AG Barr Agrees To Turn Over Mueller’s Evidence Of Trump’s Alleged Obstruction
On Monday, just one day before the House of Representatives votes on holding Attorney General Bill Barr in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over the unredacted Mueller report and its materials, as The Inquisitr reported, Barr caved and agreed to provide the House Judiciary Committee with the full report.
The New York Times reports that House Democrats will now have access to Volume II of the unredacted Mueller report and all underlying evidence. Democrats believe that this information could reveal potential obstruction of justice and abuse of power in the actions of President Donald Trump.
“We have agreed to allow the department time to demonstrate compliance with this agreement,” said Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
“If the department proceeds in good faith and we are able to obtain everything that we need, then there will be no need to take further steps. If important information is held back, then we will have no choice but to enforce our subpoena in court and consider other remedies.”
According to Nadler, the evidence will likely include “interview notes, firsthand accounts of misconduct and other critical evidence” that were collected by Robert Mueller during his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
#BREAKING: House Oversight committee to vote to hold AG Barr and Wilbur Ross in contempt on Wednesday https://t.co/2lIFnOQbqE pic.twitter.com/DvzDZikBr0
— The Hill (@thehill) June 10, 2019
The New York Times reports that the Justice Department began sharing some of the material on Monday afternoon, and Nadler claims that all members of the committee will be able to view the evidence in private. But as of now, it’s unclear when the evidence will be available and if — and when — it will be made public.
The deal appears to signal some cooperation between the Trump administration and House Democrats and may be an incentive for the latter group to back away from holding Barr in contempt of Congress.
Although Vox initially — and mistakenly — reported that the full House voted to hold AG William Barr in contempt of Congress, the article was quickly deleted and redacted on Twitter. The vote is still expected to happen at some point today.
Although Barr has received criticism for his handling of the Mueller report, CBS News reports that former Vice President and presidential hopeful Joe Biden previously called him “one of the best” attorneys general.
“As I know you know, but others should know, too, I truly enjoyed working with you when you were attorney general,” Biden told Barr in 1995 in regards to Barr’s position as President George H.W. Bush’s attorney general in the early 1990s.
