House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler says calls to impeach AG Barr are a 'waste of time' because of 'corrupt Republican majority in the Senate'
- Rep. Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said calls to impeach Attorney General William Barr were a "waste of time," calling Senate Republicans "corrupt."
- Barr made headlines for the controversial firing Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman, who has been involved in investigations into known associates of President Trump.
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren along with other congressional Democrats renewed her past calls for Barr to be impeached, calling Berman's dismissal a "naked abuse of power."
- Nadler said Republicans who voted against removing President Trump from office earlier this year were corrupt and wouldn't consider impeachment regardless of evidence.
- Still, Nadler announced Saturday the House Judiciary Committee would investigate Berman's dismissal.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said on Sunday that current calls to impeach Attorney General William Barr for his involvement in the firing of US attorney Geoffrey Berman were a "waste of time," calling Senate Republicans corrupt.
As to why he believed Barr requested Berman's resignation and ultimately fired him, Nadler told CNN's Jake Tapper that Berman's firing pointed toward a larger pattern of behavior between the attorney general and President Donald Trump.
"Well, I think it's obvious a number of investigations that the Southern District has been doing with reference to the president's associates," Nadler said. "We've seen a pattern of the president opposing ... of Barr corruptly impeding all these investigations. This is just more of the same."
Berman's office is conducting investigations into Trump associates and interests, including Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer. As Business Insider previously reported, Barr announced Friday that Berman would be "stepping down" from his role as US attorney for the Southern District of New York. Berman then released a statement announcing he had not stepped down and planned to continue acting as US attorney until the Senate confirmed a successor.
On Saturday, in a letter to Berman, Barr announced that President Donald Trump had removed him from his position, though the president later seemed to distance himself from Berman's firing, telling reporters he was "not involved." Berman ultimately agreed to step down on Saturday after Barr said he would appoint deputy US attorney for the Southern District of New York, Audrey Strauss to serve as acting US attorney.
That same day, Nadler announced his committee would investigate Berman's dismissal as part of its "broader investigation into Barr's unacceptable politicization of the Department of Justice."
Nadler told Tapper that Berman had not yet accepted an invitation to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, but that the committee planned to hear from "a number of whistleblowers" on Wednesday. Nadler said he anticipated Berman would eventually testify before the committee.
Also on Sunday, former CIA Director John Brennan said on MSNBC the decision to fire Berman "demonstrates that Donald Trump and William Barr will stoop to whatever depths they need to carry out their own personal agendas" and "should make us all very worried."
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat and former candidate president, called for Barr to be impeached.
"This is a naked abuse of power. I've already called for AG William Barr to resign & for Congress to impeach him. Congress should pass my bill now to defund Barr's authority to interfere with matters related to Trump, his family, & his campaign," Warren tweeted Saturday.
The Massachusetts senator has on multiple occasions called for Barr's resignation or impeachment.
Nadler said he didn't think such calls were "premature," but added he didn't think they would lead to anything worthwhile.
"No, I don't think calls for his impeachment are premature anymore than calls for the president's impeachment were premature," he told Tapper. "But they are a waste of time at this point because we know that we have a corrupt Republican majority in the Senate which will not consider an impeachment no matter what the evidence and no matter what the facts."
Nadler said he believed Republicans who voted against removing the president during his impeachment trial earlier this year were corrupt. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney was the only Republican senator who voted in favor of removing Trump.
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