DOJ will give 'key evidence' from Mueller probe to House lawmakers in deal to avert contempt vote
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House Judiciary Chairman Jerrod Nadler says the responsibility to look into US President Donald Trump’s “crimes, lies and other wrongdoing” falls on Congress, and he has vowed to finish the work special counsel Robert Mueller has done. (May 29)
AP
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department agreed Monday to begin turning over “key evidence” from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of President Donald Trump to lawmakers, the head of the House Judiciary Committee said.
The House had been scheduled to vote Tuesday to authorize litigation to enforce subpoenas for documents from Attorney General William Barr and former White House counsel Don McGahn. Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said that in exchange for access to Mueller’s records, lawmakers would delay an effort to hold Barr in contempt.Â
Nadler said the Justice Department had agreed to give committee members access to Mueller’s “most important files,” which he said would give them “key evidence that the special counsel used to assess whether the president and others obstructed justice or were engaged in other misconduct.”Â
The Justice Department earlier reached a similar agreement with the Intelligence Committee. Nadler did not offer details about what files were to be turned over.
Kerri Kupec, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said the department was committed to accommodating Congress’s legitimate interests in the Mueller inquiry.
“We are pleased the committee has agreed to set aside its contempt resolution and is returning to the traditional accommodation process,” she said.
The House will still vote Tuesday on the resolution authorizing litigation in federal court for documents that weren’t covered by the compromise, including those from Barr and former White House counsel Don McGahn, Nadler said.Â
“We have agreed to allow the Department time to demonstrate compliance with this agreement,†Nadler said. “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.â€
Republicans repeated their concern that Nadler acted hastily in having the committee hold Barr in contempt and in pushing for a floor vote for documents.
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Board member of MCI Telecommunications, Nicholas Katzenbach, second left, speaks at hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on “The WorldCom Case: Looking at Bankruptcy and Competition Issues” on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 22, 2003. Witnesses are, from left, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Verizon Communications William Barr, Katzenbach, Weil Gotshal Manges LLP’s Marcia Goldstein, Communications Workers of America President Morton Bahr, National Bankruptcy Conference Vice-Chair Douglas Baird, Cerberus Capital Management Chief Operation Officer Mark Neporent.
![Attorney General William Barr testifies before the House Appropriation subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies on Capitol Hill on April 9, 2019.]()
1 of 24![Attorney General William Barr arrives to testify before the House Appropriation subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies on Capitol Hill April 9, 2019.]()
2 of 24![U.S. Attorney General William Barr departs his home March 23, 2019 in McLean, Virginia. Special Counsel Robert Muellerdelivered the report from his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election to Barr yesterday and Barr is expected to brief members of Congress on the report this weekend.]()
3 of 24![U.S. Attorney General William Barr departs his home March 23, 2019 in McLean, Virginia. Special Counsel Robert Muellerdelivered the report from his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election to Barr yesterday and Barr is expected to brief members of Congress on the report this weekend.]()
4 of 24![U.S. Attorney General William Barr rides in the first black vehicle while arriving at the Justice Department on March 23, 2019 in Washington, DC.]()
5 of 24![A copy of a letter from Attorney General William Barr advising Congress that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has concluded his investigation, is shown Friday, March 22, 2019 in Washington. Robert Mueller on Friday turned over his long-awaited final report on the contentious Russia investigation that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency, entangled Trump's family and resulted in criminal charges against some of the president's closest associates.]()
6 of 24![Attorney General William Barr leaves his home in McLean, Va. March 22, 2019. Special counsel Robert Mueller has filed his final report to Barr, signaling the end of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.]()
7 of 24![Attorney General William Barr, left, leaves after a meeting at the West Wing of the White House March 21, 2019 in Washington, DC. Key law-enforcement officials in Washington are preparing for the release of the report by special counsel Robert Mueller.]()
8 of 24![Attorney General William Barr talks with US President Donald J. Trump as he delivers remarks on the national security and humanitarian crisis on the southern border and vetoes the legislation that strikes down his national emergency declaration at the southern border a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 15, 2019. President Trump's veto, his first, sends the resolution back to Congress where it will require a 2/3 vote in each house to overturn.]()
9 of 24![Attorney General William Barr speaks in a roundtable to address elder financial exploitation, at Department of Justice in Washington, Thursday, March 7, 2019.]()
