The House Judiciary Committee voted to cite Attorney General William Barr for contempt of Congress after talks broke down over the release of an unredacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Lawmakers voted 24-16 along party lines on the contempt charge, sending it to the House floor where a vote has not yet been scheduled. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has not indicated whether she will bring up the contempt resolution.
“This is information we are legally entitled to receive and we are constitutionally obligated to review,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said during the proceeding, which lasted more than six hours.
Republicans voted against the contempt resolution, arguing Democrats are seeking to drag out the Mueller probe, which found no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russians but made no determination about whether Trump tried to obstruct the investigation.
They also argued Democrats aim to cast a shadow over Barr because Barr is now investigating whether the Obama administration was justified in beginning the surveillance activity on the Trump campaign in 2016.
“Democrats have resolved to neutralize Bill Barr by attacking his integrity and distinguished career,” the top panel Republican, Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, said. “This is the first step. What a cynical, mean-spirited, counterproductive, and irresponsible step it is.”
Barr is prohibited by law from releasing some parts of the report that include classified information, information relating to ongoing criminal cases, and grand jury testimony.
The panel passed an amendment from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., which said Barr did not have to include grand jury and other information that he is prohibited from releasing by law. Democrats said they would pursue release of that information in court and suggested part of the reason they voted to hold Barr in contempt was his refusal to help them win legal release of the redacted material.
The vote came after Democratic committee aides met with Department of Justice officials on Tuesday in an effort to negotiate a deal on releasing more of the 400-plus page report.
But talks fell apart after Democrats rejected a DOJ offer and on Wednesday morning Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd, with a contempt vote looming, told Nadler President Trump has asserted executive privilege over the material, which House Democrats had sought with a committee subpoena.
“In the face of the Committee’s threatened contempt vote, the Attorney General will be compelled to request that the President invoke executive privilege with respect to the materials subject to the subpoena,” Boyd wrote to Nadler.
Lawmakers passed a second amendment 20-12, this one along party lines, expressing disagreement with the assertion of executive privilege.
Democrats on Tuesday rejected an offer from Justice Department officials to provide more permissive rules for a select group of 12 lawmakers to view a less redacted version of the Mueller report. Department officials said they would allow additional congressional staff in the room with lawmakers. The Justice Department also offered to permit the group to leave with notes, according to an aide familiar with the discussion.
The lawmakers would be permitted to talk about the less redacted report among themselves, but a prohibition was left in place against talking to the rest of Congress about the redacted findings.
Nadler held a meeting with Democrats after the meeting and decided to reject the offer and to summon his panel for the contempt vote, which had been tentative up until last night.
Nadler condemned the move to exert executive privilege, which he said reflects a “clear escalation” by the Trump administration to conceal the Mueller findings.
“The Department’s decision reflects President Trump’s blanket defiance of Congress’s constitutionally mandated duties,” Nadler said. “In the coming days, I expect that Congress will have no choice but to confront the behavior of this lawless Administration. The committee will also take a hard look at the officials who are enabling this cover up.”
Democrats are fighting for the release of the entire Mueller report.
But Nadler suggested the contempt charge was motivated more broadly by the Trump administration’s refusal to cooperate with a variety of probes and subpoenas by various committees, which he called “the total stonewalling of Congress for all oversight activity.”
Barr made public a redacted version and provided for a dozen members of Congress to view a less redacted copy under strict conditions.
Democrats have refused to look at the less redacted version and are demanding all lawmakers view a full and unredacted copy.
Boyd chastised Nadler in the letter for refusing to view the less redacted version of the report, a step Boyd said could help the two sides negotiate the release of additional material.
