Hold AG Barr and Secretary Ross in Contempt of Congress - Held in Contempt
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UPDATE (06/17/19): The House has held Barr and Ross in criminal contempt of Congress in a 230-198 vote.
UPDATE (06/15/19): The House is expected to vote on Wednesday, July 17th to hold AG Barr and Commerce Secretary Ross in criminal contempt for their refusal to comply with subpoenas related to the citizenship question on the upcoming 2020 census.
UPDATE (06/12/19): The he House Oversight Committee has voted to hold both Barr and Ross in contempt.
UPDATE (06/11/19): In a 229-191 vote, the House has voted to hold AG Barr in civil contempt.
Additionally, on Wednesday, June 12th, the House Oversight Committee will vote to hold both AG Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena for documents related to why a question on citizenship was added to the 2020 census.
UPDATE (05/08/19): The House Judiciary Committee has voted to hold Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena to provide Congress with the full, unredacted Mueller report. The resolution now moves to the House floor for a final vote. If passed by a simple House majority, Barr will be held in contempt.
UPDATE (04/19/19): Rep. Jerry Nadler, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has issued a subpoena for the unredacted Mueller report along with the evidence gathered during the investigation. Congress must also demand public hearing with Department of Justice and FBI senior leadership.
**UPDATE (04/18/19):**Attorney General Bill Barr has released a redacted version of Mueller’s report. Trump’s personal and White House lawyers have confirmed they reviewed the unredacted report days before it was censored and presented to the American people, making it more essential than ever that Congress obtain the full report and hear testimony from key players in the report’s creation.
After 674 days, 34 indictments, and an untold number of cases handed over to district departments for continued investigation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has submitted his report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election to Attorney General William Barr, officially ending the probe. The report has been described as “comprehensive” by Justice Department officials, and is reported to be nearly 400 pages long. However, due to the rules governing the appointment of special counsels, the report’s release to Congress and the public is up to AG Barr.
Within 2 days of receiving the report, Barr submitted a cryptic, carefully-worded 4-page letter to Congress providing his summary of the findings, in which he asserts “the Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in these efforts, despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.” Furthermore, Barr’s interpretation clears Trump of obstruction of justice even though the special counsel’s office “did not draw a conclusion — one way or the other — as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction.”
Currently it is unclear if and when Barr will provide more information on Muller’s findings. A 3.5-page summary is an unacceptable replacement for the lengthy report, which contains details on the Trump campaign’s conduct in regards to Russia and obstruction of justice.
Given the massive public interest, the many unanswered questions, and the significant importance to the country, the full report and evidence collected by Mueller must be given to Congress and made public. If Barr refuses, then Congress must take the necessary steps and subpoena the Justice Department for the information. Congress should also demand both former Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw much of the probe, testify before Congress on their findings.
