Justice Department protests Dem decision to set up contempt vote on Barr

[riversedge]

Source: the Hill




By Olivia Beavers - 05/06/19 03:08 PM EDT


The Department of Justice on Monday protested a move by House Democrats to begin contempt proceedings against Attorney General William Barr, arguing the House Judiciary Committee was rushing the issue despite Barr's willingness to quickly disclose a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

Democrats earlier on Monday scheduled a vote Wednesday to consider a contempt citation of Barr unless he provides Mueller's full report to Congress along with supporting evidence.
...........................................

Democrats are upset with Barr's letter, which they think helped cement a narrative on the report's conclusions that was more positive for President Trump than was in the actual report.
...............................

"We were disappointed that the Committee took initial steps this morning toward moving forward with the contempt process," Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote in the Monday letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/442326-doj-protests-democrats-contempt-markup-offers-meeting-to-negotiate

---

Link to tweet

[elleng]

1. 'willingness to quickly disclose a redacted version,'

He's had his chance, 'quickly' has passed, and 'redacted' won't get it.

Sorry.

[emulatorloo]

11. +1

[PSPS]

2. Sorry, but Article I of the constitution clearly states you must submit to the Congress.

[cstanleytech]

10. Exactly. nt

[forgotmylogin]

12. Yeah, isn't the AG's *job* to report to whomever requests it? (n/t)

[Haggis for Breakfast]

25. If Barr had remembered that he is the AG of the US,

and not the legal bodyguard of the Criminal in Chief, and done his job, we would not be in this position.

This administration needs to remember that there are three EQUAL bodies of government and that this is what happens when one branch begins to dictate to the others what will and will not stand, Constitution be damned.

Maybe they should start with this: trmp is NOT GOD.

[saidsimplesimon]

3. Barr's fe fes are sad

The Justice Department should be serving We the People, not the orange pretender. The promise of a vote makes me very happy, if and when it happens.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. So the head of the DoJ doesn't like it that the head of the DoJ is being held in contempt?

[Kurt V.]

5. I'm shocked.

[mallard]

40. shocking ...

...could be in the category of torture. Darkness everywhere with rules applied over protocol details which still deliver one more jumbo nothing-burger.

Dems have got heads too far up their own morally superior egos.

What happened to that once great non-vindictive educated civil common man's party?

What specific 'group think' has so corrupted the democrats to so casually propel themselves into self-destruct mode?

Who are the liars that be?

[machoneman]

6. Oh, too bad! Hey, just give us what we want, what's there to hide?

[watoos]

7. It's too soon

Maybe we can get the full Mueller report Dec. 2020.
We can’t see all that dirt on Trump before the election. Maybe after Trump is re-elected we can get more info.
We should now be working with Trump on an infrastructure bill.

[2naSalit]

8. Oh boo f'ing hoo...nt

[Me.]

9. DOJ...Lucy With Football

If Nadler gives them even more time...Charlie Brown as they are never to be trusted

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. tRump consigliere Barr attempting to play out the clock past Nov 2020. . . . nt

[C_U_L8R]

14. Ignorance of the law is no excuse... nice try though

[beachbum bob]

15. I'm sure they will be more unhappy when Barr is investigated as part

of an article of impeachment hearing. Which must be Pelosi next move.

[machoneman]

36. Actually, we have a better chance of getting Barr disbarred in his home state and losing....

his law license. Apparently, there is a move in VA I believe to get the bar association and State of Virginia to revoke his status for lying ot Congress. At least I thought it was Virginia.

[beachbum bob]

37. I was going to post the same thing, go after all the trump cronies who have law licenses to

disbar them in their local states

[sheshe2]

16. LOL!

[kyburbonkid]

17. Barr had no excuse not to show.

Under an 1857 law, refusal to cooperate with a Congressional committee is punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $1,000.
When Janet Reno was held in contempt of Congress the NY-times documented how the how things were more like republicans contempt of Clinton's AG... than actual wrong doings. Vote was all on party lines. Same with Clinton from the impeachment lead by Newt if I recall.

https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/07/us/panel-votes-to-charge-reno-with-contempt-of-congress.html

[ripcord]

18. And nothing will happen to him

When Congress votes to hold Barr in contempt they will then forward it to the US Attorney for Washington or the DOJ either of whom will decide not to go forward with the charges.

