Barr hesitates to answer whether it's okay for a president to accept foreign election assistance

Asked during a congressional hearing on Tuesday whether it's appropriate for a president to solicit foreign election assistance, Attorney General William Barr responded that it isn't — but not right away.

Barr while testifying before Congress on Tuesday was questioned by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) about whether it's "ever appropriate" for a president "to solicit or accept foreign assistance in an election." President Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives after pushing Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, and former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report found that the Trump campaign expected to benefit from Russian interference in the 2016 election.

In response to Cicilline's question about whether soliciting or accepting foreign election assistance is appropriate, Barr first responded, "It depends what kind of assistance."

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

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

This prompted Cicilline to ask the question once again, this time emphasizing that he was asking about accepting or soliciting "foreign assistance of any kind," to which Barr gave the answer Cicilline was looking for. "No, it's not appropriate," Barr told him.

"Sorry you had to struggle with that one, Mr. Attorney General," Cicilline shot back. Brendan Morrow