Attorney General William Barr skipped a House hearing Thursday on special counsel Robert Mueller's Trump-Russia report. His decision escalates an already acrimonious battle between Democrats and President Donald Trump's Justice Department.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., left, laughs with Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., right, after Cohen arrived with a bucked of fried chicken and a prop chicken as Attorney General William Barr will not appear before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 2, 2019.
As the hearing opened, lawmakers faced an empty chair with a place card set for Barr. Democratic members of the committee had fun with the spectacle, placing a prop chicken by Barr’s microphone — to underscore their contention that he was afraid to appear — and jokingly looking under the desk to make sure he wasn’t there.
before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democrats on the panel contended that Barr was protecting Trump after he assessed Mueller’s report on his own and declared there wasn’t enough evidence that the president had committed obstruction of justice. Mueller didn’t charge Trump with obstruction but wrote that he couldn’t exonerate him, either.
Nadler and the Justice Department traded barbs Wednesday shortly after Barr informed lawmakers of his decision on the hearing, with Nadler saying the attorney general was “trying to blackmail the committee” by setting his own terms.“They want to treat him differently than they have anybody else,” the president told Fox Business Network’s Trish Regan on Wednesday night, adding, “You elect people that are supposed to be able to do their own talking.
In a letter sent to the committee late Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd laid out a list of reasons that the department won’t provide the full Mueller report or all the underlying evidence. Boyd said the special counsel’s investigative files include “millions of pages of classified and unclassified documents, bearing upon more than two dozen criminal cases and investigations, many of which are ongoing.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Attorney General William Barr criticizes special counsel Robert Mueller for not saying whether Trump obstructed justiceBarr's testimony Wednesday intensified Democrats' calls for Mueller himself to testify and led some of them to accuse Barr of giving misleading answers.
Read more »
Defying Congress, U.S. Attorney General Barr to skip Mueller hearingDefying the U.S. Congress, Attorney General William Barr will not attend a House...
Read more »
Defying Congress, Attorney General Barr to skip Mueller hearingDefying the U.S. Congress, Attorney General William Barr will not attend a U.S. ...
Read more »
Attorney General William Barr grilled over his differences with special counsel Robert MuellerWatch as Attorney General William Barr gives his opening statement during his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning.
Read more »
Attorney General William Barr may not attend Mueller report hearing over disagreement with DemocratsAttorney General William Barr may not attend his Thursday hearing due to a disagreement with Democrats over the hearing's format, CNN reported.
Read more »
Democrats call for impeachment of Attorney General William Barr after Mueller letter“Mueller’s letter shows that Attorney General Barr has always been the chief propagandist for President Trump. His four-page letter totally misled Congress and the public,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen on Twitter. “He should resign immediately.”
Read more »
Analysis | 6 questions Congress should ask Attorney General Barr about the Mueller reportSix questions that are actually instructive to better understanding the Mueller report and where the attorney general's loyalties lie.
Read more »
Attorney General Barr to be questioned on Mueller reportAttorney General William Barr will face pointed questions on Wednesday about his...
Read more »