Analysis: William Barr’s stall tactics are speeding up an inevitable court fight. Here’s how Democrats are already laying the groundwork
Attorney General William Barr’s performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and his refusal to appear before the House Judiciary Committee, underscored why Democrats are determined to get the full Mueller report and underlying evidence. Members of Congress are outraged about Barr’s deceptive answers to their questions. Some even want to prosecute him for it.
Barr, who seems determined to force the House to make a politically risky move on impeachment, appears committed to delay and stonewall even though doing so might weaken the administration’s legal position in the long run. It seems he has decided this is a better gamble than submitting to rigorous questioning from trained lawyers who could elicit answers he might regret in a later court proceeding.
But while the law is quite clear, the path to the courthouse is not. Because the stakes are so high, House Democrats will have to proceed cautiously. Move too fast and a judge could decline to grant extraordinary relief to the House because the issue is not “ripe for review.” Move too slowly and risk emboldening an already intransigent White House.
The House cannot easily enforce subpoenas on its own. Technically, it has the power to do so, but has not used it since 1935 in part because Congress is not set up to enforce laws—that’s what the executive branch does. Although Senator Sam Ervin, in April 1973, Purely as a legal matter, Nadler’s position could not get much stronger. It is hard to imagine a federal judge concluding that the executive branch can choose to keep evidence of potential criminal wrongdoing by the president from the House of Representatives, particularly when any claims of privilege have already been waived.
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