Dems Chamber rules on keeping Barr and McGahn out of favor, keeping Mueller in the spotlight

The Democrat-led House of Representatives is expected to vote next week on whether to convict Attorney General William Barr and former White House lawyer Don McGahn, in defiance of Congress for not having the congressional summonses, the House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced on Monday.

Republicans have repeatedly reiterated that the federal law protecting confidential information about grand jurors would prevent Barr from handing over the report of special advocate Robert Mueller. In a rare public statement last week, Mueller specifically said: "I certainly do not question the good faith of the Attorney General" in deciding to make the report "largely public".

With respect to McGahn, the White House urged his former lawyer not to testify, claiming that he was legally shielded from the obligation to testify about privileged discussions as part of of his official duties. The Democrats responded that McGahn had waived this privilege by agreeing to talk to Mueller.

Trump did not claim the executive power's privilege to protect one aspect of the Mueller report itself, and ridiculed the Democrats' efforts as politically motivated attempts to keep alive what was going on. he called the "hoax of collusion with Russia" – and divert the attention of Barr ongoing investigations into the Justice Department and the FBI's faults.

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The news of the planned contempt vote took place a few days after Mr. Barr stated that he had not received any intelligence responses "quite satisfactory" at the beginning of his examination of the origins. of the investigation in Russia. Last month, Barr appointed US Connecticut lawyer John Durham to lead the investigation, which will focus on the use of FBI informants and the alleged improper issuance of warrants under of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to monitor various people, including the former Trump. help Carter Page.

But, Hoyer, D-MD, said in a statement that the Trump administration's systematic refusal to provide answers to Congress and cooperate with subpoenas was the biggest hiding-place in American history and that Congress had the responsibility to oversee the country. of the American people ".

The vote would be historic, but not unprecedented. In 2012, the GOP-controlled House voted against Attorney General Eric Holder in defiance of the "Fast and Furious" investigation into the "Fast and Furious" case. Holder became the first Cabinet member to be held in contempt of Congress in this manner.

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The resolution scheduled for a vote in the House on June 11 would allow the Judicial Committee to pursue a civil suit to seek the execution of its subpoenas to appear in federal court, Hoyer said. Last month, the House Judiciary Committee voted against Barr after refusing to hand in an unedited version of Mueller's report.

Such an approach would eliminate the so-called "inherent contempt", a process in which Congress can technically enforce contempt quotes itself – whether by arrest or a fine. In May, Barr would have joked about this event with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of D-Calif, asking, "Did you bring your handcuffs?"

"Do we really do that?" Republican Republican Republican Dan Crenshaw asked Monday the Twitter, respond to news. "We are all supposed to ignore the fact that Barr is required by federal law to protect information from the grand jury." Do we claim that there could be a hidden bomb in there? a dishonest policy designed to discredit Barr. "

This decision comes as Democrats are under increasing pressure from some of their members to launch an impeachment proceeding against Trump. At a meeting of leaders last Monday, some Democrats said they had welcomed the vote on contempt, according to regulars in the closed session, although it is unlikely that calls for indictment against Trump are heard.

NUNES CALLS MUELLER DECLARE FRAUD & # 39; AFTER THE COURT'S DEPOSIT REVEALING THE MUELLER TEAM REVOLVED IN A SELECTED WAY BETWEEN KEY VOICE TEAMS BETWEEN THE TRUMP LEGAL TEAM AND FLYNN'S LAWYER.

More than 40 Democrats in the House have asked the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler, DN.Y., to initiate impeachment proceedings, which would allow them to more easily compel the production of documents and the testimony. But until now, Pelosi has rejected this option, preferring publicly to adopt a more methodical approach to investigate the president.

As part of this effort, Nadler announced Monday that his panel would hold a series of hearings on "Alleged Crimes and Other Wrongdoing" in Mueller's report, beginning with a hearing on June 10, the day before the contested votes on the question of whether Trump would have committed obstruction of justice. The hearing will feature John Dean, White House lawyer for President Richard Nixon and former US attorneys.

The hearings should serve as the preferred interlocutor to Mueller himself, who clearly stated in public comments last week that he did not wish to appear before Congress and would not specify the content of his report s & ## He was obliged to testify. . Democrats have suggested compelling Mueller to appear if necessary, but it is difficult to know when and if that will happen. Negotiations on Mueller's testimony were under way.

Meanwhile, the Democrats have been looking for ways to keep the spotlight on Mueller's investigation – a challenge compounded by the White House's refusal to respond to requests for documents and testimony related to the report, which has hindered their investigations.

Mueller wrote that there was no evidence that Trump's team had conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 elections, despite the multiple openings of individuals affiliated with the campaign. Mueller also investigated whether Trump had tried to obstruct his investigation, but the report failed to determine whether the president had acted unlawfully.

Nadler said in a statement that Mueller "has now left Congress to resume his work where he left off".

The special council repeated in its remarks that, according to the policy of the Ministry of Justice, to accuse a president in office of a crime was "not an option". But, he also pointed out that he could not exonerate Trump. Instead, he said, "The Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system."

In a statement after Mueller's remarks, a spokesman said that the special advocate did not want to contradict Barr's previous statement on the subject. Barr had repeatedly stated that Mueller had assured him that he did not say it "but for" the policy of the Ministry of Justice "he would have found that the president was obstructing justice."

Republicans criticized the decision to hold hearings. North Carolina representative Mark Meadows described the move as "a desperately new initiative to resuscitate a collusive conspiracy."

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"Thank God, the Democrats call John Dean to testify" in Watergate Star, "Meadows tweeted sarcastic.

Dean eventually cooperated with prosecutors and helped bring down Nixon's presidency, although he served a prison sentence for obstructing justice.

Brooke Singman of Fox News, Chad Pergram, and the Associated Press contributed to this story.