Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Friday morning, Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., confirmed late Thursday.
Whitaker’s testimony was in doubt after Nadler threatened to subpoena the Trump appointee out of an “abundance of caution” in case Whitaker tried to “dodge uncomfortable questions.”
Whitaker told the committee earlier Thursday he would not appear Friday unless Democrats dropped their threat to compel his testimony.
Nadler then responded that he would not subpoena Whitaker, unless he failed to testify Friday.
“If you appear before the Committee tomorrow morning and if you are prepared to respond to questions from our Members, then I assure you that there will be no need for the Committee to issue a subpoena on or before February 8,” Nadler wrote.
If Whitaker declines to answer questions, Nadler said, the panel would consider Whitaker’s objections “on a case-by-case basis.”
The panel is likely to grill Whitaker about his contact with the White House and his refusal to recuse himself from overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
