WASHINGTON--A Democratic-led House panel on Wednesday approved a measure to hold U.S. Attorney General William Barr in contempt for refusing to hand over an unredacted copy of the Mueller report on Russian election interference even as President Donald Trump invoked the legal principle of executive privilege to block its disclosure.
Throwing down another challenge to Trump, the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted to recommend that the full House cite Barr, the top U.S. law enforcement official and a Trump appointee, for contempt of Congress after he defied its subpoena for the complete report and underlying evidence.
"We are now in a constitutional crisis," Jerrold Nadler, the committee's Democratic chairman, told reporters after the panel approved the contempt resolution on a party-line 24-16 vote, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed.
The confrontation escalated a clash between the Democratic-controlled House and Republican president over congressional authority under the U.S. Constitution to investigate him, his administration, family and business interests.
The vote came hours after the White House took its own provocative step, asserting executive privilege to block the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's full report on Russian actions to boost Trump's candidacy in the 2016 U.S. election and related evidence such as investigative interviews. "It is deeply disappointing that elected representatives of the American people have chosen to engage in such inappropriate political theatrics," Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said, adding that no one would force the department "to break the law" by handing over documents that cannot be disclosed such as secret grand jury material.
A House vote to hold Barr in contempt was likely to trigger a court battle, with fines and possible imprisonment at stake for him. Nadler said the full House vote would come "rapidly," without being more specific.
