Attorney general nominee William Barr appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for high-stakes confirmation hearings
- Attorney general nominee William Barr is appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee for confirmation hearings today and Wednesday.
Barr, 68, previously served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush. Since then, he's worked as a corporate lawyer in private practice.
- Read INSIDER's live coverage of the hearings.
President Trump's nominee for attorney general, William Barr, is appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee for confirmation hearings today and Wednesday.
Barr, 68, previously served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush. Since then, he's worked as a corporate lawyer in private practice.
While Barr is widely-respected in the conservative legal world, some of his opinions have garnered controversy. Barr came under scrutiny for sending an unsolicited 20-page memo to the DOJ criticizing special counsel Robert Mueller probe's line of investigation into possible obstruction of justice and witness tampering by Trump.
The memo called Mueller's inquiry into whether Trump obstructed justice when he fired FBI director James Comey "legally unsupportable" and "potentially disastrous."
But in his prepared remarks submitted to the Committee, Barr promised that "on my watch, Bob will be allowed to complete his work."
Democratic Senators on the Judiciary Committee have vowed to further press Barr on his views on the Mueller probe, executive power, and a range of other topics.
Read more of INSIDER's coverage of the Barr hearings:
- Meet William Barr: What you need to know about the possible once and future attorney general
Republicans are worried about a 'Kavanaugh 2.0' scenario with Trump's attorney general nominee