Barr Won’t Testify, House Judiciary Chair Says Barr ‘Terrified’

Attorney General William Barr has told members of the House Judiciary Committee that he will not testify before their committee Thursday.

The attorney general was asked to testify before the committee about special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

Barr has objected to the committee’s plan to have attorneys from both sides, Democrats and Republicans, do the questioning, alongside lawmakers on the committee.

His refusal to attend the hearing is likely to cause a further rift with congressional Democrats who have accused him of trying to spin Mueller’s report to favor the president.

The House Judiciary Committee chairman says Attorney General William Barr is declining to appear before the panel Thursday because he’s “terrified.”

New York Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler says Barr is “stonewalling” Congress over the Russia probe and “trying to blackmail the committee” by setting the terms of the hearing. The chairman says he hopes Barr reconsiders his decision not to show.

Nadler also said Wednesday that the “next step” would be to hold Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to provide a fully unredacted copy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report.