[kyburbonkid]

22. Do the vote and kick the can to the full Congress.

You don't need a middle man...

[Evolve Dammit]

19. F' em. They blew off the deadlines and farted in his general direction. Nadler has no choice.

[Stuart G]

20. Let's see...Is a ..'FULL REPORT' the same thing as a "redacted version"

......What is a FULL REPORT? ... IS THAT ALL OF THE REPORT?...

.......what is a "redacted version?....IS THAT ...part of the report?

Does congress have a right to see...ALL OF THE REPORT?

If congress sees part of the report, what is Barr hiding?

[pdsimdars]

21. Dis-bar Barr

[patphil]

23. who runs the "Justice" department?

Oh Yeah, William Barr.
So, all he has to do is comply with the House and everything is OK.
Objecting is bullshit.
Mr. Barr has to actually be the Attorney General instead of being Trump's personal lawyer.


Patrick Phillips

[Pepsidog]

24. The better be prepared to be really disappointed with what's to come.

[SayItLoud]

26. The smell of career damage is clearly in the air....NT

[mawdhatter]

27. Old Freddy can cry Wilma all day long..

he was given ample opportunities to comply with the House request for the un-redacted version of the report. Yabba Dabba Doo m*therr*cker. Hope they take him to the congressional jail and fine him. His image has now been destroyed because he was blind follower, should have stayed in retirement, but FredBarr knew the smell of a corrupt orange rat. All of these fools have been RickWilsoned... everything and everyone the orange corrupt rat touches dies...

[gtar100]

28. Republicans think they are so god-damned privileged

40 years of intense brainwashing sure has its effects.

[Bradical79]

29. "Rushing the issue" lol

You either comply with the request, or you don't. It's a simple action that doesn't even require one day. If you don't want contempt proceedings, just retrieve the report, and walk it over and hand it to the appropriate Congresspeople.

[LiberalFighter]

30. Need to call our every damn DOJ that supports Barr and Trump

[Raven123]

31. Oh that DOJ. Seems a little snitty to me

[kimbutgar]

32. Well duhhhh!

[rpannier]

33. And like Mighty Mouse, I am here to save the day

Turn over the full report and it's over -- in possibly, oh, so many ways

[watoos]

34. The good dirt on Trump is in the grand jury testimony,

The judge who oversaw the grand jury must be petitioned to release the grand jury information to Congress. Democrats on the committee are asking Barr to petition the judge to release the information to Congress, Barr refuses.

Here's my question, and it was the same question that Rachel asked last night, why hasn't the Committee petitioned the judge to release the grand jury information, it has the authority. Barr even suggested they do it. WTF are Democrats waiting for, Barr isn't going to petition that judge.

[machoneman]

35. Because if WE demand same, it'll be blocked by Justice. But, if Barr released it, as the head....

of the DOJ, all Americans would be able to see the grand jury (GJ) information. This though you already knew.

Besides, of all of our attempts to corner Trump on so, so many issues, trying to get grand jury testimony of unindicted individuals has the highest bar (sorry!) to jump over. Years and years of case law and SC rulings does hold this information sacrosanct and just as critical to the US justice system as any Constitutional principle. I'll accept the road we're now traveling on that would appear to be far more successful in exposing all the laws Trump and his ilk have already broken. Getting GJ testimony is last on my list.

[DeminPennswoods]

38. Found this action interesting

since the conventional wisdom says Congress' enforcement mechanisma are essentially a toothless tigers. Maybe being held in contempt is more stigmatizing than we think, sort of like a scarlett letter.

[Firestorm49]

39. Piss on it. Go for the throat.