U.S. Attorney General William Barr testifies before the House Appropriations Committee during a U.S. Department of Justice FY 2020 budget hearing April 9. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/NLJ

On Thursday, an empty chair and a name card stood as the latest symbols of the Trump administration's defiance of House Democrats.

In the House Judiciary Committee's hearing room, lawmakers convened as scheduled for a hearing with Attorney General William Barr knowing full well he would not take that seat behind the card emblazoned with his name. In the same room the day before, the committee voted along party lines to allow staff to conduct some of the questioning of Barr, an approach the Justice Department cited Wednesday as the reason the attorney general would refuse to appear.

The absence punctuated a particularly tense stretch in the Trump administration's dealings with House Democrats, coming a day after the Justice Department refused to comply with a subpoena seeking a full, unredacted copy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller III's report on the Russia investigation. Last week, two Trump administration officials failed to appear for House depositions as Trump declared his opposition to current and former White House aides testifying before Congress.

All of it was noted by U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, on Thursday as he raised the specter of holding Barr in contempt. Such a move would not be without precedent: Under the Obama administration, the House held then-Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt over the Justice Department's refusal to turn over internal records about a gun-running sting called Operation Fast and Furious.

“The challenge we face is the president of the United States wants desperately to prevent Congress, a coequal branch of government, from providing any check whatsoever to even his most reckless decisions. He is trying to render Congress inert as a separate and co-equal branch of the government,” Nadler said in opening remarks. “The challenge we face is, if we don't stand up together today, we risk forever losing the power to stand up to any president in the future.”

Within 15 minutes, Nadler adjourned the hearing, cutting off microphones and leaving the room as Republicans attempted to raise parliamentary objections.

Barr is resisting to testifying at any hearing where committee staff would be allowed to question him. Main Justice officials contend only members should be allowed to ask questions of Barr. That committee staff would be permitted to question Barr is not without precedent, as a former Obama-era White House counsel, W. Neil Eggleston, noted in a column this week.

In a press conference after Thursday's hearing, Nadler said he plans to hold further discussions with the Justice Department but would seek to hold Barr in contempt if the two sides remain at an impasse at the end of the week. He described the Trump administration's approach as “across the board defiance.”

“This is indefensible and is part of the attack on democracy by this administration. We will make one more good faith attempt to negotiate and to get the access to the report that we need, and then if we don't get that, we will proceed to hold the attorney general in contempt and go from there,” Nadler said.

A compromise appeared unlikely.

Congressman Jerrod Nadler (D-NY) chairs a House Judiciary Committee Department of Justice Oversight hearing in February. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

House Democrats said they would not budge on their format for the hearing with Barr. Nadler said staff-led questioning—conducted in an hour split between the Democratic and Republican sides—would allow for committee counsel to “bat clean-up, so to speak” for lawmakers and effectively cross-examine Barr.

“Obviously, the attorney general is afraid to face that kind of questioning,” Nadler said.

Also, Democrats said they would not allow an administration to dictate the terms of a congressional hearing.

Barr has volunteered to testify, but Main Justice officials said he will not consent to staff-led questioning. A Justice Department spokesperson called the proposed format “unprecedented and unnecessary.”

“Congress and the Executive branch are co-equal branches of government, and each have a constitutional obligation to respect and accommodate one another's legitimate interests. Chairman Nadler's insistence on having staff question the Attorney General, a Senate-confirmed Cabinet member, is inappropriate,” spokesperson Kerri Kupec said Wednesday in a statement.

Nadler and other Democrats raised the possibility of holding Barr in so-called “inherent contempt” and fining him.

“We will explore all of the options, and inherent contempt is certainly one of the options,” he said.

The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, U.S. Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, said the Democrats had themselves to blame for Barr's absence Thursday, calling their demands of the attorney general “ludicrous.”

“The reason Bill Barr is not here today is because the Democrats decided they did not want him here today,” Collins said Thursday.

 

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