House Judiciary Committee just called William Barr’s bluff
When Attorney General William Barr learned over the weekend that he would be facing questions from a professional prosecutor during his House Judiciary Committee testimony, he let it be known that he might fail to show up altogether. Such a scenario would lead to Barr being held in contempt of Congress and possibly arrested. Is Barr really planning to go that route, or is he bluffing? We’re now about to find out.
The House Judiciary Committee has announced this afternoon that it’ll hold a vote on Wednesday to lock in its plans to have a hired prosecutor grill William Barr on Thursday. The measure will pass, because the Democrats have the majority on the committee. This means there’s no turning back for House Democrats – and it means Barr now has a no-win decision to make.
It’s already a given that Barr will show up and testify before the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. He’s surely counting on favorable treatment from committee chair and Trump puppet Lindsey Graham, though the numerous strong Senate Democrats on the committee will each get their five minutes to call Barr on the carpet. But Wednesday will be like a walk in the park compared to what awaits Barr on Thursday.
For the moment, the next move is William Barr’s to make. He can back down and show up for the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, and face the professional prosecutor who will seek to expose his criminal misconduct regarding the Mueller report. Or Barr can decide not to show up, which will result in Barr being immediately subpoenaed. If he blows off the subpoena, then it’ll be up to House Democrats to decide which legal consequences to enforce against him. For the record, committee chair Jerry Nadler and various other Democrats on the committee have been talking about arresting any witnesses who defy subpoenas.
