WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday questioned Attorney General William Barr’s independence from President Donald Trump, arguing Barr’s pursuit of Trump’s claims about “spying” during the 2016 campaign undermines his position as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, the California Democrat said she was “very concerned” about Barr’s handling of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian meddling in the campaign and accused Barr of doing Trump’s political bidding in his testimony at a Senate hearing.
“He is not the attorney general of Donald Trump. He is the attorney general of the United States,” Pelosi told AP. “I don’t trust Barr, I trust Mueller.”
Pressure is mounting on the attorney general in the days before his release of a version of Mueller’s nearly 400-page report, and Pelosi amplified the demands from Capitol Hill to see the full document. Barr said Wednesday he expects to release a redacted version within a week. Pelosi said it’s only a “matter of time” before the full report is made public.
“We will see it,” she said.