WASHINGTON, D.C.—People For the American Way today released the following statement from PFAW Executive Vice President Marge Baker in response to William Barr’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. President Trump nominated Barr to lead the Justice Department following the departure of Jeff Sessions.

“Based on what we heard today, the Senate should not confirm Barr as the next attorney general of the United States. The context of today’s hearing is important: Late last week, The New York Times stunned the country by reporting that the FBI had opened a counterintelligence investigation into the president after he fired James Comey and explicitly connected the firing to the investigation into Russian interference in our elections. That investigation has already resulted in four people sentenced to prison, one person convicted at trial, seven guilty pleas, 36 people and entities charged, and 192 overall criminal counts, according to CNN’s tracking. Clearly, the Mueller investigation is uncovering serious criminal wrongdoing, and Robert Mueller must be allowed to complete his work.

“Despite all of this, Barr failed to assure the Senate that Mueller’s investigation would continue without interference or that the results would be made public. Once the scripted opening statements were out of the way, Barr waffled and dissembled, refusing to give concrete statements that all senators should demand. Furthermore, his comments in support of the president’s racist border wall and asylum policies, his support for the discriminatory Muslim ban, and his dismissal of the idea of racial bias in the justice system should disqualify him on their own. Senators should refuse to accept such a narrow-minded, elitist nominee to lead the Justice Department and should reject Barr’s nomination.”