Nadler Openly Threatens Barr if DOJ Refuses To Release Full Mueller Report
Democratic New York House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler warned Attorney General William Barr in a letter Friday that Democrats will initiate contempt proceedings unless the Justice Department releases the full version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
“The Committee is prepared to make every realistic effort to reach an accommodation with the Department,” Nadler wrote in the letter. “But if the Department persists in its baseless refusal to comply with a validly issued subpoena, the Committee will move to contempt proceedings and seek further legal recourse.”
Nadler issued a subpoena for the unredacted Mueller Report on April 19 with an initial deadline of Wednesday, according to NBC News. The letter includes a new date: Monday, May 6 at 9 a.m. ET.
“The Department has repeatedly asserted that Congress’ requests do not serve ‘legitimate’ purposes,” the letter said. “This is not the Department’s judgment to make. Congress’s constitutional, oversight and legislative interest in investigating misconduct by the President and his associates cannot be disputed.”
The letter comes only a day after Barr declined to testify before the House Thursday after the House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to allow staff lawyers to the attorney general, according to NBC News.
Barr had previously said that if Democrats insisted on having staffers question him, he would cancel his testimony. Barr believed he should only face questions from the committee’s members since staffers do not normally question witnesses at hearings.
Barr faced questions from an onslaught of Democrats on Wednesday at the House Judiciary Committee who accused him of misrepresenting the Mueller report, of downplaying evidence, and of siding with President Donald Trump. However, the attorney general has thus far complied with multiple requests from Democratic leadership including releasing both the redacted Mueller report and the full text of the letter Mueller sent him.
Barr defended himself at the Wednesday hearings and again asserted that the Mueller report does not reveal any credible evidence that Trump colluded with Russian operatives during the election.
“To listen to some of the rhetoric, you’d have figured that the Mueller report had found the opposite,” Barr said to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“How did we get to the point here where the evidence is now that the president was falsely accused of colluding with the Russians, and accused of being treasonous, and accused of being a Russian agent?” Barr said, adding “the evidence now is that was without a basis.”
“Two years of his administration have been dominated by the allegations that have now been proven false.”
Barr also suggested Wednesday that spying on the Trump campaign took place.
“I think spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur. But the question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated,” Barr said. “I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that.”
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
A version of this article appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation website.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
