House Speaker Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, Tuesday called on the Department of Justice to hand over controversial documents related to the Russia investigation.

But Mr. Ryan would not say if he supported the effort of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, California Republican, to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt if the documents are not given to Congress.

“We expect the administration to comply with our document requests as a matter of form for the executive branch and our legislative branch oversight,” Mr. Ryan said at morning press conference. “So I haven’t spoken with Devin about this, we have a thorough process we go through, but we clearly expect the administration to honor our document requests.”

The battle over the documents has fallen along partisan lines.

Democrats allege Republicans are using the Justice Department’s delay to create a contempt resolution that could be used by President Donald Trump to justify firing Mr. Sessions and thus undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

Republicans have argued the documents are crucial to learning more about Mr. Mueller’s investigation and what evidence, if any, he has accumulated.

Mr. Nunes said during a Sunday appearance on Fox & Friends that the Justice Department is not going to comply with the document and request and he could hold Mr. Sessions in contempt this week.

“We have to move quickly to hold the attorney general of the United States in contempt, and that’s what I want to press for this week,” Mr. Nunes told Fox News on Sunday.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.