Fight brewing over William Barr hearing

WASHINGTON — A House panel is moving ahead with plans to grill Attorney General William Barr over his interpretation of the special counsel’s report on Russian meddling into the presidential election — even as the attorney general has threatened not to show for the hearing.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., has scheduled a vote Wednesday to determine whether the panel’s staff lawyers should be allowed to question Barr, an arrangement the Justice Department opposes.

Democrats want to expand the hearing to allow staff lawyers to question Barr on his decision to redact the report, and his determination that there was not enough evidence to support obstruction of justice charges against the president.

Barr sent a letter to the Judiciary Committee protesting the expanded format of the hearing and warned he would not show if lawyers were allowed to pose questions. Barr has voluntarily agreed to answer questions from lawmakers.

Nadler said a decision not to appear would result in a subpoena and a standoff between the executive and legislative branches of government.

“The witness is not going to tell the committee how to conduct its hearing, period,” Nadler told CNN.

The scheduled Judiciary Committee vote on Wednesday is likely to fall along party lines, with the Democratic majority in favor of expanded questioning.

Republicans accuse Democrats of political showmanship accompanied by the threat of impeachment hearings in an attempt to embarrass the president before the 2020 election.

Barr agreed to testify about the 448-page report filed by special counsel Robert Mueller. Barr released the redacted document earlier this month. He also did not object to Mueller appearing before Congress. Nadler has asked Mueller to appear before May 23.

Nadler also issued subpoenas for the unredacted report, documents and testimony. He gave the Justice Department until May 1 to comply.

Conditions on full release

Barr has agreed to allow key members of Congress to see the unredacted version of support, but not to release it to all of Congress. He’s cited the privacy of third parties, grand jury secrecy, intelligence sources and protection of other ongoing investigations as reasons.

And last week Barr, through Justice Department officials, said his testimony and questioning should be limited to members of the House and Senate, not committee lawyers.

Barr is expected to appear before the more friendly Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, where Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has not sought the redacted report, does not plan to call Mueller to testify, and does not plan to have staff lawyers question the attorney general.

“From my point of view, I’ve heard all I really need to know,” Graham told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

House and Senate Democrats, though, including those in the Nevada congressional delegation, all have called for access to the full, unredacted Mueller report to fulfill congressional oversight duties.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., called the release of the redacted Mueller report “a starting point” to provide transparency into what occurred during the election and the president’s actions following the appointment of the special counsel.

Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat and dean of the Nevada congressional delegation, went further.

Titus said the redacted report “contains disturbing evidence that President Trump engaged in obstruction of justice.”

Titus is one of several Democratic leaders in the House who are conducting investigations into the president’s business dealings, finances and the White House issuing security clearances over the objections of the U.S. Secret Service.

Obstruction an issue

The Mueller report included several incidents where the president tried to interfere with the special counsel investigation, including an order to former White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller. McGahn did not carry out the order.

Despite the evidence, Mueller left the decision to Congress to determine whether it should pursue the investigation or bring charges for obstruction of justice.

Nadler has subpoenaed McGahn to testify before the House Judiciary Committee. The Trump administration is considering trying to stop that appearance by invoking executive privilege. That would set up another battle between Congress and the White House.

Democrats also want to question Barr about staging the release of the special counsel report, with advance notice to the White House, to allow the Trump administration to claim exoneration despite damning details of obstruction and potential corruption.

Nadler said the expanded format of the hearing would give Democratic legal staff a half hour to question Barr, and Republican staff lawyers an additional half hour, after lawmakers finished with their questions.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.