Justice Department warns Democrats ahead of Barr contempt vote
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In a letter sent to House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday, the Department of Justice warned the panel against going through with a planned vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt.
The committee requested Barr send over an unredacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report by Monday, but that deadline came and went without a delivery. Barr was also supposed to testify before the committee last week, but skipped out on the hearing. Nadler on Monday said Congress has "no choice but to initiate contempt proceedings," with the vote set for Wednesday.
The Justice Department said in its letter that should Democrats hold Barr in contempt, the attorney general will request that President Trump "invoke executive privilege with respect to the materials subject to subpoena."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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