Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) chairs the House Judiciary Committee (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

(Update: Nadler adjourned the hearing shortly after it began. Ranking Member Doug Collins (R-Ga.) fumed in his opening statement that Nadler is trampling the rights of the minority, refusing to consider their points of order. At the end of the brief and contentious hearing, Nadler turned off the microphone of one Republican, Rep. Matt Gaetz, whose point of order was ignored.)

(CNSNews.com) - An empty chair was the only witness at this morning's brief hearing of the House Judiciary Committee.

Attorney General William Barr told the committee he would not appear Thursday morning, given the Democrats' insistence that he be questioned not only by committee members but also by staff attorneys for each party, for 30 minutes each.

"He is terrified of having to face a skilled attorney," Nadler told an impromptu press conference on Wednesday.

The problem is, I mean, in fact, we've all seen congressional hearings. We have very talented members. They ask very good questions, but the five-minute rule is not conducive to follow-up. We've seen repeatedly administration witnesses, including Attorney General Barr, spend the first the four-and-a-half minutes filibustering; the last half-minute giving a nonresponsive answer, and then it's on to the next person. It is very valuable, as any lawyer will tell you, to have somebody, in this case, a staff lawyer, who can follow up, take up loose ends that were suggested by questions from members, and follow up when he gives an unresponsive answer. And say but wait a minute. You said this last week. How can you say this now? Or whatever. That's the most effective way of getting at the facts and getting at the truth. I can understand, given how dishonest he has been since March 24th... I can understand why he is afraid of facing more effective examination.

Nadler said there are "many questions" that Barr must answer. "I think he's going to have to answer for apparently testifying untruthfully in both the Senate and the House," he said.

Nadler noted that the House Judiciary Committee will convene at 9:00 on Thursday morning, as planned: "My colleagues will be present. I hope and expect that the attorney general will think overnight and will be there as well."

But when the gavel came down, Barr was not there.

Nadler said the committee may subpoena Barr to appear, but "that's down the road." He said his priority is getting the unredacted Mueller report. "And we will negotiate on that for another day or two...and remember, that was subpoenaed, (and) if necessary, go for a contempt citation shortly thereafter. We will also start a process to get Attorney General Barr there."

He said another priority is to get Robert Mueller before the House Judiciary Committee, which he expects to happen on May 15.

Nadler said his committee has the right to determine its own procedures.

"The Attorney General has a nerve to try to dictate, and the administration, has a nerve to dictate our procedures. It is simply part of administration's complete stone-walling of Congress, period."

Nadler accused Barr of trying to "blackmail the committee into not following what we think is the most effective means of eliciting the information we need. And the Congress cannot permit the Executive Branch, we cannot permit the administration, to dictate to Congress how we operate.”