My dad was a reporter, so I grew up knowing the importance of a free press.

We obviously have the tragic case of a journalist who worked right here at the Washington Post,

Jamal Kashoggi, and it's a particular concern that if you're confirmed, will the Justice

Department jail reporters for doing their jobs?

I think that I know there are guidelines in place, and I can conceive of situations

where, you know, as a last resort and where a news organization has run through a red flag

or something like that, knows that they're putting out stuff that will hurt the country.

There might be a situation where someone would be held in contempt.

That was Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar this week grilling William Barr, President Trump's

pick to be the new attorney general.

Although it got little attention, it was one of the more revealing moments in the marathon

eight hour long confirmation hearing for the man Trump has nominated to take over the

Justice Department.

The school and supremely self-confident Barr did much to reassure senators that he won't

serve as the president's puppet, pledging that he would not interfere in special counsel

Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, and memorably proclaiming, I will not be bullied

as was his predecessor Jeff Sessions.

But as Klobuchar's soft spoken but skilled questioning showed, Barr remains a hardcore ideological

conservative with an expansive view of executive power, views that could under the right

circumstances, cause him to imprison journalists.

What did Senator Klobuchar make of his response to that?

And a host of other questions she and her Democratic colleagues posed, including Barr's refusal

...