The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
February 8, 2019

Senate Judiciary Committee Narrowly Backs William Barr to Become Attorney General
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Senate Judiciary Committee has narrowly voted to approve William
Barr's nomination to become attorney general. Every Democrat on the
committee voted against Barr, who previously served as George H.W.
Bush's attorney general. During that time, he was involved in the pardon
of six Reagan officials-including Elliott Abrams-for the Iran-Contra
scandal. He also oversaw the opening of the Guantánamo Bay military
prison, which was initially used to indefinitely detain Haitian asylum
seekers. Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said, "This is
not the time to install an attorney general who has repeatedly espoused
a view of unfettered executive power."


.