Democrats have stooped to a new low in their witch-hunt against President Trump. Last week, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., led his committee’s Democratic members to vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress.
What has led the Democrats to take this drastic action? Barr, whose responsibility is to uphold federal law, declined to violate federal law and release a fully unredacted copy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
From the beginning, Barr has gone above and beyond the requirements under special counsel regulations to be transparent. He asserted no executive privileges and last month, released a minimally redacted version of the Mueller report to Congress and the American public. Following this release, Republican and Democrat leaders in Congress were invited to view a copy of the confidential report that is 98.5% unredacted along with Volume 2 which only has six lines blacked out. These lines must remain redacted in accordance with federal law to protect grand jury information.
Department of Justice lawyers are prohibited from disclosing matters related to grand jury proceedings under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e). As you know, the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, “[n]o person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury.” Thus, there is a constitutional obligation to ensure that secret grand jury information remains secret. Certain exceptions are provided in the law, but congressional oversight is not one of them. A recent D.C. Circuit Court decision highlighted the importance of not disclosing secret grand jury information.
Despite having more than 98% of the report text available, to date, it appears not a single Democratic member has chosen to review it. In fact, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Nadler have refused to review this report. This is puzzling, considering they claim a need to review the unredacted material immediately.
Democrats have responded to every Department of Justice offer to review the minimally redacted report and accompanying documents, by making additional demands that violate laws, procedure and committee process. They even demanded that Barr allow himself to be questioned by an unelected, unaccountable committee staff member during an official committee meeting. This is something that happens in a banana republic — not in the halls of Congress. Members of Congress are constitutional officers, accountable to their constituents and the Constitution. Congressional committee hearings are for these duly elected members to ask questions on behalf of their constituents.
The law is on Barr’s side. He is a good man, who has dedicated his life to upholding the laws of the United States and he continues to do so. Democrats are upset that he will not bend or break the law, so they decided to hold him in contempt for faithfully upholding his constitutional duty. It is absurd.
For the last two years, special counsel Mueller, along with a team of 19 lawyers; 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, and forensic accountants, investigated Trump and the actions of his campaign staff. Mueller’s team issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, nearly 500 search warrants, 230 orders for communications reports, interviewed about 500 witness, and made requests to 13 foreign governments for evidence. His conclusion is clear — there was no collusion.
The unfounded partisan witch-hunt must end. Democrats are making a mockery of our congressional oversight authority and committee proceedings. The American people deserve better.
Daniel Webster represents Florida’s 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
