House Judiciary chairman hints at subpoenaing Barr

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday the committee is considering issuing a subpoena to get Attorney General William Barr to testify before Congress over the decision to drop the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn. 

Barr was scheduled to testify in front of the Judiciary Committee on March 30, but it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

“Now that the District of Columbia has extended the stay at home order until June 8, we expect to see Barr in front of our committee on June 9, the very next day,” Nadler said in an interview with MSNBC. 

Nadler said Barr has yet to agree to testify before the committee, adding that committee members are prepared “to do whatever we have to do,” including potentially issuing a subpoena. 

“We cannot have a situation where the attorney general just thumbs his nose and the administration holds Congress in contempt,” he said. 

His comments came as Democrats have condemned Barr for moving to drop the case against Flynn for charges of lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia in 2017. 

Nadler said Barr is “subverting the Department of Justice into a personal agent of the president.” 

Barr has defended the Justice Department’s decision on the Flynn case, telling CBS News in an interview after the decision that he was following his “duty under the law.” He said he was “not at all” influenced by President Trump regarding the case.