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Lawmakers split along party lines on Justice Department's pot probes - Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General William Barr ordered unneeded probes into the cannabis industry because of his opposition to pot, a Justice Department attorney testified Wednesday in a stormy congressional hearing on allegations of politically-motivated overreach by Barr.
John Elias, a career Justice Department antitrust attorney who served as the division’s chief of staff, testified under oath that since March 2019 the Barr Justice Department investigated 10 mergers in the cannabis industry, even though the industry is not concentrated.
Democrats and Republicans jousted over the propriety of those probes.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat, said it was “unacceptable that he (Barr) would order the Antitrust Division to initiate pretextual investigations into industries that he and the president do not like.”
Republican Representative Louie Gohmert dismissed Elias’ concerns as a “side show,” adding, “It’s a shame we don’t have a serious hearing.”
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Barr is going after the legal pot industry because of his (& Trump's) personal feelings about the drug.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General William Barr ordered unneeded probes into the cannabis industry because of his opposition to pot, a Justice Department attorney testified Wednesday in a stormy congressional hearing on allegations of politically-motivated overreach by Barr.
John Elias, a career Justice Department antitrust attorney who served as the division’s chief of staff, testified under oath that since March 2019 the Barr Justice Department investigated 10 mergers in the cannabis industry, even though the industry is not concentrated.
Democrats and Republicans jousted over the propriety of those probes.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat, said it was “unacceptable that he (Barr) would order the Antitrust Division to initiate pretextual investigations into industries that he and the president do not like.”
Republican Representative Louie Gohmert dismissed Elias’ concerns as a “side show,” adding, “It’s a shame we don’t have a serious hearing.”
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Barr is going after the legal pot industry because of his (& Trump's) personal feelings about the drug.
