As 2019 opened, Democrats prepared to take hold of the House, a new U.S. attorney general was poised to reprise a role he'd previously held under the Reagan administration, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller III neared the end of his two-year investigation into President Donald Trump and Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

It was a combustible combination, and with all the makings for Washington drama, the year would not disappoint. House Democrats launched into oversight and clashed with the administration as it resisted demands for documents and testimony—the tension eventually boiling over with the impeachment of Trump this week.

At the center of the action was the U.S. Justice Department, where Attorney General William Barr came under criticism over his handling of the Mueller report and an inspector general report on the roots of the Russia investigation. Meanwhile, career lawyers faced challenges representing the Trump administration in court, and U.S. Rep. Katie Porter made waves on Capitol Hill.

Here's a look back at some of the most-read white-collar stories of 2019 published at The National Law Journal:

➤➤ 'A Very Difficult Time': Challenges for Career Lawyers at Trump's DOJ A Trump tweet that undercut arguments from Justice Department lawyers provided a real-time, unfiltered glimpse into the uncertainty and anxiety that has pervaded Justice Department litigation over the past several years. The Trump-era tumult also has been marked by the absence of career Justice Department lawyers on some of the most visible cases involving the federal government. And attorneys have faced widespread criticism—whether fair or not—over certain positions argued in court cases around the country. More reading: 'Slammed': What Has Driven Departures From Trump's Justice Department and Draining the Reservoir: The Steady Erosion of Credibility at the DOJ

➤➤ How a 'Never Trump' Covington Partner Won, Then Lost, Lucrative ZTE Monitorship Previously unreported internal records, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, provide new details surrounding the Commerce Department's decision to rescind the selection of Covington & Burling partner Peter Lichtenbaum after learning about his criticism of then-presidential candidate Trump. "Revoking a contract of this kind based solely on the viewpoints the monitor expressed has an enormous and obvious coercive effect," one observer said in an interview.

➤➤ Senior DOJ Lawyer Donald Kempf Resigned Amid Misconduct Probe, Sources Confirm Donald Kempf Jr., a former senior lawyer in the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division, stepped down last year during an internal investigation that would conclude he viewed sexually explicit images on government computers and made false statements when he was questioned about the conduct, according to sources familiar with the probe. Kempf, a former longtime Kirkland & Ellis partner, did not return calls and emails seeking comment.

➤➤ DOJ's Jody Hunt Had a Front-Row Seat When All the Things Were Happening. As chief of staff to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Hunt held a front-row seat to Trump's early clashes with the Justice Department, witnessing dramatic moments including the president's initial reaction to the appointment of a special counsel, Robert Mueller III, to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.

Jessie Liu, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, in Washington, D.C. April 12, 2019. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

➤➤ Jessie Liu Withdraws From Consideration for No. 3 Post at Main Justice Jessie Liu, the Trump administration's pick for third-in-command at the U.S. Justice Department, withdrew from consideration in March after reportedly facing opposition from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee over her past association with a legal group that opposed Justice Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court. The National Association of Women Lawyers broadly criticized the opposition to Liu. Liu has since been nominated to a key U.S. Treasury sanctions role.

➤➤ William Barr Fills Front Office With Trump White House Lawyers U.S. Attorney General William Barr assembled a front office team of former Trump White House lawyers in the two weeks since his confirmation to lead the Justice Department.

➤➤ Michael Flynn Hires Mueller-Critic Sidney Powell After Dumping Covington Team Michael Flynn, the former Trump administration national security adviser who pleaded guilty to making false statements in a case brought by the special counsel, in June retained special counsel critic Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor, as his new lawyer after firing a Covington team. Flynn is set for sentencing Jan. 28.

➤➤ Barr Was Just Held in Contempt, as the Case Against Eric Holder Settles The U.S. House Judiciary Committee vote in May to hold U.S. Attorney General William Barr in contempt was quickly followed by an announcement that Congress and Main Justice had reached a settlement in a subpoena dustup involving Eric Holder, the first sitting attorney general held in contempt of Congress.

➤➤ READ: Bill Barrs 19-Page Memo Ripping Mueller Probe William Barr, Trump's choice to lead the Justice Department, provided lawmakers a copy of a June memo to department officials that lambasted Mueller's inquiry into whether Trump committed obstruction of justice.

Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) at a House Financial Services hearing Wednesday in Washington. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/NLJ

➤➤ 'I Don't Want My Client to Be Blindsided': Executives and Their Lawyers Brace for Rep. Katie Porters Questions Rep. Katie Porter's distinctive style, drawing on her experience as a law school professor, has forced white-collar defense lawyers who specialize in congressional hearings to grapple with how to prepare clients for questioning that uses a company's own legal arguments against its top executive. Her repeated, effective use of that approach promises to make her a starring figure in preparations that have been known to include mock hearings, with lawyers playing the part of lawmaker during rehearsals. More reading: Freshman Rep. Katie Porter Is the Talk of the Congressional Investigations Bar

➤➤ Jones Day Apologizes for Botched Filing That Revealed Grand Jury Info Lawyers from Jones Day apologized to a Virginia federal judge for exposing secret grand jury information in a court filing, an error the law firm attributed to a failure by the legal team to use certain software that is designed to "avoid such issues."

➤➤ Former Justice Dept. Leaders Slam Barrs Commentary on Inspector General's Report A day after U.S. Attorney General William Barr disputed a watchdog's finding that the FBI was legally justified in opening the Russia investigation, a group of lawyers who served in Republican administrations accused him of mischaracterizing the conclusions and more broadly injecting politics into the Justice Department to benefit Trump.