Barr skips session with House Democrats, escalates standoff
Posted May 1, 2019 8:22 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr has informed lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee that he will skip a Thursday hearing on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, escalating an already acrimonious battle between Democrats and the Justice Department.
Barr cites a disagreement over the questioning for his decision. It comes the same day the department missed a committee deadline to provide the panel with a full, unredacted version of Mueller’s Russia report and its underlying evidence.
Those moves are likely to prompt a vote on contempt, and possibly the issuance of subpoenas, bringing House Democrats and the Trump administration closer to a court battle.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler says he will still hold the hearing Thursday morning but with an empty chair.
Mary Clare Jalonick, The Associated Press
