White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has informed Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, that the administration, particularly Attorney General William Barr, does not plan to comply with his demands. The president is invoking executive privilege.
Statement on Executive Privilege pic.twitter.com/6ujCZDnMC0
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) May 8, 2019
"The American people see through Chairman Nadler’s desperate ploy to distract from the President’s historically successful agenda and our booming economy," Sanders writes. "Neither the White House nor Attorney General Barr will comply with Chairman Nadler’s unlawful and reckless demands."
Meanwhile, the committee has begun its markup for contempt proceedings against Barr.
Last week, Barr refused to show up for the House Judiciary hearing on Robert Mueller's Russia report because of disagreements over who would be doing the interrogation. He did, however, show up a day earlier at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, where he answered questions for six hours. Barr released a redacted, 400-page version of Mueller's findings, but Nadler insisted that the committee had a right to the full, unredacted report.
In response to Trump's executive privilege, Nadler says the process has been brought to a "screeching halt.”
House Judiciary Ranking Member Doug Collins, however, agrees with the White House, and says he sees through the Democrats' agenda.
Top GOPer on Hse Judiciary Cmte Collins: “They’re wanting to paint the attorney general as the bad guy in this. They want to paint the attorney general as someone people can’t trust.”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) May 8, 2019