House Democrats give Barr Monday deadline for access to Mueller report
WASHINGTON >> The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has given Attorney General William Barr one last shot to accommodate lawmakers seeking access to a more complete version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report before beginning contempt proceedings.
In a letter Friday, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., gave Barr until Monday to respond to his request that the Justice Department allow more lawmakers the chance to read the fuller report as well as turn over investigative material underlying the report. Barr had released a redacted version of the report on April 18.
Earlier this week, citing a “compelling need to protect the autonomy and effectiveness of its investigations,” the department said it was “unable to provide” Mueller’s investigative files in response to a committee subpoena.
“The committee is prepared to make every realistic effort to reach an accommodation with the department,” Nadler wrote. “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.”
The Department of Justice declined to comment on Nadler’s letter.
The letter is the latest salvo in a widening war between the White House and congressional Democrats, who are seeking to have Mueller and former White House counsel Donald McGahn testify. On Thursday, Barr snubbed Nadler’s committee, failing to show for a scheduled hearing after he disagreed with the panel’s format. In his report, Mueller did not find a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian officials seeking to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
The special counsel identified 10 instances of possible obstruction of justice by Trump.
In a March 27 letter that surfaced this week Mueller complained to Barr that his four-page memo summarizing the report “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the special counsel’s work.
Last month, the Justice Department offered to make a less-redacted version of the 448-page Mueller report available to select members of the House and Senate — the chairmen and ranking members of the two chambers’ Intelligence committees, the leaders and minority leaders of the House and Senate, and the chairmen and ranking members of each chamber’s Judiciary panels. That’s a total of 12 lawmakers, with one staff member each.
Top Senate and House Democrats rejected the offer, saying it would not permit them to discuss the report with other lawmakers who have top security clearances, and prevent them from carrying out an effective congressional investigation.