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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
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Poll: Americans Divided on Forcing Barr to Testify to House

The day after Attorney General William Barr refused to appear before the House Judiciary Committee, a new poll released Friday shows that Americans are split on whether he should be forced to testify.

(CN) – The day after Attorney General William Barr refused to appear before the House Judiciary Committee, a new poll released Friday shows that Americans are split on whether he should be forced to testify.

The Hill-HarrisX survey found that 38 percent of registered voters said the House should compel Barr to testify, while another 38 percent said he shouldn’t have to appear. Another 24 percent said they were unsure.

The issue ran down partisan lines, as 55% of Republicans said Barr should be able to refuse to testify, while 60% of Democrats said the House should be able to force him to do so. Among independents, only 32% said he should be forced to testify while 44 percent said he should not have to.

Barr declined to appear at the Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday due to his objection over its format. House Democrats wanted him to take questions from both lawmakers and committee staff attorneys.

Democrats have been critical of Barr over how he’s handled the Mueller report, accusing him of lying to Congress about the report’s findings and his communications with Robert Mueller. Barr told Congress earlier that Mueller had no concerns over his summary of the report back in March. A letter from Mueller to Barr about his reservations of Barr’s summary was uncovered on Wednesday just hours before Barr testified before the Senate.

Barr also declined to give an unredacted copy of the report to the House after House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., set a deadline for this week. Nadler extended the deadline to Monday with a threat to hold a contempt vote if Barr refuses to comply.

The poll was conducted May 2-3 among 1,001 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Categories / Government, National, Politics

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