The White House says Democrats are being ‘childish’ with their demands.
A key House committee with the power to impeach President Donald Trump is moving ahead with a Thursday hearing to question Attorney General William Barr about the Mueller report, even if the attorney general doesn’t show.
The standoff took its latest turn Monday when the Judiciary Committee formally announced plansto hold a Wednesday morning vote that would authorize the panel’s Democratic and GOP counsels to split an hour of additional questioning about the special counsel’s findings on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
DOJ officials have objected to committee staff asking Barr questions in public about the Mueller report, setting the stage for an explosive hearing Thursday. Democrats say that, if the attorney general fails to appear, they’ll conclude by issuing a subpoena for his testimony.
“The witness is not going to tell the committee how to conduct its hearing, period,” Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N. Y.) told CNN on Sunday.
DOJ spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said Barr was the one who volunteered to testify before Congress about the Mueller report. “Therefore, members of Congress should be the ones doing the questioning,” she said. “He remains happy to engage with members on their questions regarding the Mueller report.
