Trump's Attorney General Nominee William Barr Tells Senate: Mueller Probe Is No 'Witch Hunt'

CBN News anchor Jenna Browder interviews author and University of Arizona law professor Andrew Coan about Bill Barr's performance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Click above to watch. 

President Donald Trump's nominee for US attorney general, William Barr, faced tough questions in his confirmation hearing in the Senate Tuesday.

Barr, who previously served as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush from 1991-1993, told the Senate that he will make sure that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is allowed to finish his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

Barr said he doesn't believe Mueller would be involved in a "witch hunt" – a claim that Trump has leveled against the Russia probe.

Barr says he and Bob Mueller are friends, and the Barrs and Muellers are good family friends and promised not to undermine the funding of the investigation. 

The nominee said his priorities if confirmed, will include efforts to combat violent crime, especially hate crimes.

He listed his second priority as enforcing immigration law. He praised the role of immigration in America's history, but he said only legal immigration is acceptable.

Barr said the US must have secure borders to block people who want to "flout our laws and crash in through the back door."

Barr also assured Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that he will look into the case of fired FBI agent Peter Strzok who was involved with the Hillary Clinton email investigation while he was also promising his girlfriend that he would block Trump from becoming president.

He also explained his memo to Department of Justice officials defending President Trump from accusations of obstruction. 

"I was speculating, I said at the beginning, I was writing in the dark, and we're all in the dark. Every lawyer, every talking head who thinks about and talks about it; doesn't have the facts," he told the committee. 

When asked if he believed a president could lawfully issue a pardon in exchange for recipients promise not to incriminate him, Barr simply replied: "No – that would be a crime."

Barr also told the committee that he would respond to all congressional inquiries in a timely manner.