[ad_1]
WASHINGTON – Attorney General William P. Barr and congressional Democrats clashed Sunday over the terms of Barr's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee this week. Mr Barr threatened not to hold the session and the chairman of the expert group threatened to assign him.
The dispute, which has erupted in the public with contradictory comments from each side, revolves around Barr's objections to the format proposed by Democrats to question him about the special council's report. And that casts doubt on Thursday's hearing.
"The witness is not going to tell the committee how to conduct his hearing, period," the chairman of the committee, New York Democrat Representative Jerrold Nadler, told CNN. If Mr. Barr does not show up, Mr. Nadler added, "then we will have to summon him, and we will have to use every possible means to enforce the assignment."
This fight is only the latest in the worsening battle between the Trump administration and congressional Democrats over documents and testimony, a battle that could lead to constitutional clashes in the courts.
White House lawyers have already indicated their intention to tell Donald F. McGahn II, a former White House board member, and other former public servants not to comply with the subpoenas. The White House also prevented a former official from answering questions about security clearances, including Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior advisor. And last week, the Treasury Department refused to hand over President Trump's tax returns before the deadline set by House Democrats.
"This is part of this massive resistance from the Trump administration," said Sunday Norman J. Ornstein, conference expert at the American Enterprise Institute. "This is basically the finger of Congress and its powers, and we will see what Congress will do about it."
In addition to allowing each member of the committee to interview Mr. Barr for five minutes, Mr. Nadler proposed a second round of questions to Democrats and Republicans. However, he also proposed to include the salaried lawyers on both sides in this cycle, to which Mr. Barr opposes.
A senior Justice Department official, who requested anonymity, said Sunday that the Attorney General had agreed to appear before Congress, not his staff, and that he should therefore only be questioned by members of Congress.
Mr. Nadler's plan also provides for the committee to meet in camera to discuss the redacted portions of the special board report. But Mr. Barr and the Department of Justice refuse to ask questions in camera.
"It would be a shame if Barr refused to show," said Nadler's spokesman Daniel Schwarz, "but it's important that it's possible to ask additional questions, and it should not be prohibits members from asking questions about redacted. " sections, which means that we would need to go into a leadership session so that Barr can respond in a secure environment. "
Although allowing staff members to interview witnesses is unusual, the committee has already authorized it several times in the past, under both Democratic and Republican majorities, according to Schwarz. This includes public hearings and transcripts of private interviews, such as the impeachment investigations against Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton, and the Republican inquiry into the treatment by F.B.I. e-mails from Hillary Clinton.
[ad_2]
Source link