Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel recap the highlights and low points of Barr's Senate grilling

Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel recap Barr&#039;s testimony

published 2 May 2019

Attorney General William Barr faced some tough questions in Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, many of them about his misleading four-page summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report. "He released his opening statement ahead of time, and guess how long it was?" Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show. "Four pages, evidently, is the perfect length to say nothing. 'Okay, class, I want you to read Moby Dick tonight, then do a four-page summary of what you wish the book was about."

After Barr's opening remarks, "the senators began the Q&A — they asked the Qs, and what he lacked in A he made up in hole," Colbert joked. "Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono took her whacks at this piñata of perjury," he said, but "the true star of the Barr-bashing" was Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who stumped him with the word "suggest."

Barr put in quite an appearance, Jimmy Kimmel said on Kimmel Live. "It's rare you get to see a fat man tap-dance for five hours straight."

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"Republicans in the Senate were very defensive, they did everything they could to change the subject from obstruction," Kimmel recapped. "Democrats were mad, they believe this is a coverup of a coverup of the coverup, and that the attorney general is more interested in obeying his boss than obeying the law. Multiple Democrats called for Barr to resign today; multiple Republicans feigned outrage when they did it. ... The Republicans say the Mueller report isn't what the Democrats hoped it would be so now they want to do it all over again. The Democrats say the report is exactly what we thought it would be so why is the attorney general saying it wasn't? And that seems to be Robert Mueller's position, too."

Kimmel had some fun with Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) F-bomb and noted that "Trump spent hours today watching TV, tweeting, and retweeting — that's not a president, that's a teenager on summer vacation" — and he got "trolled pretty good" with one retweet. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.