House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) fired back Sunday at Attorney General William Barr after the attorney general warned he may not appear at a scheduled committee hearing this week.
“The witness is not going to tell the committee how to conduct its hearing, period,” Nadler said Sunday, according to CNN.
{mosads}Nadler also threatened to issue a subpoena if President Trump’s attorney general refuses to attend the hearing.
“Then we will have to subpoena him, and we will have to use whatever means we can to enforce the subpoena,” Nadler said.
Barr previously told House Democrats that they need to change the proposed format for the hearing, scheduled for Thursday, before he agrees to attend.
In addition to five minutes of questioning for each member of the committee, Nadler has proposed a round that would allow for each side to question Barr for 30 minutes, a source said earlier Sunday. That round of questioning would allow the committee counsels for both parties to question Barr.
Nadler also proposed having the committee enter a closed session to discuss redacted sections of special counsel Robert Mueller‘s report, the source added.
Barr has rejected those additional rounds of questioning, though it’s possible he and Democrats could come to an agreement before Thursday.
A Department of Justice spokeswoman said in a statement to The Hill that “members of Congress should be the ones doing the questioning.”
“The Attorney General agreed to appear before Congress. Therefore, Members of Congress should be the ones doing the questioning. He remains happy to engage with Members on their questions regarding the Mueller report,” said Kerri Kupec, the spokeswoman.