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HJU128000 PAGE 1 1 ALDERSON COURT REPORTING 2 CHRISTINE ALLEN 3 HJU128000 4 MARKUP OF COMMITTEE REPORT FOR RESOLUTION RECOMMENDING THAT 5 THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FIND WILLIAM P. BARR, ATTORNEY 6 GENERAL, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS 7 FOR REFUSAL TO COMPLY WITH A SUBPOENA DULY ISSUED BY THE 8 COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 9 Wednesday, May 8, 2019 10 House of Representatives 11 Committee on the Judiciary 12 Washington, D.C. 13 The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:11 a.m., in 14 Room 2141, Rayburn Office Building, Hon. Jerrold Nadler 15 [chairman of the committee] presiding. 16 Present: Representatives Nadler, Lofgren, Jackson Lee, 17 Cohen, Johnson of Georgia, Deutch, Bass, Richmond, Jeffries, 18 Cicilline, Swalwell, Lieu, Raskin, Jayapal, Demings, Correa, 19 Scanlon, Garcia, Neguse, McBath, Stanton, Dean, Murcarsel- 20 Powell, Escobar, Collins, Sensenbrenner, Chabot, Gohmert, HJU128000 PAGE 2 21 Jordan, Buck, Ratcliffe, Roby, Gaetz, Johnson of Louisiana, 22 Biggs, McClintock, Lesko, Reschenthaler, Cline, Armstrong, 23 and Steube. 24 Staff present: Aaron Hiller, Deputy Chief Counsel; Arya 25 Hariharan, Oversight Counsel; David Greengrass, Senior 26 Counsel; John Doty, Senior Advisor; Lisette Morton, Director 27 of Policy, Planning, and Member Services; Madeline Strasser, 28 Chief Clerk; Moh Sharma, Member Services and Outreach 29 Advisor; Susan Jensen, Parliamentarian/Senior Counsel; Sophie 30 Brill, Counsel, Constitution Subcommittee; Will Emmons, 31 Professional Staff Member, Constitution Subcommittee; Brendan 32 Belair, Minority Chief of Staff; Robert Parmiter, Minority 33 Deputy Chief of Staff; Jon Ferro, Minority Parliamentarian; 34 Carlton David, Minority Chief Oversight Counsel; Ashley 35 Callen, Chief Oversight Counsel; Ryan Breitenbach, Minority 36 Chief Counsel, National Security; Erica Barker, Minority 37 Chief Legislative Clerk; and Andrea Woodard, Minority 38 Professional Staff Member. 39 HJU128000 PAGE 3 40 Chairman Nadler. The Judiciary Committee will please 41 come to order, a quorum being present. Without objection, 42 the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time. 43 Pursuant to Committee Rule II and House Rule XI, Clause 44 2, the chair may postpone further proceedings today on the 45 question of approving any measure or matter or adopting an 46 amendment for which a recorded vote for the yeas or nays are 47 ordered. 48 Pursuant to notice, I now call up the Committee Report 49 for a Resolution Recommending that the House of 50 Representatives Find William Barr, Attorney General, U.S. 51 Department of Justice, in Contempt for Refusal to Comply with 52 a Subpoena Duly Issued by the Committee on the Judiciary 53 Committee, for purposes of markup, and move that the 54 committee report it favorably to the House. 55 The clerk -- 56 Mr. Sensenbrenner. Mr. Chairman, I demand the question 57 of consideration. 58 Chairman Nadler. Before we read the bill? 59 Mr. Sensenbrenner. I believe this is when the motion 60 lies. 61 Chairman Nadler. The question of consideration is not 62 debatable. The question is shall the committee consider the 63 committee report. 64 All those in favor, say aye. HJU128000 PAGE 4 65 Opposed? 66 The ayes have it. 67 Mr. Sensenbrenner. Roll call, please. 68 Chairman Nadler. A roll call is requested. The clerk 69 will call the roll. 70 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Nadler? 71 Chairman Nadler. Aye. 72 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Nadler votes aye. 73 Ms. Lofgren? 74 Ms. Lofgren. Aye. 75 Ms. Strasser. Ms. Lofgren votes aye. 76 Ms. Jackson Lee? 77 Ms. Jackson Lee. Aye. 78 Ms. Strasser. Ms. Jackson Lee votes aye. 79 Mr. Cohen? 80 Mr. Cohen. Aye. 81 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Cohen votes aye. 82 Mr. Johnson of Georgia? 83 Mr. Deutch? 84 Mr. Deutch. Aye. 85 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Deutch votes aye. 86 Ms. Bass? 87 Ms. Bass. Aye. 88 Ms. Strasser. Ms. Bass votes aye. 89 Mr. Richmond? HJU128000 PAGE 5 90 Mr. Richmond. Yes. 91 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Richmond votes yes. 92 Mr. Jeffries? 93 Mr. Cicilline? 94 Mr. Cicilline. Aye. 95 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Cicilline votes aye. 96 Mr. Swalwell? 97 Mr. Lieu? 98 Mr. Lieu. Aye. 99 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Lieu votes aye. 100 Mr. Raskin? 101 Mr. Raskin. Aye. 102 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Raskin votes aye. 103 Ms. Jayapal? 104 Ms. Jayapal. Aye. 105 Ms. Strasser. Ms. Jayapal votes aye. 106 Mrs. Demings? 107 Mrs. Demings. Aye. 108 Ms. Strasser. Mrs. Demings votes aye. 109 Mr. Correa? 110 Mr. Correa. Aye. 111 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Correa votes aye. 112 Ms. Scanlon? 113 Ms. Scanlon. Aye. 114 Ms. Strasser. Ms. Scanlon votes aye. HJU128000 PAGE 6 115 Ms. Garcia? 116 Ms. Garcia. Aye. 117 Ms. Strasser. Ms. Garcia votes aye. 118 Mr. Neguse? 119 Mr. Neguse. Aye. 120 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Neguse votes aye. 121 Mrs. McBath? 122 Mrs. McBath. Aye. 123 Ms. Strasser. Mrs. McBath votes aye. 124 Mr. Stanton? 