News / Politics

Democrats to launch contempt action against Trump’s attorney general

Monday, 06 May 2019 3:43 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 06 May 2019 4:27 PM ]

US Attorney General William Barr

Democrats in the US House of Representatives have taken a step toward launching contempt proceedings against Attorney General William Barr for failing to hand over Special Counsel Robert Mueller's full unredacted report on his Russia investigation.

The Democrat-controlled House Judiciary Committee on Monday cited Barr for contempt after a subpoena deadline for him to produce the full report had expired at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT).

According to a congressional aide, the committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). If it does, then the full House would vote on holding Barr in contempt of Congress.

The committee’s report demands House Speaker Nancy Pelosi take "all appropriate action" to enforce a subpoena issued by House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler for the full Mueller report on April 19.

"The attorney general's failure to comply with our subpoena, after extensive accommodation efforts, leaves us no choice but to initiate contempt proceedings in order to enforce the subpoena and access the full, unredacted report," Nadler said in a statement on Monday.

Barr said in the summary that Mueller did not establish that members of Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia during the 2016 election. Barr also said in the summary that Mueller had not reached a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice.

Democratic Party members of Congress have accused Barr of trying to spin the report’s conclusions to protect the Republican president. They have protested that Barr has refused to present the full report or underlying evidence to Congress.

Mueller has reportedly complained in a letter to Barr that the summary of Mueller’s report on the Russia probe “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the investigation’s conclusions.

PressTV-‘Mueller report was written by true Trump haters'

Trump has said that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's recently released report "was written as nastily as possible" by "true Trump haters."

Barr’s four-page summary was released weeks before a redacted version of Mueller’s 448-page report was released to the public on April 18.

Mueller, a former FBI director, had been examining since May 2017 whether Trump’s election campaign colluded with Moscow to try to influence the 2016 presidential election and whether he later unlawfully tried to obstruct his investigation.

Both Trump and Russia have repeatedly denied the accusations. Trump has sought to discredit the investigation, calling it a “witch hunt” and accusing Mueller of conflicts of interest.

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Robert Mueller