Attorney General William Barr is no longer expected to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, the committee’s chairman Jerry Nadler announced, following a dispute between House Democrats and the nation’s top law enforcement officer over whether Barr would publicly face questions from committee staff.
In comments to reporters on Capitol Hill, Nadler also said the Justice Department told the committee it would not comply with its subpoena for the full, unredacted report from special counsel Robert Mueller, a subpoena which had a deadline of Wednesday to comply.
So much for an independent Department of Justice.
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4 responses to “Declined”
Begin. Contempt. Proceedings. Now.
Please, Democrats, for once in your existence, don’t be a feckless bunch of dithering clods. Republicans are playing tackle football, and you guys still think it’s touch.
Not just contempt, but impeachment. At this point, Barr has already lied to Congress repeatedly, and otherwise abused the power of his office. He has done almost nothing since taking his office consistent with performing his actual duty, but has served wholly as a public relations lackey for the President*. Abuse of the power of one’s office and demonstrated unfitness to serve in that office is exactly what “high crimes and misdemeanors” means.
If the Augean Stables nead a real cleanout, Congress has the power to do it.
Yeah, impeachment is fine if you want to start that going on a parallel track, but it can’t actually accomplish anything other than gain publicity (which is not nothing in the game of politics). Contempt can actually be enforced by a court. But courts are reluctant to throw people — well, you know, important people — in jail, so the courts will give Barr chance after chance after chance, and the administration will exhaust every possible appeal, which means you’ve got to get the ball rolling quickly.