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Attorney General Bill Barr will be absent from a long-awaited hearing on Thursday before the Democrats-led House Judiciary Committee, based on ongoing negotiations over his appearance, a Fox News channel source said Sunday. .
This resurgence comes after Barr endured the murderous attacks of Congressional Democrats, who blatantly accused him of sacrificing his integrity to appease President Trump. Barr has chaired the publication of the report of special advocate Robert Mueller over the last few weeks and he has largely become a real fist for the frustrated progressives by the fact that Mueller's investigation does not make any sense. found no evidence to support claims that the Trump team would have collaborated with the Russians.
Fox News has learned that Judicial Committee Chair Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Wanted the Judicial Committee staff – rather than members of Congress – to question Barr on his handling of the Mueller report. But DOJ officials say members should conduct the investigation.
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"The Attorney General has agreed to appear before Congress. Therefore, the Congress proceeds with the interrogations, "said a DOJ official at Fox News.
Justice officials also told the committee that they objected to the committee's plan to go in camera if members wanted to discuss the redacted parts of Mueller's report, an assistant told The Associated Press. of the Democratic Committee.
US Representative Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House, speaks at a press conference on Thursday, April 18, 2019 in New York. (AP Photo / Mary Altaffer)
Thursday's hearing discussions continue and are expected to resume on Monday. Barr is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and before the House Committee on Thursday. The Senate Committee led by the GOP should normally ask questions of its members.
"Attorney General Barr was not invited to testify before the committee," he said, "a spokesman for the House of Republicans Judiciary Committee told Fox News. "He has voluntarily provided the Mueller report, he has invited Democratic leaders to personally consult the less redacted report, yet the only thing that will apparently satisfy the Democrats, who refuse to read the less-redacted report, is to pinch the staff when A representative of the cabinet appears before us. "
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The spokesperson added, "What is the real precedent for our committee to make such requests to a Attorney General sitting as part of our oversight function?" The Attorney General is not a witness to fact, and the investigations of this committee – as the daily Democratic leadership reminds us – do not constitute an impeachment, the Democrats must therefore still prove their claims, if not abusive and illogical, in the light of the transparency and good faith that the attorney general showed to our committee. "
It is unusual for committee counsel to interview a witness. But committees can usually set their own rules, and other panels have made similar exceptions. At a confirmation hearing held before deputy judge Brett Kavanaugh at the Supreme Court last year, for example, Republicans of the Senate Judiciary Committee hired an outside prosecutor to question a witness who had accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
At a bold hearing in the House held earlier this month – before the release of the full report on Mueller, which included only limited redactions -, Barr was mistreated by Democrats who said that he was "out of control". it was "unacceptable" that he published a 4-page summary of Mueller. results.
REPORT – In an archive photo, on September 27, 2018, White House lawyer Don McGahn listens to the name of Brett Kavanaugh, a Supreme Court candidate, before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, Washington. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has assigned McGahn to testify after the release of the report of special advocate Robert Mueller. (Saul Loeb / Pool Photo via AP, File)
The new conflict comes as tensions between House Democrats and the Trump government over unrestricted access to Mueller's report and government witnesses who challenged the subpoenas to appear before Congress have been intensified. Democrats were eagerly awaiting an audience with Barr as they tried to rely on Mueller's findings with their own investigations of the president.
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Democrats in the House have summoned the Department of Justice for the unredacted version of the Mueller report and the underlying elements gathered during the investigation. In response, the Department of Justice stated that it would put the full report, with the exception of the grand jury material (which must be legally retained), available to a select group of members – an offer that Democrats have so far refused. The dispute could eventually end up in court.
The Democrats blamed Barr for coming to his own conclusion that Trump had not hindered justice after Mueller had discovered that he could not exonerate the president on this point, and had criticized the prosecutor General Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Barr was participating in "an incredible public effort" by the Trump administration to put a positive face on Mueller's findings.
Nadler also invited Mueller to testify and summoned former White House lawyer Don McGahn. McGahn was a vital witness for Mueller in the report, which recounted the president's outrage at the investigation of Mueller and his efforts to reduce it. The White House said it would fight the summons to appear in the McGahn case.
Trump, for one, told Fox News last week that he had not claimed the privilege of senior management to protect any aspect of the Mueller report – and that it was time to move on to something else.
Even Liberal comedian Bill Maher seemed to agree on this point, telling Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, D-Calif., That Democrats seems to be "stalking" Trump by focusing on a discredited story that his campaign conspired with the Russians.
Meanwhile, a former White House staff member who was likely to be held in contempt of Congress agreed to testify, potentially avoiding a separate confrontation between the Democrats and the White House.
The House Watch Committee scheduled an interview Wednesday with Carl Kline, Director of Personnel Security at the White House.
The panel summoned Kline after a former subordinate told him that dozens of Trump administration officials had obtained security clearance despite "disqualifying issues" in their context. Kline challenged a subpoena, prompting Democrats to threaten to be sued for contempt of court. The White House then said Kline could voluntarily appear on May 1 to discuss "personnel security policies and practices."
The president of the surveillance, Elijah Cummings, suggested that an action for contempt of Kline is still possible if he refused to answer questions.
Mike Emanuel of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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