Barr Plays Tough Guy for GOP Former Prosecutor
As written in the Atlanta Journal Constitution
Georgia Republican Bob Barr had just finished questioning witnesses in the congressional investigation of the Waco tragedy when one of his Democratic colleagues raised a parliamentary inquiry.
"I know that these are hearings," said Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D- Texas). "But my question is are they inquisitions?"
Barr, a hard-nosed former U.S. attorney who represents a suburban Atlanta district, has emerged as the toughest Republican questioner - a GOP counterweight to Rep. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). Barr is as conservative as Schumer is liberal, but they seemingly share a pugnacious delight in grilling opposing witnesses.
"My wife always says I come across too much as a prosecutor," conceded Barr.
Indeed, he was softly booed by Democratic staffers after abruptly cutting off a witness he deemed to be unforthcoming.
Barr also accused former Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman of writing "the most cover-your-rear memo I think I've ever seen."
And he pointedly asked ATF agents involved in the 1993 shootout with Branch Davidians at the compound known as Mount Carmel how they possibly could have been surprised at being ambushed when they knew David Koresh had been tipped off they were coming.
"I'm just missing something," said Barr. "Knowing everything that had gone on before, knowing how much firepower you believed was in there, knowing the predisposition that you believed would make this man violent, why did you expect anything less?"
"I believe we were all stunned, because we expected that we still had the opportunity to execute that warrant safely," said former ATF Agent Chuck Sarabyn, who supervised the operation.
"OK, maybe you did, but that raises some serious questions about your judgment," said Barr.
Most of Barr's questions have focused on internal documents he believes show the Justice Department directed the Treasury Department to back off an inquiry after the initial ATF raid because the probe was generating unfavorable testimony.
Witnesses from the two federal agencies testified the caution was normal because the Justice Department didn't want its criminal investigations jeopardized by the Treasury inquiry.
Barr said he knows "this was not standard operating procedure."
During a break in the hearings, Barr said he "has no idea" how his tough questioning is coming across to a television audience.
His constituents in Georgia are paying attention, he said. He knows because when he left his seat and microphone to point to documents on a chart, "my office immediately got a lot of phone calls from people who couldn't hear what I was saying on TV."
