'SNL' Fans Slam Show for Not Parodying Attorney General William Barr's Testimony

Saturday Night Live fans were not happy with the show for skipping a chance to parody Attorney [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Saturday Night Live fans were not happy with the show for skipping a chance to parody Attorney General William Barr's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

Instead of a political opening, SNL used a Family Feud sketch to open the show, with Game of Thrones and Avengers: Endgame characters facing off.

The show did not let Barr completely off the hook. SNL mentioned how Barr skipped testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday several times during Weekend Update.

The hearing took place hours after a letter Mueller wrote to Barr on March 27 about the March 24 letter Barr released before Mueller's 448-page report was made available to the public in redacted form last month. Mueller shared his concerns of the press coverage of the four-page letter, calling the letter "inaccurate" and suggested it threatened to "undermine" public confidence in his report.

While taking questions from Senators, Barr stood by his initial characterization of the report. As CBS News notes, Barr said he was "frankly surprised" that Mueller chose not to make a determination himself if President Donald Trump obstructed justice. Barr said the Justice Department determined itself that Trump did not obstruct justice.

"We concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense," Barr said.

During the testimony, Barr said Mueller told him the four-page letter was accurate but was not happy with the media coverage of the summary. He called Mueller's letter "a little bit snitty" and said he called Mueller after receiving it.

"I said, 'Bob, what's with the letter? Why didn't you just pick up the phone and call me if there's an issue?'" Barr said, reports CNN. "And he said that they were concerned about the way the media was playing this and felt that it was important to get out the summaries which they felt would put their work in proper context, and avoid some of the confusion that was emerging."

On Friday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham sent a letter to Mueller, asking the former FBI director to testify himself about the phone call Barr mentioned.

"Please inform the Committee if you would like to provide testimony regarding any misrepresentation by the attorney general of the substance of that phone call," Graham wrote.

Mueller's office did not comment on Graham's letter.

"He's giving Mueller the opportunity to provide testimony regarding any misrepresentation by the attorney general of the substance of that phone call," Graham's spokeswoman, Taylor Reidy, told CNN. "Individuals can provide testimony to a committee in a number of different ways."

After Wednesday's hearing, Graham said Mueller's investigation found "no collusion" between the Trump campaign and people linked to the Russian government. "For me, it is over," Graham said of the investigation.

Barr was supposed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday but did not attend the hearing.

SNL airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

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