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08:15, 04-Jun-2019
U.S. House to vote next Tuesday on whether to find Barr in contempt
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The full U.S. House of Representatives will vote on June 11 on whether to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena seeking the full, unredacted report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Monday.
"Next Tuesday, I will bring a resolution to the House floor forcing Attorney General Barr and former White House counsel (Don) McGahn to comply with congressional subpoenas that have been duly issued by the House Judiciary Committee," Hoyer said in a statement.
"The resolution will authorize the Judiciary Committee to pursue civil action to seek enforcement of its subpoenas in federal court," Hoyer said.
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The Judiciary Committee in the Democratic-led House voted on May 8 to hold Barr in contempt for refusing to hand over an unredacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian election interference.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr's letter to U.S. lawmakers stating that the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller has been concluded and that Mueller has submitted his report to the Attorney General, Washington, DC, U.S., March 22, 2019. /VCG Photo
U.S. Attorney General William Barr's letter to U.S. lawmakers stating that the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller has been concluded and that Mueller has submitted his report to the Attorney General, Washington, DC, U.S., March 22, 2019. /VCG Photo
The panel voted to recommend that the full House cite Barr, the top U.S. law enforcement official and an appointee of President Donald Trump, for contempt of Congress after he defied its subpoena to produce the complete report and underlying evidence.
A redacted 448-page version of Mueller's report released in April concluded that Russian operatives sought to influence the U.S. presidential election in 2016, but it did not find evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Trump's campaign and Russia.
The report did, however, document numerous occasions in which Trump sought to quash the probe, including by firing former FBI Director James Comey. But Mueller ultimately did not reach a decision as to whether Trump had obstructed justice.
Since the Mueller report became public, the Trump administration has clashed repeatedly with the Democratic-controlled House over its continuing efforts under the U.S. Constitution to investigate him, his administration, family and business interests.
(Cover: U.S. Attorney General William Barr attends a farewell ceremony for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at the Robert F. Kennedy Main Justice Building in Washington, DC, May 9, 2019. /VCG Photo)
Source(s): Reuters