William Barr will spend the audience in the House on Thursday

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In comments to reporters on Capitol Hill, Nadler also said the Justice Department had told the committee that it would not comply with its summons to appear before the full and unredacted report of the attorney Special Robert Mueller, a subpoena whose deadline was Wednesday.
Barr's decision to stop the hearing comes after the Democrats on the committee asked the Attorney General to answer questions from the committee's lawyers, a decision made by a vote on Wednesday. Nadler did not rule out the publication of a subpoena for Barr's testimony Thursday, though he did not commit to doing so, claiming that the obtaining of the report was the main objective.

"He's trying to blackmail the committee," Nadler said of Barr's refusal to appear. "The administration can not dictate the conditions of our hearing in our courtroom."

Nadler also said the committee was considering May 15 as a possible date for Mueller's testimony.

Justice spokeswoman Kerri Kupec confirmed that Barr would not attend Thursday's hearing and said the ministry would continue to work with the committee on oversight requests. .

"Unfortunately, even after the Attorney General volunteered to testify, President Nadler imposed conditions on the House Judiciary Committee that are unprecedented and unnecessary," Kupec said in a statement. . "Congress and the executive are equal branches of government and each has the constitutional obligation to respect and reconcile their respective legitimate interests".

Earlier, Barr had opposed the lawyers' proposal to ask questions at the hearing, but after the committee formalized its decision Wednesday to allow time for staff interrogations, the department Justice informed the committee that he would not be appearing, according to a committee. help.
Barr also testified for hours before the Senate Committee on the Republican-led Judiciary on Wednesday.

The top Republican of the Judiciary Committee of the House blamed Nadler for Barr's decision to suspend the hearing.

"It is unfortunate that members of the Judiciary Committee of the House do not have the opportunity to hear from the Attorney General Barr on Thursday, as President Nadler chose to torpedo our hearing," said the representative of Georgia , Doug Collins, Wednesday.

The committee voted Wednesday to allow staff to interview Barr at the hearing of the report of the special council on Russia's interference in the 2016 election. The vote was from 21 to 14.

"I do not know what he's afraid of," Nadler said earlier.

This story has been updated with additional developments on Wednesday.

Alex Rogers from CNN contributed to this report.

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