WASHINGTON, D.C. (Mike Osborne) -- Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen was among those grilling U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr in the nation’s capital Tuesday.
Under questioning by the West Tennessee Democrat, Barr testified that he knew President Donald Trump planned to walk out of the White House for a photo op later that day when the Attorney General ordered federal officers on June 1 to forcefully push demonstrators out of Lafayette Park.
Responding to Cohen, Barr insisted that his order and the president’s plans were not related.
The Attorney General has also defended his actions during the June 1 demonstrations as necessary to disperse violent protesters demonstrating in the park in front of the White House.
Democratic lawmakers characterized dispersal of the crowd as a violent attack by law enforcement on peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights.
Barr and the House Judiciary Committee’s minority Republicans clashed repeatedly with majority Democrats during the five hour hearing.
