Jun 24, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Barr agrees to testify before House Judiciary Committee on July 28

Bill Barr

Photo: Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Attorney General Bill Barr has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee for a "general oversight hearing" on July 28, according to DOJ spokeswoman Kerri Kupec.

The state of play: The news that Barr has agreed to testify comes after House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) threatened to issue a subpoena — and as the committee is in the midst of a hearing about the alleged politicization of the Justice Department under Barr and President Trump.

The big picture: Nadler's threat to subpoena Barr — which would have called on the attorney general to appear on July 2 — came after the firing of of Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York who had been investigating Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

  • Democrats have accused Barr of intervening in the cases of Trump associates Roger Stone and Michael Flynn for political purposes. On Wednesday, a DOJ whistleblower plans to testify before the committee that Stone was "treated differently from any other defendant because of his relationship to the president."
  • Barr has also come under scrutiny for his role in ordering federal law enforcement to physically clear peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square before Trump walked to St. John's Church for a photo op.

Worth noting: Barr had previously agreed to appear before the committee on March 31, but the hearing was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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