Nadler on Plans to Subpoena Barr: 'It Is Very Much True'

From drama in Manhattan to drama in DC: House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler on Monday said he is prepared to subpoena Attorney General Bill Bar to appear before the committee on July 2. "We have begun the process to issue that subpoena," Nadler told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in a Monday night interview, per the Hill. "It is very much true. We are doing that." Politico reports it's a new tune for Nadler, who in early June said a subpoena and the resulting "months" of litigation that were sure to follow if Barr contested it (as it's expected he would) weren't worth it. Axios, which first reported news of the planned move, reports that Nadler has "repeatedly called on Barr to testify before the committee" regarding cases the DOJ handled that involved former Trump advisers, among them Roger Stone and Michael Flynn.

The planned subpoena follows the firing of Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, Geoffrey Berman, who was at the helm of a number of investigations involving President Trump's businesses and allies. "Pressure on Democrats to investigate Barr ramped up" after the move, reports Politico. Barr had been slated to testify before the committee on March 31 but that was indefinitely delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Barr's willingness to testify was noted by the committee's ranking Republican, who says a subpoena is unnecessary because Barr has no issue with voluntarily testifying once the pandemic subsides. "Accordingly, there is no legitimate basis for you to compel his testimony at this time," wrote GOP Rep. Jim Jordan in a letter to Nadler, per CNN. (More William Barr stories.)