The House Intelligence Committee delayed a potential vote Wednesday over whether to hold U.S. Attorney General William Barr in contempt in the ongoing battle over special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report.
The House Intelligence Committee had planned to meet Wednesday morning to discuss taking "enforcement action" against Barr in light of his refusal to release documents and materials related to Mueller's investigation, CNN reported. However, the news network reported the meeting was canceled after the Justice Department agreed to turn over documents to the committee.
"The Department of Justice has accepted our offer of a first step towards compliance with our subpoena, and this week will begin turning over to the Committee twelve categories of counterintelligence and foreign intelligence materials as part of an initial rolling production," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in a statement obtained Wednesday by Politico. "That initial production should be completed by the end of next week."
Schiff issued a subpoena earlier this month to compel Barr to share documents and materials related to the Mueller investigation, including the full, unredacted report. Barr has previously declined to release the full report, citing grand jury information that cannot be released by law among other restrictions.
“The law is on our side,” Schiff said in a May 8 statement announcing the subpoena. “The Committee’s efforts to obtain necessary documents to do our constitutionally-mandated oversight work will not be obstructed.”
In a statement posted Wednesday on Twitter, Schiff said the subpoena “will remain in effect, and be enforced should DOJ fail to comply with the full document request.”
Barr has already been held in contempt by one congressional committee for his refusal to turn over an unredacted version of the report to the House Judiciary Committee. The panel voted May 8 to hold Barr in contempt of Congress.
Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec told The Wall Street Journal the department appreciates the "continued dialogue with the Committee and look forward to working towards appropriately accommodating their requests."
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