US House Speaker accuses Barr of lying to Congress

WASHINGTON

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a stark warning to Attorney General William Barr on Thursday, alleging the top law enforcement official lied during congressional testimony.

"The attorney general of the United States of America was not telling the truth to the Congress of the United States," she said. "That's a crime."

Barr skipped testimony Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee after he was grilled Wednesday by its Senate counterpart for his handling of the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and allegations of Trump campaign collusion.

Pelosi was likely referring to Barr's testimony April 10.

During that testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Barr said he did not know if Mueller agreed with his conclusions on the report, particularly his decision to clear U.S. President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice.

But within hours of his scheduled appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Washington Post reported that Mueller wrote to Barr complaining over the summary he issued to the public about the special counsel's findings.

Barr's summary, Mueller wrote, "did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this Office's work and conclusions".

Pelosi said if anyone else had done what Barr did "it would be considered a crime."

"Nobody is above the law. Not the President of the United States, and not the attorney general," she said.

Asked pointedly if Barr should go to jail, Pelosi said "there's a process here" the Judiciary Committee will determine how to proceed on.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Pelosi's allegations.