Conservatives and Republicans in and out of Congress have quickly and fiercely risen to defend embattled Attorney General William “Bill” Barr.

Barr, who has become increasingly controversial since special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his final report in March, ignited a further firestorm this week when he refused to appear as planned before the House Judiciary Committee.

Congressional Democrats–who have accused Barr of lying to Congress in a previous appearance–this week did not disguise their rage against Barr, with some calling for the attorney general to be removed from office.

Republicans, and other allies of the Trump administration, have fiercely defended Barr, who was just sworn in as attorney general only earlier this year.

“The radical Dems of the House and the Senate and the House Judiciary committees somehow believe for some reason that they can get away with more lies, more viciousness, more disregard for law, for basic civility, and so they target the attorney general,” Fox host and Trump ally Lou Dobbs said on-air. “The Dems have made a serious miscalculation. Attempting to intimidate, to coerce, to try to destroy Attorney General Barr will likely result in serious penalty and pain for those radical Dems. Already the truth of the past two and a half years is taking clear shape in the public eye. The lies, the deceit, [and] yes, the treachery of the radical Dems becomes clearer with each passing day.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi owes Barr an apology for saying that he has lied to Congress, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has become an avid defender of Donald Trump and his administration.

“The question was about the findings of the Mueller Report and I think his testimony regarding his interaction with Mr. Mueller about the latter, I believe it and I’m going to send a letter to Mr. Mueller asking him if he takes issue with anything that Mr. Mueller said about the phone call they had,” Graham said. “So I just think it’s over the top, I think it says more about her than it does Bill Barr. I don’t believe he lied one bit.”

Moreover, the investigations into Trump, his administration and business activity which House Democrats are continuing do not constitute legitimate oversight–but rather, represent something much more sinister, Graham claimed.

“If they want to go after everything, Trump — if I were Trump — I would fight them simply because I don’t think this is oversight. I think this is trying to destroy him and his family,” Graham said. “Oversight is to hold the executive branch accountable, not to retry the election. Trump won. This is more about destroying Trump than it is trying to oversee the executive branch in my view. Mueller was a different story. He’s a man of the law who’s allowed to do his job. And so if I were to president I would not give into these demands about everything I’ve done because I think they’re politically motivated.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.) defended Barr’s decision to not appear before the House Judiciary Committee over the issue of being questioned by committee attorneys.

McCarthy also questioned the motives of House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

“Nadler has been wanting to impeach the day after the election. He can’t have the facts to prove of why he should, but he will not stop. This is what the American public is frustrated by: The politics of attacking individuals.

“When you look at the Democratic Party, they now want to weaponize the IRS,” McCarthy added, referring to House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal’s request under a 1924 law to review Trump’s tax returns. “They want to go after — continue to go after the president, and try to go after his family. This has got to stop. The American public wants us to move forward and solve the problems.”