Barr sets March 31 congressional testimony amid Roger Stone controversy

Attorney General William Barr is headed back to Congress.

Barr is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee next month, the committee announced Wednesday. In a letter, Democratic members of the committee say they plan to discuss concerns about "the misuse of our criminal justice system for political purposes."

This comes a day after all four prosecutors involved in the Roger Stone case quit when the Department of Justice backed off its sentencing recommendation of seven to nine years for the longtime Trump adviser. On Wednesday, Trump congratulated Barr on Twitter "for taking charge" of the case, which Trump wrote "was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Democrats on the Judiciary Committee in their letter write to Barr that he has "engaged in a pattern of conduct in legal matters relating to the president that raises significant concerns," also saying the events of this week "raise grave questions about your leadership." Politico's Kyle Cheney notes this will be Barr's first time testifying before the Judiciary Committee since his confirmation hearing. It's been, to say the least, an eventful year since then, and the committee in its letter teases this week's events "are not the only issues that our committee intends to discuss with you when you appear." Given that this testimony is nearly seven weeks away, the events discussed will presumably include at least some that haven't actually occurred yet.

Barr is set to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on March 31.