News

House Judiciary Committee Votes 24-16 To Hold A.G. William Barr In Contempt Of Congress

The Judiciary Committee voted 24-16 on Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to release the unredacted Mueller Report, ignoring the committee’s subpoenas.

Before the vote began, President Donald Trump invoked executive privilege to prevent the release of the unredacted report. It was an act Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) lamented during his opening statement, accusing Trump of “misapplying the doctrine of executive privilege” in what’s a “clear escalation in the Trump administration’s blanket defiance” in allowing Congress to fulfill its duties.

“The information we are requesting is entirely in our legal right to receive,” Nadler said. “Our fight is about defending the rights of Congress to hold the president — any president — accountable.”

SLIDESHOW: TOP DEMOCRATS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2020

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.

Democrats maintain Barr and the Justice Department should release the full, unredacted Mueller report. Barr, however, has only offered to allow more lawmakers access to a less redacted iteration of the report and ignored the Committee’s subpoenas to release the whole report.

Shortly before the vote began, both parties took an opportunity to denounce how the other side handled Mueller’s probe. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) described the special counsel’s investigation as an “attempted coup,” borrowing a phrase Trump used. Fellow GOP members Doug Collins and Steve Chabot echoed the sentiment, claiming the origins of Mueller’s investigation is the worrisome scandal, not anything it found. Nadler addressed their subpoenas as “the beginning of a dialogue,” while Republicans claim said subpoenas ended the dialogue.

During the hearing, Rep. Jackson Lee (D-Texas) slammed Trump’s executive privilege, comparing it to taking “a wrecking ball to the Constitution.” Rep. Gay Scanlon, the Vice Chair of the Judiciary Committee, had harsh words for Trump too, saying, “If you think there is no collusion and no obstruction, you have not read the Mueller Report. I am not afraid, I am profoundly saddened. We have an administration acting not just in contempt of Congress and the rule of law but the American people.”

Matt Reisine

A writer for uPolitics with an array of interests.

Recent Posts

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Becomes First GOP Congressman To Call Situation In Gaza ‘Genocide’

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) dubbed the humanitarian conflict in Gaza a “genocide” in a…

4 hours ago

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie Slams Speaker Mike Johnson For Blocking Effort To Release Epstein Files

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) are leading a bipartisan push to…

4 hours ago

Trump Administration Invests Millions In Creating Mega Database Of Americans’ Private Data

The Trump Administration is working with tech company Palantir to collect all unclassified information about…

1 day ago

Democrats’ Approval Rating Plummets To Lowest Level In Decades, New Poll Finds

Democrats' approval rating has plummeted to 33 percent, according to a new poll from the…

1 day ago

Trump Nominates Hooters-Loving MAGA Commentator Nick Adams As Ambassador To Malaysia

Nick Adams, an Australian-born conservative author and influencer, recently became President Donald Trump's pick for…

1 day ago

After Cancellation Of ‘The Late Show,’ FCC Approves $8 Billion Skydance-Paramount Merger

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on July 23 permitted Skydance Media to move forward with…

1 day ago