Attorney General William P. Barr has told House Democrats he won’t testify Thursday after they changed their rules to create a new format that would have subjected him to tougher scrutiny by lawyers.
Mr. Barr had been slated to appear for a second day of testimony — he appeared before the GOP-led Senate Wednesday — but had warned if Democrats changed the rules, he would bail.
“He is terrified of having to face a skilled attorney,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the House panel.
Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec blasted the format change in a statement.
“Chairman Nadler placed conditions on the House Judiciary Committee hearing that are unprecedented and unnecessary,” she said, adding at the attorney general is still willing to engage members’ questions.
Mr. Nadler also said the Justice Department defied a subpoena to turn over an unredacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report by Wednesday’s deadline.
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The chairman said he’ll negotiate for a couple more days, but if they don’t reach accommodation he will try to hold Mr. Mueller in contempt of Congress.
That would put him in the company of Obama administration Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who was the first to be held in contempt, also over his refusal to turn over documents the House, then led by Republicans, had demanded.
Rep. Doug Collins, the ranking Republican on the House committee, said Wednesday that Mr. Nadler is to blame for souring chances to hear from Mr. Barr.
“Chairman Nadler chose to torpedo our hearing,” Mr. Collins said in a statement.
A senior Justice Department official said Mr. Barr had initially agreed to appear before House committee to be questioned by lawmakers only.
Democrats said Mr. Barr is whitewashing the special counsel’s findings, putting them in a more positive light for President Trump than he deserves.
Mr. Nadler is determined to see an unredacted version of the Mueller report, rather than the lightly redacted version released two weeks ago. Mr. Barr has offered access to a middle-ground report, but has said grand jury information that was included in the original version cannot be shown outside of the department under existing law.
Mr. Nadler also had wanted to have a lawyer for Democrats and another for the GOP side have 30 minutes each to question Mr. Barr on Thursday. He powered those new rules through the committee in a vote Wednesday.
He said the old rules of having elected members each get five minutes to ask questions wasn’t conducive to a probing discussion.
Republicans countered that Mr. Nadler was making the proceedings too adversarial.
“By rejecting the chance to question Attorney General Barr or read the materials he’s provided, Democrats are trying to prolong an investigation the special counsel completed. Ultimately, though, they’re ignoring the will of the majority of Americans who want Congress to move on and secure our border and continue to strengthen our economy.” Mr. Collins said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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