“The average person is not free to ignore a congressional subpoena — and neither is the president,” said Jerry Nadler, who issued a contempt threat against Attorney General William Barr. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images congress House Dems threaten to hold Barr in contempt

The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday inched closer to holding Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena for special counsel Robert Mueller’s unredacted report.

“Yes, we will continue to negotiate for access to the full report. And yes, we will have no choice but to move quickly to hold the attorney general in contempt if he stalls or fails to negotiate in good faith,” said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the committee.


Nadler told reporters that he would give Barr a day or two, possibly until Monday, before proceeding to contempt.

Barr, who testified for almost five hours before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, refused to appear before the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing Thursday over objections to the format of the hearing.

Nadler’s move comes a day and the Justice Department said it would not turn over the full report and all of the underlying evidence by Wednesday’s deadline for the committee’s subpoena, arguing that it “could not lawfully provide the unredacted report” and slamming Nadler for attempting to “rummage through [the department’s] files.”

But Democrats have contended that they require access to the full report and all of its underlying evidence and grand-jury information as part of the Judiciary Committee’s own investigation into obstruction of justice allegations against President Donald Trump — and they made clear that all options are on the table to enforce the subpoena, including a contempt citation or even impeaching Barr.

Nadler said the Justice Department has made “no meaningful attempts at accommodating” the subpoena, teeing up a contempt citation against the attorney general in the coming days and a steep escalation of tensions between the White House and congressional democrats.

“The average person is not free to ignore a congressional subpoena — and neither is the president,” Nadler said at a brief but tense hearing, after railing against Trump for vowing to fight all subpoenas that come his way.

Nadler issued the contempt threat at the hearing Thursday morning. Barr didn’t to show up for the hearing in protest of a Democrat-led plan to have committee lawyers question the attorney general. The Justice Department — and Republicans on the Judiciary Committee — said such an arrangement was unnecessary, unprecedented and disrespectful to Barr.

The hearing concluded after just 16 minutes, with Barr’s nameplate sitting on the witness table in front of an empty chair. At the hearing, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) sat down with a bucket of fried chicken and said “he’s here,” a reference to the attorney general.

After the hearing, Democrats gathered to harangue Barr, with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) calling Barr the “so-called attorney general” and “personal fixer for Donald Trump.”

Lawmakers placed a chicken on Attorney General Bill Barr's seat in the House Judiciary Committee room on Thursday. | Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

The attorney general testified Wednesday about his handling of the report, but he sharply criticized Mueller’s legal theories and framework as he sought to advance an expansive view of the power of the president to meddle in ongoing investigations.

“He has failed the men and women of the department by placing the needs of the president over the fair administration of justice,” Nadler said, without going so far as to join some of his Democratic colleagues in calling for Barr’s resignation.

The hearing also featured remarks from Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the Judicary panel, who accused Democrats of orchestrating a “circus political stunt” designed to harm the president.

“The reason Bill Barr is not here is today is because the Democrats decided they didn’t want him here today,” Collns said, adding that it was part of Democrats’ “impeachment agenda.”

Collins also slammed Nadler for not allowing Republican members to raise objections during their contentious committee meetings this week, saying the chairman was trampling on the rights of the GOP minority.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, however, told reporters at the White House Thursday morning that Nadler should resign if he can’t do his job.

“I think what we’re seeing from Chairman Nadler is he’s incapable of holding power. If he and his committee aren’t capable of actually asking the attorney general questions themselves and need to staff that out it seems like a pretty pathetic moment for the chairman of that committee.”

Republicans have said the committee’s demands for the full report have no legislative purpose, but Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), a senior member of the panel, said lawmakers were aiming to write legislation based the section of the report that outlines the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russians. Jackson Lee suggested that Democrats might want to criminalize those types of interactions.

Kyle Cheney and Anita Kumar contributed to this report.

