Top NY Congressman Wants AG to Explain Decision Not to Prosecute Trump
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said his panel would call on Barr to testify before lawmakers “in the near future.”
March 25, 2019 at 08:20 AM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal
The Justice Department's finding that there is insufficient evidence to charge President Donald Trump with obstruction of justice drew skepticism from congressional lawmakers Sunday, with one key Democrat vowing to summon U.S. Attorney General William Barr to explain the determination.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said his panel would call on Barr to testify before lawmakers “in the near future.” He pointed to the “very concerning discrepancies” behind the Justice Department's decision.
Nadler's reaction came after Barr, in a four-page letter sent to lawmakers, announced the decision to not pursue charges against Trump. Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made their determination after reviewing special counsel Robert Mueller III's findings, which were submitted to the attorney general Friday.
While Barr and Rosenstein determined there was insufficient evidence to establish the president obstructed justice, Mueller punted on the question, according to Barr's summary. Barr noted Mueller's findings set “out evidence on both sides of the question.”
“The special counsel states that, 'while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,'” Barr's summary said.
Lawmakers, including Nadler, seized on that apparent difference Sunday to signal they would haul in Barr, and potentially Mueller, for a possible congressional briefing.
The events unfolding Sunday evening offered a preview of the likely legal tussle between Congress and the Justice Department over the public release of Mueller's findings.
Legal experts said that Barr's report underscored the importance of releasing Mueller's findings. The U.S. House of Representatives voted 420-0 earlier this month in favor of publicly releasing the findings. But the resolution was nonbinding.
Neal Katyal, a former acting solicitor general who also drafted the special counsel rules in 1999, wrote in a New York Times column Sunday that Barr's letter raised more questions than it answered.
“Congress now has a clear path of action. It must first demand the release of the Mueller report, so that Americans can see the evidence for themselves. Then, it must call Mr. Barr and Mr. Mueller to testify,” said Katyal, now a partner at Hogan Lovells.
Ronald Klain, general counsel at Revolution LLC and a veteran of the Clinton White House, tweeted that Barr's decision on prosecution furthered the case for public release.
“Since the decision—by his own admission—not to prosecute on obstruction was AG Barr's (and NOT Mueller's), this makes the case for a full release of the Mueller Report even more compelling (so Congress can assess Barr's decision),” he said.
For his part, Trump on Sunday claimed “complete and total exoneration.”
In the attorney general's letter to Congress, Barr said he and Rosenstein—who until recently oversaw Mueller's inquiry—consulted Justice Department officials and lawyers, including the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel and applied the “principles of federal prosecution that guide our charging decision.”
Lawmakers will likely seek answers on why Mueller never interviewed the president. Trump's personal attorneys had only agreed to send written responses to the special counsel's questions.
In his letter Sunday, Barr indicated he would withhold sensitive information related to grand jury proceedings from a subsequent report to Congress. But Barr also reiterated that he intends to release as much as he can under the law, regulations and DOJ policies. Barr added he has requested Mueller's assistance to identify all of that information “as quickly as possible.”
Read more:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllGovernment Attorneys Are Flooding the Job Market, But Is There Room in Big Law?
4 minute readTrump, ABC News Settlement in Defamation Lawsuit Includes $1M in Attorney Fees For President-Elect
Can Law Firms Avoid Landing on 'Enemy' List During the Trump Administration?
5 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Call for Nominations: Elite Trial Lawyers 2025
- 2Senate Judiciary Dems Release Report on Supreme Court Ethics
- 3Senate Confirms Last 2 of Biden's California Judicial Nominees
- 4Morrison & Foerster Doles Out Year-End and Special Bonuses, Raises Base Compensation for Associates
- 5Tom Girardi to Surrender to Federal Authorities on Jan. 7
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250