CNN’s Phil Mudd Bashes House Dems For ‘Overreach’ on AG Hearing: If I Were Barr, I’d Tell Them to ‘Pound Sand’

CNN’s Phil Mudd knocked Democrats today for “overreaching” following a dispute with AG Bill Barr that resulted in him deciding not to appear before a House committee tomorrow.

Barr testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, but has opted not to testify before the House Judiciary Committee. Per CBS News:

Barr, who Democrats have accused of protecting the president, wanted to be questioned only by lawmakers on the committee — not by their staff and lawyers. But on Wednesday, the House panel, by a party-line vote, approved an extra hour of questioning by both lawmakers on the committee and their counsel.

CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin said late this afternoon this is “a real lesson in the powerlessness of the House Democrats.”

Whatever they do, he argued, won’t make a difference, and “this just shows that if the Trump White House and the Trump Administration want to tell the Democrats who now run the House of Representatives to go pound sand, they’re going to have to go pound sand.”

Minutes later, CNN analyst Phil Mudd said that’s exactly what Barr should be doing:

“Let me be a bit snitty here. If I were [Bill] Barr, I would tell Jerry Nadler to pound sand. I would tell him to hit the road. Let me give you a couple of reasons why. Biggest hearing you might have in your entire chairmanship, you can’t bother, you’re too lazy to learn the portfolio well enough to ask your own questions? And your members don’t have the discipline not to sit here and speak without asking questions? Really? And my second question. Who was elected by the American people to oversee the Department of Justice in the most important investigation they have. Was it the members or was it some lawyer that you want to set up Barr with? This is a set-up. I think it’s petty and I think the Democrats are overreaching. If I were Barr I’d say I’m going to get martinis, have a good time. Have an empty chair. I’m not going.”

You can watch above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!