Attorney General William Barr said the topic of President Donald Trump’s reelection does come up during Cabinet meetings and other meetings with senior administration officials, Politico reports.
Barr made the comments Tuesday during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee.
“I’m a member of the Cabinet and there’s an election going on, so obviously the topic comes up,” Barr said.
He was responding to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, who claims Barr is using the Justice Department to help Trump’s reelection chances.
The Democrat lawmaker from New York asked Barr whether the decision to send federal agents to cities experiencing violent protests had anything to do with Trump’s reelection efforts.
“You’re projecting fear and violence nationwide in pursuit of obvious political objectives,” Nadler said.
Barr said the subject of using the federal agents had nothing to do with the president’s reelection.
“I’ve made it clear that I would like to pick the cities based on law enforcement need or based on neutral criteria,” Barr said.
Barr also denied allegations that he intervened in the prosecutions of two of Trump’s allies — Michael Flynn and Roger Stone — at the president’s request.
He said he thought Stone “should go to jail” but disagreed with the prosecutors’ recommendation he should serve 7-9 years behind bars. Stone was found guilty on seven felony counts, including obstructing a congressional investigation.
“I wasn’t going to advocate that. That is not the rule of law,” Barr said.