When protesters are supporters of president

Miss Jayapal: (03:20:12)
Mr. Barr, on June 1st, there were protests against the murder of George Floyd and police brutality in Lafayette Park. Let us not be distracted by you or my GOP colleagues as to what these powerful and massive protests were actually about. They were about the persistent killing of black bodies by law enforcement, and finally, finally an awakening in America of the conscience of our country. And yet your response, Mr. Barr, was to direct federal officers to close in on the protesters and to use shields offensively as weapons, tear gas, pepper balls, irritants, explosive devices, batons and horses to clear the area just so the president could get a photo op. So I do want to ask you, do you think that your response, do you think the response at Lafayette Square to tear gas, pepper spray, and beat protesters and injure American citizens who were just simply exercising their First Amendment rights was appropriate?

Wiliam Barr: (03:21:23)
Well first, it’s my understanding that no tear gas was used on Monday, June 1st.

Miss Jayapal: (03:21:25)
Mr. Barr, that is a semantic distinction that has been proven false by many fact- checkers. Do you think-

Wiliam Barr: (03:21:32)
How is it semantic? Tear gas is a particular compound.

Miss Jayapal: (03:21:34)
You talked about chemical irritants and it has been proven false by reports, so just answer the question. Do you think-

Wiliam Barr: (03:21:41)
Well, I think pepper spray-

Miss Jayapal: (03:21:42)
That it was appropriate at Lafayette Park to pepper spray, tear gas and beat protestors and injure American citizens?

Wiliam Barr: (03:21:51)
Well I don’t accept your characterization of what happened, but as I explained, the effort there was-

Miss Jayapal: (03:21:57)
Mr. Barr, I just asked for a yes or no-

Wiliam Barr: (03:21:59)
The effort there was [crosstalk 00:03:58]-

Miss Jayapal: (03:21:59)
So let me just tell you, I’m starting to lose my temper, according to sworn testimony before the House Natural Resources Committee by Army National Guard Officer Adam DeMarco who was there, this was, “An unprovoked escalation and excessive use of force against peaceful protestors.” Numerous media reports confirmed-

Wiliam Barr: (03:22:20)
I don’t remember DeMarco as being-

Miss Jayapal: (03:22:21)
Mr. Barr, excuse me. This is my time.

Wiliam Barr: (03:22:23)
Involved in any of the decision making.

Miss Jayapal: (03:22:24)
Sir, sir, the president told governors on a telephone call that the way to deal with the protestors of police brutality and systemic racism like in Lafayette Square is that, “You have to get much tougher. You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time. These are terrorists.” And he also talked about you on that call sir. Here’s what he said. He said, “The Attorney General is here, Bill Barr, and we will activate Bill Barr and activate him strongly.” Do you remember that call Mr. Barr?

Wiliam Barr: (03:22:58)
Yes I do, but he wasn’t talking about protesters. He was talking about rioters.

Miss Jayapal: (03:23:01)
Mr. Barr, apparently the president believes that you can be activated to implement the president’s agenda and dominate American people exercising First Amendment rights if they’re protesting against him. But let’s look at how you respond when the protesters are supporters of the president. On two separate occasions, after President Trump tweeted liberate Michigan to subvert stay home orders to protect the public health of people in Michigan, protesters swarmed the Michigan capital carrying guns. Some with swastikas, Confederate flags, and one even with a dark haired doll with a noose around its neck. Are you aware that these protesters called for the governor to be lynched, shot and beheaded?

Wiliam Barr: (03:23:52)
No.

Miss Jayapal: (03:23:53)
You’re not aware of that?

Wiliam Barr: (03:23:54)
I was not aware of that.

Miss Jayapal: (03:23:55)
Major protests in Michigan, you’re the attorney general, and you didn’t know that the protestors called for the governor to be lynched, shot and beheaded? So obviously you couldn’t be concerned about that. You didn’t-

Wiliam Barr: (03:24:06)
Well, there were a lot of protests around the United States and on June 1st-

Miss Jayapal: (03:24:10)
Attorney General Barr, you seemed to be engaging in protests-

Wiliam Barr: (03:24:14)
I was worried about the district of Columbia which is federal.

Miss Jayapal: (03:24:14)
In certain parts of the country. You’re very aware of those, but when protestors with guns and swastikas and Confederate flags-

Wiliam Barr: (03:24:23)
I am aware of protestors-

Miss Jayapal: (03:24:23)
Excuse me Mr. Barr-

Wiliam Barr: (03:24:24)
In federal government.

Miss Jayapal: (03:24:24)
This is my time and I control it. You are aware of certain kinds of protesters, but in Michigan, when protesters carried guns and Confederate flags and swastikas and call for the governor of Michigan to be beheaded and shot and lynched, somehow you’re not aware of that. Somehow you didn’t know about it so you didn’t send federal agents in to do to the president’s supporters what you did to the president’s protesters. In fact, you didn’t put pepper balls on those protesters. So the point I’m trying to make here, Mr. Barr that I think is very important for the country to understand, is that there is a real discrepancy in how you react as the attorney general, the top cop in this country.

Miss Jayapal: (03:25:06)
When white men with swastikas storm a government building with guns, there is no need for the president to, “Activate you,” because they’re getting the president’s personal agenda done. But when black people and people of color protest police brutality, systemic racism, and the president’s very own lack of response to those critical issues, then you forcibly remove them with armed federal officers, pepper bombs, because they are considered terrorists by the president. You take an aggressive approach to black lives matter protests, but not to right wing extremists threatening to lynch a governor if it’s for the president’s benefit. Did I get it right, Mr. Barr?

Wiliam Barr: (03:25:51)
I have responsibility for the federal government and the White House is the seat of the [crosstalk 03:25:57]-

Miss Jayapal: (03:25:57)
Mr. Barr, let me just make it clear. You are supposed represent-

Wiliam Barr: (03:26:00)
The Michigan authorities can handle-

Miss Jayapal: (03:26:02)
The people of the United States-

Wiliam Barr: (03:26:03)
The Michigan authorities can handle-

Miss Jayapal: (03:26:03)
Of America, not violate people’s First Amendment rights. You are supposed to uphold democracy and secure equal justice under the law, not violently dismantle certain protestors based on the president’s personal agenda.

Chairman Jerry Nadler: (03:26:18)
Gentle lady’s time has expired.

Miss Jayapal: (03:26:20)
Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask unanimous consent to also introduce into the record a report from the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, which says that over the past 20 years, more than 250 million ballots have been cast by male and the fraud rate is 0.00006%.