Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union”, House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) suggested every Senate Republican who voted to acquit President Trump in February is “corrupt”.
Nadler’s comments come after Attorney General William Barr informed the District Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Saturday that President Trump has removed him from his post, a day after the federal prosecutor refused to step down.
“Unfortunately, with your statement of last night, you have chosen public spectacle over public service,” Barr said in a letter to Geoffrey Berman after the Manhattan federal prosecutor said Friday he planned to stay on the job against the Trump Administration’s wishes. “Because you have declared that you have no intention of resigning, I have asked the President to remove you as of today, and he has done so.”
Barr and the White House announced late Friday night that Trump will nominate Jay Clayton, the current chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to replace Berman.
“I think it’s obvious the a number of investigations the southern district has been doing in reference to the president’s associates [Rudy] Giuliani, the Turkish investigation– we’ve seen a pattern of the president opposing of [AG Bill] Barr corruptly impeding all these investigations, so this is just all more of the same,” Rep. Jerry Nadler told host Jake Tapper.
On Friday Nadler tweeted: “America is right to expect the worst of Bill Barr, who has repeatedly interfered in criminal investigations on Trump’s behalf. We have a hearing on this topic on Wednesday. We welcome Mr. Berman’s testimony and will invite him to testify.” Continued Below
Asked if Berman has accepted his offer to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, Nadler said: “We are having a hearing on Wednesday. We have a number of whistleblowers from the Department of Justice to testify. We have invited Berman– I’m sure he will– I’m not sure about Wednesday, but I’m sure he will testify.”
When asked if calling for Attorney General Bill Barr’s impeachment is premature, the New York Congressman said: “No. I don’t think calls for his impeachment are premature anymore than calls for the president’s impeachment were premature.”
“But they are a waste of time at this point, because we know that we have a corrupt Republican majority in the Senate that will not consider an impeachment no matter what the evidence and no matter what the facts. So we’re instead going to do what we have to do without that,” Nadler stated. Video Below
Tapper asked Nadler: “You’re calling every Senator Republican who voted to acquit President Trump corrupt?”
“I think in the sense of being corrupt against the interest of the country, yes,” the House Judiciary chairman said.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler says calls for the impeachment of AG Bill Barr 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” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/9GACiXIvDO
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) June 21, 2020
Continued Below
Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s official tweet on Geoffrey Berman:
America is right to expect the worst of Bill Barr, who has repeatedly interfered in criminal investigations on Trump’s behalf. We have a hearing on this topic on Wednesday. We welcome Mr. Berman’s testimony and will invite him to testify. https://t.co/SpVYzLhANR
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) June 20, 2020
Nadler also told Tapper that he thinks Trump would have been “indicted” had he not been president. He deflected from answering over Russia collusion and obstruction.
Rep. Jerry Nadler: "If [Trump] were not president — I think he would have been indicted and should have been." pic.twitter.com/KuFzZLS3QD
— The Hill (@thehill) June 21, 2020
(Related: Watch: Before Speaking To The Press, Jerry Nadler Struggles To Remove His Mask)
