House Democrats Move To Hold Barr In Contempt

Despite previously signaling that they were moving away from this course of action, House Democrats are now moving forward with a vote to hold U.S. Attorney General William Barr and White House counsel Don McGahn in contempt of Congress.

According to Daily Wire:

Politico reported that Barr would be held in contempt for refusing to break the law and provide Congress with a fully unredacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in 2016. The report found that the campaign did not collude with Russia. The report contains grand jury material, which cannot be revealed by law. House Democrats are demanding Barr break this law and are threatening to hold him in contempt for refusing.

If you’re trying to make sense of this – stop right there. This will never make sense. It’s nothing but repulsive political theatre.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said in a statement:

“This Administration’s systematic refusal to provide Congress with answers and cooperate with Congressional subpoenas is the biggest cover-up in American history, and Congress has a responsibility to provide oversight on behalf of the American people.”

Barr did, however, formerly explain to Adam Schiff how he would accommodate their request for more information without breaking the law:

Two weeks ago, The Daily Wire reported on a letter Barr sent to House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), in which the attorney general outlined what his department was doing to accommodate the Democrats and said that they would get nothing if they held him in contempt.

“To be clear, should the Committee take the precipitous and unnecessary action of recommending a contempt finding or other enforcement action against the AG, then the Department [of Justice] will not likely be able to continue to work with the Committee to accommodate its interests in these materials,” Barr wrote.

At that time, Schiff appeared to back off his threat, Reuters reported.

As Politico reported, this vote “would clear the way for the House Judiciary Committee to take Barr and McGahn to court to enforce their subpoenas.” As the Wire previously reported, Barr’s letter to Schiff provides documentation of the steps the AG has taken to accommodate lawmakers. Should House Democrats continue with their contempt vote and take Barr to court, Barr would likely win — as he has appeared reasonable and accommodating while Democrats have just cried foul.

Grandstanding.

That’s all this is.

The Democrats want to go home to their districts and boast about how they stuck it to “Trump’s team.”

It could not be more transparent… or appalling.