Barr exposed tone-deaf Dems in embarrassing Judiciary hearing

The attempted Democratic takedown of Attorney General William Barr last week during his Senate Judiciary Committee appearance was a thing to behold. The gruff, direct, seemingly unflappable bear of an AG batted away each assault, question after question, hour after hour.

But a second impression also emerged: the tone deafness of so many Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats. Some seemed unaware of the full import of their questions and complaints.

Take Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. He told Barr, "History will judge you harshly" as "your credibility is undermined" because "you in effect exonerated or cleared the president." To this, Barr replied, “No, I didn't exonerate.” Instead, he explained, he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein “did not believe that there was sufficient evidence to establish an obstruction offense, which is the job of the Justice Department.” Blumenthal then accused the attorney general of not telling the truth, saying Barr “left a clear impression” about the president and “it’s been repeated again and again.”

How have we come to the point where a man who misled people for years about being a Vietnam combat veteran is now lecturing others about telling the truth?

Then there was New Jersey’s Sen. Cory Booker. He opened his questioning of Barr with a rambling, roundabout lecture about “a new normal that is dangerous for our democracy.” He talked about “behaviors that the folks knew that were wrong that they try to actively hide,” namely the “willingness” of Trump campaign officials “to meet with Russian operatives in order to capitalize on information.”