Our live coverage has ended. Scrolls through the posts below to see how the day unfolded, or read more about the hearing here.
The Justice Department is hitting back against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accusing Attorney General Bill Barr of a crime this morning.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is holding her weekly news conference after Attorney General William Barr skipped a House committee hearing this morning.
She just criticized Barr for the testimony he’s previously given to Congress and accused him of lying to Congress – a crime.
Later, Pelosi was asked bluntly if she believes Barr committed a crime.
She said this: “He lied to Congress. And if anybody else did that, it would be considered a crime. Nobody is above the law. Not the President of the United States and not the attorney general.”
When asked if she believe Barr should go to jail, Pelosi said “there’s a process involved here” and added that “the committee will act upon how we will proceed.”
Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, dismissed questions that the Democrats’ tactics with Attorney General William Barr may have backfired in trying to gather evidence and question him.
But Lieu said confidently that Democrats will impeach Trump if his administration doesn’t comply with Democrats’ requests for information.
When asked by CNN’s Manu Raju if he had any assurances from Chairman Jerry Nadler or Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Lieu said it was his personal opinion, but that “it’s unifying the caucus.”
“You understand that you cannot have Donald Trump and the executive branch blowing off Congress, ignoring Congress,” he said. “So, if they push us to go there, we are going to go there.”
Watch:
House Judiciary Ranking Member Doug Collins, a Georgia Republican, spoke to reporters after the hearing and told CNN’s Manu Raju that there was “no precedent” for attorneys to question witnesses at a congressional hearing.
He asked rhetorically:
Collins said the issue “is becoming a circus” and that yesterday’s events “was a travesty in our committee.”
When asked about Nadler holding Barr in contempt, Collins said his questions “are going to be, what is your hurry, have you actually looked for accommodations, have you actually tried to work with this Department of Justice?”
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler repeated his threat to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt, though he said his committee would “make one more good faith attempt to negotiate.”
Nadler, speaking to reporters after the hearing, said if there’s no progress “we will proceed to hold the Attorney General in contempt.”
Asked how long Barr would be given before the committee would hold him in contempt, Nadler said, “maybe by Monday, we’ll see.”
Nadler said his committee could not concede “the ability to control the manner in which Congress does its job.”
He continued:
Republican Rep. Doug Collins, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, accused chairman Jerry Nadler of abusing his power as chairman and said he is responsible Attorney General William Barr not showing today.
Remember: Barr’s decided to skip the hearing after a dispute between House Democrats and the nation’s top law enforcement officer over whether Barr would publicly face questions from committee staff attorneys.
Collins said it is unprecedented for Nadler to demand staff lawyers question a witness.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders had harsh words for House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler while speaking to reporters this morning, claiming Nadler has “lost confidence in himself and his capability to do his job,” referencing his plan for staff attorneys to question at today’s hearing.
She said it “seems like a pretty pathetic moment” for Nadler.
Attorneys would be more effective in questioning, as they would get 30 minutes to question, instead of give minute rounds for members.
She continued:
Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat of Tennessee, had an unusual breakfast at today’s hearing: fried chicken.
Cohen ate from a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken at today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing.
After the hearing, Cohen spoke to reporters.
See it here:
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler abruptly ended the hearing following Republican Doug Collins’ remarks.
Nadler closed by saying this:
Republican Rep. Doug Collins, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, criticized Democrats, blaming them for Attorney General William Barr’s decision to skip today’s hearing.
Some context: Barr’s decision came after a dispute between House Democrats and the nation’s top law enforcement officer over whether Barr would publicly face questions from committee staff attorneys.
In a fiery speech, Collins called today’s actions a “stunt” and a “circus” and defended Barr, who answered questions at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he will move to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt “if he stalls or fails to negotiate in good faith.”
Nadler gaveled into today’s hearing without Barr and explained that the Department of Justice wrote the committee to say it would ignore a subpoena for the full Mueller report.
“The choice is simple, we can stand up to this President in defense of the country and the constitution and the liberty we love, or we can let the moment pass us by,” he said.
At 9 a.m. ET on the dot, Attorney General William Barr departed his house in McLean, Virginia — presumably on his way to his office at the Department of Justice.
The House Judiciary hearing was getting ready to begin on Capitol Hill at that moment. They officially gaveled in at 9:05 a.m. ET.
The House Judiciary Committee is still meeting this morning, even though Attorney General William Barr is skipping it.
However, the committee has set up a literal empty chair in the hearing room for the attorney general.
Attorney General William Barr testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, marking his first public testimony since the release of the redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
Here are some of the key things Barr said:
The House Judiciary Committee will still meet Thursday, without Barr —creating the spectacle of a literal empty chair in the hearing room for the attorney general
But note: Committee chairman Jerry Nadler said the panel’s primary focus is to obtain the full report and Mueller’s underlying evidence, not Barr’s testimony.
“Our first priority is to get the unredacted Mueller report,” Nadler said.
Attorney General William Barr spent several hours testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. He was supposed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee today — but now that’s not happening.
Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler announced Wednesday that Barr will skip today’s hearing following a dispute between House Democrats and the nation’s top law enforcement officer over whether Barr would publicly face questions from committee staff attorneys.
The Justice Department also informed the committee that it would not comply with its subpoena for the full, unredacted report from special counsel Robert Mueller, Nadler said, missing a deadline the committee had set for Wednesday.
So what happens now? If the Justice Department does not change course in the next day or two, Nadler said, the committee is likely to begin contempt proceedings against Barr over defying the subpoena for the full report.
