Just a little while ago, Nancy Pelosi commented on yesterday’s testimony given before the Senate Judiciary Committee by Attorney General William Barr. I could comment, but other than saying for the umpteenth time that Nancy Pelosi is the right woman for her job, I’ll let her words speak for themselves. The following is a transcript of her comments as well as the C-SPAN YouTube video . I typed up the transcript, so if there are errors, please let me know and I will correct post haste.
Yesterday was quite a day. I really lost sleep last night after watching, over and over again, the testimony of the Attorney General of the United States. How sad it is. How sad it is for us to see the top law enforcement officer in our country misrepresenting, withholding the truth from the congress of the United States.
I think it's really time. As I watched him, I kept trying. What could possibly be motivating the Attorney General of the United States to disrespect the Constitution of the United States, the separation of power, the right of Congress to know? What possible motivation for the Attorney General of the United States have to dishonor the office that he holds, right there for the whole world to see? To misrepresent the facts to the Congress of the United States?
Then it just... I began to connect the dots. We have Mitch McConnell, who in his fundraising pitches has described himself as the Grim Reaper, the Grim Reaper for any legislation that comes over from the house that will go to a Senate graveyard. Calls himself the Grim Reaper.
Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, Attorney General Barr, there's a connection. There is an ideological, anti-governance, anti-science, anti-meeting the needs of the American people, so when he was testifying and being so cavalier about Special Counsel Mueller and the Mueller Report, and so disrespectful of Congress, I thought, "This isn't about President Trump only. It's about a right wing ideological handmaiden. They're handmaidens to the special interests in our country.
It's important to connect the dots, because the American people have to know what this means to them. If you're a young person, you care about the climate crisis, we're passing that bill right now on the floor, and I'm going to have to leave momentarily to vote for it. That's going to be dead on arrival in the Senate.
If you're a young person, you care about net neutrality, freedom on the internet, the Grim Reaper is going to kill it in the Senate.
If you're a woman, Violence Against Women Act, equal pay for equal work, that we sent over to the Senate, the Grim Reaper, Mitch McConnell, will kill it.
If you care about reducing the role of money in politics, as HR1 legislation, stopping the voter suppression and expanding the voice of the people in our political process, Mitch McConnell will kill it, because he has said, "The problem is not too much money in politics." He says, "There's not enough money in politics."
Our HR1 is about expanding the voice of the people. Their HR1 was about giving 83% of the tax benefit to the top 1%, so this is about policy. It's also about gun safety, gun safety. We sent over HR8 and HR1112 for responsible background checks. Handmaidens to the National Rifle Association and the special interest... Connect the dots. When you see Barr sitting there, what's his motivation?
His motivation, his loyalty, is not to his oath of office. It is to Donald Trump, but all of it, and the Republicans in Congress, is to the special interests. Whether it's HR1 or gun safety, paycheck fairness, violence against women, save the internet, climate action now, the list goes on, and we will be sending more legislation.
Apparently, I have news for Mitch McConnell. He may consider them dead on arrival and the Grim Reaper for all of these actions taken by the House of Representatives, but they're alive and well among the American people. There's a direct connection.
Really, the sad, probably biggest and saddest of all, is while the Attorney General was sitting there, withholding the truth from Congress, misrepresenting, being inconsistent in his statement... The shame! How could he do such a thing?
But, again, having the support of the Republicans in Congress and the senators, behaving in a way that has said to them, "We don't care about the branch in government in which we serve." They're not even loyal to strengthening the institution of which we are a part.
While he's sitting there, once again, his Justice Department was intensifying its assault on the Affordable Care Act, and that they did their filing, their further filing, to get rid of the entire Affordable Care Act.
That's what it means to people with preexisting conditions, his sitting there in that arrogance. "I don't care about your preexisting condition. I care about the special interest in our country." That was the message.
The connecting of the dots between Mitch McConnell, the Republican agenda, and Congress, such as it is, the special interest agenda fueled by dark, special interest money, that's what that hearing was about. It wasn't about technicalities. It wasn't about who wrote the letter and how he characterized the letter. That's interesting, but what is deadly serious about it is the Attorney General of the United States of America was not telling the truth to the Congress of the United States. That's a crime.
November ‘20, y’all.