Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee announced Monday that they were beginning the first stages of contempt proceedings against Attorney General William Barr after the Department of Justice failed to provide an unredacted copy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
The committee will officially mark up and vote on the contempt notice on May 8, unless the committee and the Department of Justice reach an agreement on viewing the report.
The notice comes after Barr failed to produce the full report, for which the committee had issued a subpoena, by the requested deadline of May 1. Judiciary chairman Jerrold Nadler sent a request for subsequent negotiations last week.
“Although the committee has attempted to engage in accommodations with Attorney General Barr for several months, it can no longer afford to delay, and must resort to contempt proceedings,” the contempt report states.
If Congress votes to hold Barr in contempt, he would be the second Attorney General to face that rebuke from Congress. Congress voted to hold his predecessor, Eric Holder, in contempt in 2012.
But if Barr is held in contempt, it is unlikely it would end up as a criminal referral, particularly given the fact that the prosecutors who would handle it ultimately answer to him. More likely, it would pave the way for civil proceedings and a drawn-out court fight.
