Trump uses executive privilege to keep Mueller probe materials from House Democrats

President Trump is sounding off before House Democrats vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt.

In April, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) approved a subpoena for a full, unredacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report and its "underlying evidence." Trump had threatened to fight that demand, and on Wednesday, he "asserted executive privilege over the entirety of the subpoenaed materials," a letter from the Department of Justice to Nadler read. That means the documents will be withheld from the committee.

The DOJ got serious about Trump's subpoena stonewalling on Tuesday night, saying that if the House Judiciary Committee followed through with a contempt vote against Attorney General William Barr, then Barr would tell Trump to use his executive privilege. Barr did just that in a letter to Trump on Wednesday morning.

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The DOJ move comes as the House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to bring a contempt resolution against Barr for a vote later in the day. Barr refused to testify before the committee last week, and when he didn't comply with Nadler's request for the whole Mueller report over the weekend, Nadler moved to hold a contempt vote. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement about Trump's privilege shortly after the DOJ letter reached Nadler. Kathryn Krawczyk