Ahead of William Barr’s confirmation hearing to lead the Justice Department, Republicans are circulating a decades-old video showing then-Sen. Joe Biden praising the lawyer.
Barr, 68, previously served as attorney general during the late President George H.W. Bush’s administration. At the time, Biden, a Democrat from Delaware, was the Senate Judiciary Committee’s chairman.
Senate Republicans are pointing to the support Barr received in 1991 – particularly from Biden – ahead of his appearance before the current Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. He's President Trump's pick for attorney general again.
“Mr. Barr, I believe, in my working with him in the past, is one who wishes to accommodate a coequal branch of government and assist it in its responsibility of oversight. I look forward to working with Mr. Barr. I plan on supporting him, and I anticipate and hope that he will be a fine attorney general,” Biden said in 1991.
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In another video circulated by the Republican National Committee, the eventual vice president praised Barr as a “heck of an honorable guy.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee ultimately unanimously confirmed Barr.
“I get the impression that he’s committed to working with rather than against the committee,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who is still a member of the committee, said in 1991. “That in itself would be a welcome change that I would vote for him for that purpose if nothing else.”
During that first hearing, Barr said he did not agree with the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision and viewed abortion as an issue best left to states, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. He contended the right to privacy does not “extend to abortion.”
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His answer reportedly surprised Biden, who said Barr should be “complimented” for his “candid answer,” even if he did not personally agree.
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