The first testimony shown at the first public hearings of the January 6 Committee on Thursday evening was a recorded deposition of former Attorney General William Barr, who had voluntarily agreed to testify in closed-door proceedings.
It was not clear whether Barr understood that in providing a deposition, he was agreeing to an on-camera appearance in public, without context, without the protections of legal counsel, and without cross-examination by the opposition.
Barr was shown saying that he tried to explain to then-President Donald Trump that he believed claims of election fraud were “bullshit,” after the Department of Justice had said that it would follow up on any leads about attempts to distort the vote.
Barr’s skepticism has long been a matter of public record, and it led to his resignation from the Cabinet prior to the end of President Trump’s term in office. He defended Trump’s performance in office but changed his view of Trump after January 6.
Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley of George Washington University Law School commented on the use of Barr:
The January 6 Committee has interviewed over 1,000 witnesses, many under threat of prosecution for contempt, in secret hearings reminiscent of the “basement” investigation conducted by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) in the first impeachment investigation in 2019. Schiff, like second impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), is a member of the Committee.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), one of the only two Republicans on the panel — both of whom were handpicked by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for their opposition to Trump — said that the hearings would continued for “weeks to come.”
