lawyers to ask questions.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders mocked the House Democrats as the hearing began.
“I lost confidence in Jerry Nadler a long time ago but I was unaware that he had lost confidence in himself and his ability to do his job and that is to ask questions,” she said at the time.
Many Democrats called for AG Barr’s resignation after Wednesday’s Senate hearing. After his no-show at the House’s counterpart hearing, House Democrats began threatening to hold him in contempt of Congress.
