Lindsey Graham Fails In Bid To Allow Bill Barr To Veto Investigations Into DOJ, Even Other Republicans Balked

Bloomberg News reports:



The Senate Judiciary Committee blocked an effort by Chairman Lindsey Graham to give the attorney general the power to veto investigations of Justice Department lawyers by the inspector general. The committee instead backed — over the objections of Graham and Attorney General William Barr — a bipartisan bill by Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah that would empower the department’s inspector general to investigate such allegations on his own authority.

Graham said the attorney general, as the head of the Justice Department, should have discretion to overrule the agency watchdog in such cases. Under Graham’s failed amendment, which he said was crafted in consultation with current Inspector General Michael Horowitz, any dispute over what to investigate would be reported to Congress. But his amendment was criticized by members of both parties, including former Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, the senior Republican in the Senate.