House Backs Off Holding Barr in Contempt in New ResolutionNew York Times, Jun 6, 2019
After weeks of pledging to hold Attorney General William P. Barr and the former White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II in contempt for defying subpoenas, House Democrats appear poised to pursue an alternative path to try to force them into sharing information.
A resolution that the House Rules Committee unveiled on Thursday would authorize the House to petition a federal court to enforce its requests for information and testimony related to the report of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, but without mentioning contempt. The committee is expected to consider the proposal on Monday, followed by a full House vote on Tuesday.
The resolution appears to be something of a tactical reversal by Democrats, who did not immediately explain their decision. The Judiciary Committee approved a report last month that formally recommended the House hold Mr. Barr in contempt, and lawmakers continue to use that language to describe next week’s vote.
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The resolution nearing a vote amplifies existing rules to allow committees facing an uncooperative Trump administration to take cases straight to court for enforcement as long as they have the approval of House leaders. Doing so would eliminate the need to wait for floor time to vote on contempt measures, Democratic aides briefed on the plan said on Thursday.
Finally, the resolution authorizes Mr. Nadler to petition a court for the disclosure of grand jury secrets related to the Mueller report to Congress. Mr. Nadler has tried to persuade the Justice Department to join him on such a petition to strengthen his case, but Democratic aides said on Thursday that he would now file that request himself in the coming weeks at the same time the House files suit against Mr. Barr and Mr. McGahn. The aides, who were not authorized to speak by name, declined to discuss when either filing would occur.
More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/06/us/politics/house-contempt-resolution.html