125 Mr. Stanton. Aye. 126 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Stanton votes aye. 127 Ms. Dean? 128 Ms. Dean. Aye. 129 Ms. Strasser. Ms. Dean votes aye. 130 Ms. Mucarsel-Powell? 131 Ms. Mucarsel-Powell. Aye. 132 Ms. Strasser. Ms. Mucarsel-Powell votes aye. 133 Ms. Escobar? 134 Ms. Escobar. Aye. 135 Ms. Strasser. Ms. Escobar votes aye. 136 Mr. Collins? 137 Mr. Collins. No. 138 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Collins votes no. 139 Mr. Sensenbrenner? HJU128000 PAGE 7 140 Mr. Sensenbrenner. No. 141 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Sensenbrenner votes no. 142 Mr. Chabot? 143 Mr. Gohmert? 144 Mr. Gohmert. No. 145 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Gohmert votes no. 146 Mr. Jordan? 147 Mr. Jordan. No. 148 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Jordan votes no. 149 Mr. Buck? 150 Mr. Ratcliffe? 151 Mr. Ratcliffe. No. 152 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Ratcliffe votes no. 153 Mrs. Roby? 154 Mr. Gaetz? 155 Mr. Johnson of Louisiana? 156 Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. No. 157 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Johnson of Louisiana votes no. 158 Mr. Biggs? 159 Mr. Biggs. No. 160 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Biggs votes no. 161 Mr. McClintock? 162 Mrs. Lesko? 163 Mrs. Lesko. No. 164 Ms. Strasser. Mrs. Lesko votes no. HJU128000 PAGE 8 165 Mr. Reschenthaler? 166 Mr. Reschenthaler. No. 167 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Reschenthaler votes no. 168 Mr. Cline? 169 Mr. Cline. No. 170 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Cline votes no. 171 Mr. Armstrong? 172 Mr. Armstrong. No. 173 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Armstrong votes no. 174 Mr. Steube? 175 Mr. Gaetz. Mr. Chairman, how am I recorded? 176 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Gaetz, you are not recorded. 177 Mr. Gaetz. No. 178 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Gaetz votes no. 179 Chairman Nadler. The gentleman from Georgia? 180 Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Yes. 181 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Johnson of Georgia votes yes. 182 Chairman Nadler. The gentlelady from Florida? 183 Voice. She's already voted. 184 Chairman Nadler. Oh. Is there any member of the 185 committee who wishes to vote who hasn't voted? 186 [No response.] 187 Chairman Nadler. The clerk will report. 188 Ms. Strasser. Mr. Chairman, there are 22 ayes and 12 189 noes. HJU128000 PAGE 9 190 Chairman Nadler. The motion for consideration is 191 adopted. 192 The clerk will report the committee report. 193 Ms. Strasser. Resolution recommending that the House of 194 Representatives find William P. Barr, Attorney General, U.S. 195 Department of Justice, in contempt of Congress for refusal to 196 comply with a subpoena duly issued by the Committee on the 197 Judiciary. 198 Chairman Nadler. Without objection, the committee 199 report is considered as read and open for amendment at any 200 point. 201 [The committee report follows:] 202 HJU128000 PAGE 10 203 Chairman Nadler. I will begin by recognizing myself for 204 an opening statement. 205 Today we consider a report recommending that the House 206 of Representatives hold Attorney General William Barr in 207 contempt of Congress for defying a valid subpoena issued by 208 this committee. This is not a step we take lightly. It is 209 the culmination of nearly 3 months of requests, discussions, 210 and negotiations with the Department of Justice for the 211 complete, unredacted report by Special Counsel Mueller into 212 Russian interference in the 2016 election along with the 213 underlying evidence. 214 I appreciate the fact that the Department responded to 215 the offer we made to them last week and met with us yesterday 216 in a last-minute effort to reach an accommodation. We heard 217 the Department out. We responded to them in good faith. And 218 after all was said and done, we unfortunately were still 219 unable to reach agreement, and we proceeded with our markup 220 today. As I have said before, we remain ready and willing to 221 consider any reasonable offer made by the Department even 222 after today's vote, but if a letter I received late last 223 night from the Department is any indication, I am concerned 224 that the Department is heading in the wrong direction. 225 In response to our latest good-faith offer, the 226 Department abruptly announced that if we move forward today, 227 it would ask President Trump to invoke what it refers to as HJU128000 PAGE 11 228 the protective assertion of executive privilege on all of the 229 materials subject to our subpoena. Just minutes ago, it took 230 that dramatic step. Besides misapplying the doctrine of 231 executive privilege since the White House waived these 232 privileges long ago, and the Department seemed open to 233 sharing these materials with us just yesterday, this decision 234 represents a clear escalation in the Trump Administration's 235 blanket defiance of Congress' constitutionally-mandated 236 duties. 237 I hope that the Department will think better of this 238 last-minute outburst and return to negotiations. As a co- 239 equal branch of government, we must have access to the 240 materials that we need to fulfill our constitutional 241 responsibilities in a manner consistent with past precedent.