Attorney General William Barr is expected to appear before the House Judiciary Committee following the recent controversy surrounding former Trump adviser Roger Stone’s case.
The committee confirmed in a letter on Wednesday that the attorney general will testify on March 31.
Part of the “steps that raise grave questions” about Barr’s leadership listed in the letter include “the decision to overrule your career prosecutors and significantly reduce the recommended sentence for Roger Stone.”
Following the recommendation by federal prosecutors for seven to nine months prison sentence for Stone, President Donald Trump spoke out in strong rebuke of it.
“This is a horrible and very unfair situation,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday, adding, “Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!”
Stone was convicted last November on seven counts — for lying to Congress, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
Shortly after the president’s criticism of the recommendation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said the recommendation was “excessive and unwarranted.” All four prosecutors also quit Stone’s case afterward.
The announcement from the DOJ stirred up criticism from Democrats, who suggested the president “engaged in political interference in the sentencing of Roger Stone.” However, a DOJ spokesperson told the Daily Beast on Tuesday that the department did not consult with the White House on Stone’s case and the decision was not made in response to Trump’s tweet.
“I didn’t speak to the Justice — I would be able to — and I have the absolute right to do it if I wanted to, but I stay out of things to a degree that people wouldn’t believe,” Trump also said Tuesday, aiming to distance himself from any connection.
Trump, however, on Wednesday congratulated Barr “for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought.”
As IJR previously reported. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday called on Congress to “act immediately to rein in our lawless Attorney General” and suggested Barr “resign or face impeachment.”
