Justice Department officials said House Judiciary Committee Democrats acted politically when they voted to cite Attorney General William Barr with contempt of Congress.
“Rather than allowing negotiations to continue, Chairman [Jerry] Nadler short-circuited these efforts by proceeding with a politically motivated and unnecessary contempt vote, which he refused to postpone to allow additional time to explore discussion and compromise,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said.
“It is deeply disappointing that elected representatives of the American people have chosen to engage in such inappropriate political theatrics.”
Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler, D-N.Y., told reporters following the 24-16 contempt vote that the nation is now in “a constitutional crisis” because Barr won’t turn over the unredacted report from special counsel Robert Mueller detailing Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
Nadler said he expected the House floor to pass the contempt resolution quickly, although Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not indicated when or if the vote will happen.
Department officials, in the statement, noted that Barr is prohibited from releasing the redactions, which include grand jury, classified, and other sensitive information legally cloaked in secrecy.
“The attorney general could not comply with the House Judiciary Committee’s subpoena without violating the law, court rules, and court orders, and without threatening the independence of the department’s prosecutorial functions,” Kupec said.
Nadler said he did not expect Barr to turn over grand jury or other secret information. He expected Barr to go to court with Democrats to get it legally released. Nadler said the contempt charge was also prompted by Trump’s refusal to cooperate with House investigations broadly.
Kupec said the Justice Department had been working with Democrats on releasing more redacted material but that the contempt charge “prematurely terminated the accommodation process and forced the president to assert executive privilege to preserve the status quo.”
