Claire McCaskill, the former Democratic senator from Missouri, lambasted Attorney General William P. Barr early Friday and urged for an end to his tenure leading the U.S. Department of Justice.
“I can’t tell you how badly Barr needs to go into the trash bin of history, and the sooner, the better,” Ms. McCaskill said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program.
Ms. McCaskill, who became a MSNBC political contributor after leaving office last year, tore into Mr. Barr while discussing recent developments involving both the Justice Department and FBI.
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray told lawmakers the day before that Russia is meddling in the U.S. electoral process and that white supremacists pose a major domestic terror threat, she noted.
“And what is the attorney general doing? He’s talking about arresting the mayor of Seattle. He’s talking about arresting protesters,” Ms. McCaskill said in reference to recent news reports.
“I mean, if this was a plot for a movie, I would walk out and say this is so unrealistic, this couldn’t happen in America,” she continued, adding Mr. Barr is “totally and completely responsible.”
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Mr. Barr asked federal prosecutors to weigh charging the mayor of Seattle in connection with a protest zone established in her city this summer.
Mr. Barr also recently suggested prosecutors charge violent protesters with sedition, or conspiring to overthrow the federal government, multiple news outlets reported this week.
Brian T. Moran, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in a statement Thursday he was never told about the possibility of charging the mayor of Seattle with a crime.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department said Thursday prosecutors weighed charging city officials in Portland, Oregon, over recent unrest there, The Associated Press reported.
Ms. McCaskill, 67, began serving in the U.S. Senate in 2007. She was voted out in 2018 and succeeded by Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican. She joined MSNBC within days of leaving office.
Her remarks were first reported online by Mediaite.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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