Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y. Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call Group | Getty Images

The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt over the Justice Department's refusal to comply with Democrats' subpoena for special counsel Robert Mueller's unredacted Russia report and its underlying evidence. The 24-16 vote passed along party lines in the Democrat-led committee shortly after President Donald Trump asserted executive privilege over the Mueller report, an escalation of an already-intense political brawl that appears to be headed to the courts. The vote on contempt will now head to the full House, where Democrats control a majority of seats. It was not immediately clear when that vote would be scheduled.

"We did not relish doing this, but we had no choice," committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said after the hearing. Nadler accused Barr of misleading Congress in his testimony and of "turning the entire Department of Justice into an instrument of Trump personally." Nadler added: "We've talked for a long time about approaching a constitutional crisis. We are now in it." Lawmakers fought over whether the assertion of executive privilege was valid, and traded barbs throughout the lengthy hearing about the legality and the alleged political motives behind the contempt proceedings. Democrats stressed that they were holding Barr in contempt as they pushed for the full report — and the "millions" of pages of underlying evidence that have so far been withheld by the DOJ — in the name of transparency, accountability and oversight. "Our fight is not just about the Mueller report — although we must have access to the Mueller report," Nadler said. "Our fight is about defending the rights of Congress, as an independent branch, to hold the president accountable." Republicans, however, accused Democrats of using Barr as a "whipping boy" and a stepping stone on the path toward impeaching Trump. "Bill Barr is following the law, and what's his reward? Democrats are going to hold him in contempt," said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. "This is all about impeaching the president," said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., after Georgia Democrat Hank Johnson mentioned in his remarks the prospect of impeaching Trump following further investigation. Barr, who oversaw the final phase of the special counsel's 22-month investigation after taking the reins from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, made redactions to the report in four categories. Those included information related to ongoing investigations and testimony from a grand jury that is included in the report. Barr and the DOJ, citing federal rules, say they are bound not to reveal grand jury testimony to Congress or the public. Nadler's subpoena requested "the complete and unredacted version of the report" submitted by Mueller to the Justice Department on March 22. But at the hearing Wednesday, the chairman said that "the subpoena was never intended to cover" the rule barring the release of grand jury information. Instead, Nadler said that he wanted the Justice Department to ask a court for permission to release that material, as has been done in the past.