monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Mr. Barr’s deeply evasive testimony on Wednesday necessitates and tees up a full investigation in Congress. Those who say Congress shouldn’t do so because surveys show that the American public is not in favor of an impeachment inquiry must take into account the fact that the American people have been misled by Attorney General Barr’s characterizations of the report and its conclusions. These surveys are therefore not surprising. But there is no more sacred duty for Congress than getting to the bottom of whether our president has taken care that the laws of this country have been faithfully executed.

Are the guardrails really as gone as they seem to be?

Alleged synagogue shooter espoused Christian theology, raising tough questions for evangelical pastors

The US military has reported a major spike in sexual assaults despite years of efforts to address the problem.

Figures show 20,500 instances of unwanted sexual contact occurred in 2018, up from 14,900 in 2016 which is the last time a survey was conducted.

Alcohol was involved in one third of cases, and most victims were female recruits ages 17 to 24.

Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan has told Congress he plans to "criminalise" military sex harassment.

What does the report show?The report released on Thursday surveyed the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, and found 20,500 cases in 2018.

Incidents of unwanted sexual contact - which ranges from groping to rape - rose by around 38% between 2016 and 2018.

Only one out of three cases were reported to authorities, the report found.

In more than 85% of cases, victims knew their attacker. The majority of cases involved young women whose attacker was often a superior officer.

The report should be "a trip wire", said Nate Galbreath, Deputy Director of the Department' of Defense's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.

"This is what tells us that there's something going on that we need to hone in on," he told ABC News.

"We've got a higher prevalence for women 17 to 24. We're going to be focusing very, very tightly on that."

Congresswoman Jackie Speier, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee's personnel panel, told the USA Today newspaper that the military "must accept that current programmes are simply not working".

"Congress must lead the way in forcing the department to take more aggressive approaches to fighting this scourge," she said, calling for intervention from US lawmakers.

On Thursday, Mr Shanahan revealed some of the recommendations made by the Sexual Assault Accountability and Investigation Task Force, which was created last month after the urging of Senator Martha McSally.

Senator McSally, who was the first female US fighter pilot to fly in combat, revealed in March that she had been raped by a superior officer while serving in the Air Force.

In response to the report, Mr Shanahan directed the US Department of Defence "criminalise" sexual harassment "to combat this scourge".

It is unclear if he would need congressional approval to make changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice - the US military's legal code, to make the offence a "stand-alone crime".

In a memo on Thursday announcing the change, Mr Shanahan also announced plans to train commanders in a new programme to uncover serial sex offenders.

"To put it bluntly, we are not performing to the standards and expectations we have for ourselves or for each other," Mr Shanahan said.

"This is unacceptable. We cannot shrink from facing the challenge head on."

The very fact that I sometimes do seem to defend Trump when I despise him

US Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accused the Attorney General William Barr of lying to Congress.

Her comments came a day after Mr Barr's testimony to a Senate panel about Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia's alleged meddling in 2016.

Mr Barr faced sharp questioning about his decision to clear President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice.

The top US law official refused to testify to Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

The standoff raises the prospect that Mr Barr - America's top legal official - could be held in contempt of Congress.

"He lied to Congress. And if anybody else did that it would be considered a crime," Ms Pelosi said on Thursday.

"Nobody is above the law," she added.

Ms Pelosi's accusation stems from Mr Barr saying he was not aware of any complaints Mr Mueller had about the Attorney General's four-page summary of his report.

Mr Mueller wrote a letter to Mr Barr saying the summary lacked "context".

"It wasn't about technicalities," Ms Pelosi told reporters. "The attorney general of the United States of America was not telling the truth to the Congress of the United States. That's a crime."

But a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice hit back at Ms Pelosi after her comments.

"The baseless attack on the Attorney General is reckless, irresponsible and false," spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said.