House Democrats are moving forward with a contempt citation for Attorney General William Barr


Attorney General William Barr missed — or, possibly, ignored — the House Judiciary Committee's Monday morning deadline for turning over an unredacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on his investigation into 2016 Russian election interference, as well as the underlying evidence.
As a result, Congress on Wednesday will consider a contempt citation against Barr, who also did not attend a scheduled hearing before the Judiciary Committee last Thursday. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Barr's failure to comply with the requests leaves Congress "with no choice but to initiate contempt proceedings."
The Justice Department, however, has remained opposed to the subpoenas for an unredacted report on principle, arguing that they represent illegitimate congressional oversight, Politico reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-Georgia), the Judiciary Committee's top Republican, said Nadler's decision on contempt is "illogical and disingenuous" because the Justice Department is still negotiating with the committee on how to proceed. Collins called the situation a "proxy war" and that the committee's Democrats are simply taking out their anger at President Trump and Mueller on Barr, who Collins said would be breaking the law if he fulfilled the subpoena requests. The Justice Department has stated that revealing grand jury material in response to congressional oversight is illegal, The Washington Post reports.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Easy listening: the best audiobooks
The Week Recommends Swap hefty hardbacks for hands-free reading this summer
-
Sharenting: does covering children's faces on social media protect them?
In The Spotlight Privacy trend has 'trickled down' from celebrity parents but it may not protect your kids
-
Syria's returning refugees
The Explainer Thousands of Syrian refugees are going back to their homeland but conditions there remain extremely challenging
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump