Trump's attorney general is defying Congress to hide the Mueller report
Attorney General Bill Barr blew past Tuesday’s deadline to hand over special counsel Robert Mueller’s report to Congress.
Congress’ patience with Trump Attorney General William Barr is running out.
Barr has been sitting on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report for over a week, delaying its full release to Congress to redact some of the report’s text, including “reputational” information that could possibly harm other “third parties.” That vague description of what could be redacted looks like a possible effort to run defense for Trump and his inner circle.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), along with the chairs of five other House committees, gave Barr until April 2 to hand over the full, unredacted report. Yet Barr blew past that deadline on Tuesday, defying congressional orders and raising the specter of a congressional subpoena.
“I will give him time to change his mind. But if we cannot reach an accommodation, then we will have no choice but to issue subpoenas for these materials,” Nadler said Wednesday morning at a House Judiciary Committee meeting. “And if the department still refuses, then it should be up to a judge, not the president and not his political appointee, to decide whether or not it is appropriate for the committee to review the complete record.”
"I will give [AG Barr] time to change his mind. But if we cannot reach an accommodation, then we will have no choice but to issue subpoenas for these materials,” says House Judiciary Chairman @RepJerryNadler ahead of vote on subpoena for Mueller report. https://t.co/aWnA6TGHDV pic.twitter.com/rvruGAaAxM
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) April 3, 2019
The House Judiciary Committee went on to vote to authorize Nadler to subpoena the Mueller report. The vote, unsurprisingly, was along party lines, with Democrats on the committee voting to authorize Nadler to issue a subpoena, and Republicans voting against.
No matter how much Republicans want to hide Mueller’s findings from the public, congressional Democrats are hell-bent on ensuring that the public gets to decide for itself whether Trump and his people should be let off the hook.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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