With House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., pushing ahead with his vindictive threat to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt for not giving up an unredacted copy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, a critical point is being missed in all the hoopla.

That being that Nadler’s subpoena is requesting that Barr do something that is illegal.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., and other members of the Judiciary panel pointed out that the Mueller report includes grand jury testimony and that it would be “a crime” to disclose this testimony.

“The committee, by making this insistence and issuing this subpoena, is telling the attorney general of the United States to commit a crime,” Sensenbrenner said during Wednesday’s hearing. “Because it is a crime for anyone to disclose grand jury information of anyone else.”

Sensenbrenner admonished the Democrats on the committee members for making an illegal request.

“It is absolutely shocking that the majority of this committee is going to ask the chief law enforcement officer of the United States to commit a crime,” he stated. Shocking.”

The Republican lawmaker noted that “it’s really impossible for the people who work on this Capitol Hill to keep a secret,” saying that is an unredacted copy of the Mueller report is turned over, “it will be on the front page of every newspaper in the country within 48 hours.”

Rep. Louie Gomar, R-Texas, was on the same page, saying Barr was being asked to do something that was illegal without a court order.

“You cannot be in contempt for failing to produce what would be illegal to produce without a court order,” Gomar declared. “You’re on the wrong side of history.”

“There is no joy here in seeing the abuses,” he continued. “I hope and pray literally for the day when we can join forces and quit trying to push this idea of an attempted coup and uncover the abuses that have truly gone on.”

Alleged abuses Barr is trying to get to the bottom of by looking into the circumstances that resulted in a special counsel to investigate nonexistent Russian collusion.

Note: There was an error in the original headline of this post which incorrectly called the lawmakers senators.