Democrats prepare to grill Attorney General William Barr

WASHINGTON — Democrats will get their first crack at Attorney General William Barr since he released a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report after a yearslong investigation into Russian meddling during the presidential election and efforts to help Donald Trump become president.

Barr is scheduled to testify before the Senate and House judiciary committees this week about his summary of the report and decisions to redact portions of the 448-page document, which resulted in no charges filed against the president, and Mueller’s decision to leave it to Congress to pursue further action.

However, the Justice Department informed the House Judiciary Committee on Sunday that Barr might skip the House hearing Thursday if committee lawyers seek to question him.

The Democratic-run committee plans to allow counsel from both sides to ask Barr about the Russia probe after the traditional round of questioning by lawmakers. Department officials also told the committee they oppose a plan to go into a closed session if members want to discuss redacted portions of Mueller’s report, according to a senior Democratic aide on the committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential communications with the department.

Despite the lack of charges, congressional Democrats say Mueller’s report serves as a blueprint for lawmakers to continue an inquiry into attempts by the president to obstruct the investigation.

“The special counsel’s report, even in redacted form, outlines substantial evidence that President Trump engaged in obstruction and other abuses,” said Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Nadler has scheduled Barr to testify May 2 before the committee. He wants Mueller to testify before the end of the month and has subpoenaed the Justice Department for the full, unredacted report and documents from the investigation.

Democrats also want Mueller to explain his summary of the report’s findings, which were hailed by Republicans and criticized by Democrats, who accused the attorney general of whitewashing the damning details.

‘Shameful political display’

“Before the special counsel’s report was released, Attorney General Barr put on a shameful political display that completely misrepresented Robert Mueller’s disturbing findings,” said Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev.

“The attorney general’s job is to defend the rule of law, not to blindly protect the president,” said Titus, whose subcommittee is investigating the president’s business dealings in Washington.

The drama expected to unfold this week comes as the Trump administration is challenging Congress, refusing to comply with subpoena requests and filing lawsuits objecting to congressional requests for documents and testimony.

The House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify. McGahn was named in the report as one of several aides who ignored orders by Trump to interfere with the Mueller probe.

McGahn refused to fire Mueller as Trump sought to end the probe, which he thought would doom his presidency.

“It now falls to Congress to determine for itself the full scope of the misconduct and to decide what steps to take in the exercise of our duties of oversight, legislation and constitutional accountability,” Nadler said.

Invoking executive privilege

The White House is expected to claim executive privilege to block McGahn’s testimony, and it has filed lawsuits challenging subpoenas of other personal information. Trump told reporters that the effort was designed to stymie continued investigation by Democrats motivated by political gain in the 2020 election.

Barr will appear Wednesday before the Senate judiciary panel and Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has praised the attorney general for the transparency of the process.

Graham said on Twitter that “the Mueller report, to me, is vindication of President Trump.” The senator also said that using the report for impeachment would be “an unhinged act of political retribution.”

Nevada Democrats in the congressional delegation have backed their party leaders in seeking a full, unredacted copy of the Mueller report.

Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen have supported Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in his bid to make more details of the investigation available.

Cortez Masto called the release of the Mueller report a “starting point” to learning about the investigation, which uncovered Russian meddling in 2016 to help Trump win the presidential election.

In the House, Titus, the dean of the Nevada delegation, said the report lays bare unethical conduct “and disturbing evidence that President Trump engaged in obstruction of justice.”

Reps. Steven Horsford and Susie Lee backed Democratic leaders in their legal moves to obtain the full report and related documents as the House plows ahead in its oversight role.

None of the Nevada Democrats in the House has backed legislation filed by progressive lawmakers such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, calling for impeachment procedures to commence.

The lone Republican in the delegation, Rep. Mark Amodei, has not publicly commented on the report during the two-week Easter and Passover congressional recess. He did not comment through a spokeswoman for this story.

Fighting all subpoenas

Meanwhile, the White House has set its course to fight House oversight of investigations that include not only Russian election meddling but also personal financial dealings, business transactions and the issuance of security clearances for administration aides.

“We’re fighting all the subpoenas,” Trump told reporters last week.

The effort to curb the ability of Congress to carry out its constitutional role of oversight of the administration is expected to delay the process in the courts.

The tactic would push the battle into the 2020 election, in which a host of Democrats are seeking their party’s nomination to face Trump.

Last week, the Justice Department ordered a civil rights division official to defy a congressional subpoena to testify about the inclusion of an immigration status question on the 2020 census.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.