Mueller report: House to hold Attorney General Barr contempt vote next week

Mr Barr has refused to provide the House with fully un-redacted Mueller report and its underlying evidence

President Trump talks to attorney general William Barr during the 38th annual National Peace Officers' Memorial Service, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on 15 May 2019 (Kevin Dietsch/EPA)

The House will vote next week on holding attorney general William Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena related to the Mueller report, according to multiple reports.

The vote has been scheduled for June 11, and comes after Mr Barr refused to comply with a subpoena for special counsel Robert Mueller's fully un-redacted report into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and any underlying evidence. The report also analysed potential obstruction of justice by Donald Trump.

The decision to go forward with a vote on obstruction in the House Judiciary Committee comes as Democrats seek to force the Justice Department to hand over those documents, which Democrats say will help with congressional oversight efforts.

Earlier in the day before reports about the coming contempt charges, it was announced that Democrats would proceed with public hearings into potential obstruction outlined in the Mueller report that has so far been released.

Mr Barr and the Justice Department have largely released the contents of the main Mueller report, but have refused to allow Congress access to the significant amount of underlying evidence that the special counsel's office gathered during its nearly two years in action.

But, while Mr Barr has refused, the decision to move ahead with contempt charges signal a willingness by Democrats to force a conclusion to the matter through the courts. If the House approves of contempt charges, it will make Mr Barr just the second sitting attorney general to be held in contempt, following after former attorney general Eric Holder was held in contempt in 2012.

Democrats in the House have opened multiple investigations into the Trump administration related to the Russia probe conducted over nearly two years by Mr Mueller and his team.

In the months following Mr Mueller's release of his report to Mr Barr at the Justice Department, a growing chorus of Democratic politicians have been calling for the impeachment of Donald Trump over details in the report that show he repeatedly attempted to get the investigation into his campaign and Russian interference.