Nadler pauses Barr contempt efforts after DOJ agrees to give key Mueller docs to Congress
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Nadler is granted access to more documents in the Russia probe; Catherine Herridge reports on what’s next.
House Judiciary Committee Democrats announced Wednesday that former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks has agreed to testify before the panel next week, after she was subpoenaed in May concerning Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
The interview will be held June 19 and a closed-door transcript will be released, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said. Hicks, a longtime aide to Trump, was mentioned throughout Mueller’s report, which Democrats claimed included unexplored evidence of obstruction of justice.
Hicks told Fox News she had “nothing to add” to the committee’s statement. She is the Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for Fox Corporation. Fox News is a subsidiary of Fox Corporation.
In a statement, Nadler, D-N.Y., seemingly recognized that Democrats might not get all the answers to their questions. Robert Trout, an attorney for Hicks, had told the panel in a letter last week that there were important differences between documents and testimony related to Hicks’ work on Trump’s campaign, as opposed to her time in the White House, which may be protected by executive privilege.
Earlier this month, the White House instructed Hicks not to turn over certain documents related to her time in the White House, citing that privilege.
Former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee next week, its chairman said.
(AP, File)
“Ms. Hicks understands that the Committee will be free to pose questions as it sees fit, including about her time on the Trump Campaign and her time in the White House,” Nadler said. “Should there be a privilege or other objection regarding any question, we will attempt to resolve any disagreement while reserving our right to take any and all measures in response to unfounded privilege assertions. We look forward to her testimony and plan to make the transcript promptly available to the public.”
Democrats’ subpoenas specifically requested, among a slew of other materials, information from Hicks concerning the “‘Republican Platform 2016’ provisions relating to Russia and Ukraine, including, but not limited to, the exclusion of language related to providing lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine and the inclusion of language about providing ‘appropriate assistance’ to the armed forces of Ukraine.”
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Mueller’s report found no proof of any connection between the platform provision on Ukraine and any misconduct.
The development came amid a fury of aggressive legislative activity from House Democrats. The full House effectively voted on Tuesday to hold Attorney General Bill Barr and former White House Counsel Don McGahn in what Democrats characterized as “contempt,” after complaining that the two had improperly refused to turn over documents and testimony.
Democrats have been expected to go to court soon to enforce a subpoena against McGahn, who did not show up for his scheduled hearing last month. The White House asserted executive privilege and directed McGahn not to testify.
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Nadler has additionally subpoenaed former McGahn aide Annie Donaldson, who also was mentioned throughout the Mueller report. Her deposition was scheduled for June 24, but it was unclear whether she will appear.
Earlier this week, Nadler’s panel hit pause on a separate, still-pending contempt vote that it earlier had forwarded on to the full House. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee held Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for unrelated matters concerning the 2020 census.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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