U.S. Attorney General William Barr speaks during a roundtable discussion on "America's seniors" hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, US on June 15, 2020. (REUTERS File Photo)
WASHINGTON, June 21 (Reuters): U.S. Attorney General William Barr deserves to be impeached over the firing of a federal prosecutor whose office had investigated President Donald Trump's lawyer but the effort would be a "waste of time," a leading Democratic lawmaker said on Sunday.
Jerrold Nadler, the Judiciary chairman who helped lead a House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry into Trump last year, told CNN's "State of the Union" the Republican-led Senate would block any such effort.
"I think he deserves impeachment. He certainly deserves impeachment. But again, that's a waste of time because the Republicans in the Senate won't look at that and we have, we have other ways of getting at this," Nadler said.
Nadler said his panel would investigate Trump's firing of prosecutor Geoffrey Berman on Saturday after an extraordinary standoff between Barr and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, which has not shied from taking on figures in Trump's orbit and has been investigating his private lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
Nadler said he has asked Berman to testify in the Judiciary Committee's investigation of political interference at the Justice Department.
The panel is holding a hearing on Wednesday with whistleblowers from the department. Nadler did not know if Berman would be there that day, "but I'm sure he will testify."
