Attorney General William Barr has warned a House committee that he may pull out of a scheduled hearing focused on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation if they plan to go ahead with the format proposed by the committee chair.
Along with the five minutes of questions for each member of the committee, Nadler has also proposed a subsequent round that would give each side 30 minutes to question the attorney general, while also allowing both parties’ committee counsel to participate in the questioning. Moreover, Nadler also proposed to have a closed session to discuss redacted sections of Mueller’s report.
“The Attorney General agreed to appear before Congress. Therefore, Members of Congress should be the ones doing the questioning. He remains happy to engage with Members on their questions regarding the Mueller report,” Kupec told the news website.
It also found the special counsel didn’t provide enough evidence to substantiate that the president obstructed justice.
In response to Barr’s objections, Nadler told CNN on April 28 that he would not allow the attorney general to “tell the committee how to conduct its hearing.”
He added that if Barr refuses to appear, then the House Democrats would subpoena Barr and “use whatever means we can to enforce the subpoena.”
The House Democrats have refused to accept the finding of the Mueller report and have launched hearings and investigations into the obstruction of justice claims that they hoped would lead to the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
They have also criticized Barr for the handling of the release of the report and accused him of siding with the president.
For example, the House Democrats have repeatedly pushed for the release of the full unredacted Mueller report, even though Barr has expressed his intention to accommodate with Congress’s requests and to release the report to the fullest extent possible. The redactions are required to protect grand jury secrecy or to comply with judicial orders aimed at protecting the release of sensitive discovery information. They are also necessary to prevent the disclosure of information related to ongoing investigations and criminal proceedings including the Internet Research Agency and Roger Stone cases.
Barr is scheduled to attend the Senate hearing on May 1.