10 of 24![Former US Attorney General William Barr arrives to meet with US senators on January 9, 2019, in Washington, DC, ahead of his confirmation hearing. - US President Donald Trump nominated Barr to again lead the US Justice Department, to replace Jeff Sessions. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP)NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images ORIG FILE ID: AFP_1C39DX]()
11 of 24![WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 09: Attorney General nominee William Barr (R) meets with Sen. Chuck Grassley (L) (R-IA), chair of the Judiciary Committee January 9, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The confirmation hearing for Barr is scheduled to be held next week. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775279432 ORIG FILE ID: 1091776092]()
12 of 24![WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 09: U.S. Attorney General nominee William Barr (C) arrives for a meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill January 09, 2019 in Washington, DC. Barr's confirmation hearing is scheduled for next week. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775279432 ORIG FILE ID: 1091785546]()
13 of 24![WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 09: Attorney General nominee William Barr (L) poses for photographs before a meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill January 09, 2019 in Washington, DC. Barr's confirmation hearing is scheduled for next week. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775279432 ORIG FILE ID: 1091785708]()
14 of 24![WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 10: Attorney General nominee William Barr is seen during a meeting with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) January 10, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The confirmation hearing for Barr is scheduled to be held next week. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775279432 ORIG FILE ID: 1092319182]()
15 of 24![This undated photo provided by Time Warner shows William Barr. President Donald Trump said Dec. 7, 2018 he will nominate former Attorney General William Barr to again lead the Justice Department.]()
16 of 24![FILE - In this Nov. 26, 1991, file photo, President George H.W Bush, right, and William Barr wave after Barr was sworn in as the new Attorney General of the United States at a Justice Department ceremony in Washington. Barr, who served as attorney general under Bush, has emerged as a top contender for that job in President Donald Trump's Cabinet, two people familiar with the president's selection process said Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Scott Applewhite, File) ORG XMIT: NYHK405]()
17 of 24![Board member of MCI Telecommunications, Nicholas Katzenbach, second left, speaks at hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on The WorldCom Case: Looking at Bankruptcy and Competition Issues on Capitol Hill in Washington Tuesday, July 22, 2003. Witnesses are, from left, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Verizon Communications William Barr, Katzenbach, Weil Gotshal Manges LLP's Marcia Goldstein, Communications Workers of America President Morton Bahr, National Bankruptcy Conference Vice-Chair Douglas Baird, Cerberus Capital Management Chief Operation Officer Mark Neporent. (AP Photo/Akira Ono)]()
18 of 24![U.S. President George H. Bush gestures while talking to Attorney General William Barr in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, May 4, 1992 in Washington. The President met with top domestic Cabinet officers to tackle long-range problems pushed to the forefront by last week's deadly riots in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander)]()
19 of 24![U.S. President George H. Bush meets with Attorney General William Barr in the Oval Office at morning, Thursday, May 1, 1992 in White House at Washington. In a dramatic change of tone in just a few hours, Bush went from expressing frustration and anguish over the verdict in the Rodney King case to declaring revulsion and pain over the violent uprising that terrorized Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma)]()
20 of 24![U.S. President George H. Bush gestures during an address in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Friday, April 24, 1992 honoring the National Crime Victims Rights Award winners. Attorney General William Barr looks on at right. Each year the Justice department awards those individuals who have worked on behalf of crime victims and honors the accomplishments of the Victims of Crime Act passed in 1984. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)]()
21 of 24![U.S. President George H. Bush signs into law new civil rights guarantees for women and minorities at a Rose Garden ceremony, Thursday, Nov. 21, 1991 in Washington, as Vice President Dan Quayle, left, and Acting Attorney General William Barr look on. The bill signing capped a two-year struggle with congress over whether the legislation encouraged job quotas. (AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander)]()
22 of 24![Acting U.S. Attorney General William Barr points to a fragment of a circuit board during a news conference on Pan Am Flight 103 in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 14, 1991. The tiny fragment was described as part of the bomb inside a portable radio. Two Libyan intelligence officials were indicted on Thursday in the bombing of the plane over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, which killed 270 people. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma)]()
23 of 24![Attorney General nominee William Barr is flanked by Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, left, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., prior to Barrs nomination hearing before the committee on Capitol Hill in Washington Tuesday, Nov. 12, 1991. (AP Photo/John Duricka)]()
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