(CNN) — On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee voted Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for his refusal to turn over the full, unredacted report regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election produced by special counsel Robert Mueller. BIG deal! Barr’s in real trouble now, right? He is not. There are actual punishments for being in contempt of Congress – the Senate or House sergeant at arms can detain the contemptuous person! – but, in practical terms, none of them will be visited upon the attorney general. He’s not going to be jailed for not turning over the full Mueller report – which he says he can’t legally do because it contains grand jury testimony that is illegal to make public without the permission of the witnesses. And even if Congress did ask the White House to authorize a criminal contempt charge for Barr, there’s roughly a 0% chance that President Donald Trump would agree to it. Bill Barr’s life after this contempt citation will be the exact same as it was before the Judiciary Committee vote. If anything, his standing in the eyes of Trump will be bolstered. Trump has never understood – or tried to understand – the role Congress plays in our tripartite system of government. He views Congress’ attempts at oversight as a nuisance at best and a willful undermining of his presidency at worst. So why did Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-New York, spend time working to pass a toothless measure? For two reasons: 1) Base service. Nadler wants the liberal base to know he is holding the administration’s collective feet to the fire. 2) Legal positioning: Nadler knew the contempt citation wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on. But he also knew that by moving to hold Barr in contempt, he would likely force the the White House’s hand one way or another. And he did! In the moments before Nadler’s committee held its contempt vote, the White House declared executive privilege over the entire Mueller report. “Faced with Chairman Nadler’s blatant abuse of power, and at the attorney general’s request, the President has no other option than to make a protective assertion of executive privilege,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement explaining the move. (The White House argument, like that of Republicans on Judiciary, is that Barr cannot legally release grand jury testimony – and, by complying with Nadler’s request, he would be doing so.) “Chairman Nadler is asking the Attorney General of the United States to break the law and commit a crime by releasing information that he knows he has no legal authority to have,” Sanders added. The declaration of executive privilege represents a significant ramping-up of already ramped-up tensions between the White House and Congress. All of this comes hard on the news earlier this week that the Treasury Department would not comply with a request for Trump’s tax returns from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts. It also follows Trump’s tweet that he didn’t think Mueller should testify before Congress about his report and the White House’s instruction to former counsel Don McGahn to not comply with Democratic requests to testify about his role in the Russia probe. It remains unclear what impact the executive privilege claim will have on the ongoing congressional investigations – although Nadler signaled on “New Day” Wednesday that such a move could complicate the prospect of Mueller testifying. “Well, now that the President has said what he said, I’m less confident than I was,” Nadler said of the special counsel appearing before his committee. Today, then, like lots of days of late in political Washington, was lots of sound and fury signifying, if not nothing, then TBD. There is little question we are headed for a dramatic legal showdown over the proper oversight role for Congress to play – and Wednesday’s hearing was a scene in that broader play. But don’t expect to see Bill Barr in manacles anytime soon. CORRECTION: This headline has been updated to reflect that Barr was voted in contempt of Congress by the House Judiciary Committee.<doc-sep>Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y. Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call Group | Getty Images The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt over the Justice Department's refusal to comply with Democrats' subpoena for special counsel Robert Mueller's unredacted Russia report and its underlying evidence. The 24-16 vote passed along party lines in the Democrat-led committee shortly after President Donald Trump asserted executive privilege over the Mueller report, an escalation of an already-intense political brawl that appears to be headed to the courts. The vote on contempt will now head to the full House, where Democrats control a majority of seats. It was not immediately clear when that vote would be scheduled. "We did not relish doing this, but we had no choice," committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said after the hearing. Nadler accused Barr of misleading Congress in his testimony and of "turning the entire Department of Justice into an instrument of Trump personally." Nadler added: "We've talked for a long time about approaching a constitutional crisis. We are now in it." Lawmakers fought over whether the assertion of executive privilege was valid, and traded barbs throughout the lengthy hearing about the legality and the alleged political motives behind the contempt proceedings. Democrats stressed that they were holding Barr in contempt as they pushed for the full report — and the "millions" of pages of underlying evidence that have so far been withheld by the DOJ — in the name of transparency, accountability and oversight. "Our fight is not just about the Mueller report — although we must have access to the Mueller report," Nadler said. "Our fight is about defending the rights of Congress, as an independent branch, to hold the president accountable." Republicans, however, accused Democrats of using Barr as a "whipping boy" and a stepping stone on the path toward impeaching Trump. "Bill Barr is following the law, and what's his reward? Democrats are going to hold him in contempt," said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. "This is all about impeaching the president," said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., after Georgia Democrat Hank Johnson mentioned in his remarks the prospect of impeaching Trump following further investigation. Barr, who oversaw the final phase of the special counsel's 22-month investigation after taking the reins from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, made redactions to the report in four categories. Those included information related to ongoing investigations and testimony from a grand jury that is included in the report. Barr and the DOJ, citing federal rules, say they are bound not to reveal grand jury testimony to Congress or the public. Nadler's subpoena requested "the complete and unredacted version of the report" submitted by Mueller to the Justice Department on March 22. But at the hearing Wednesday, the chairman said that "the subpoena was never intended to cover" the rule barring the release of grand jury information. Instead, Nadler said that he wanted the Justice Department to ask a court for permission to release that material, as has been done in the past.<doc-sep>Updated 6:07 p.m. The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress, escalating the Democrats’ legal battle with the Trump administration over access to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. The committee voted 24-16 to hold Barr in contempt Wednesday afternoon after the Justice Department rejected House Democrats’ demands for the full Mueller report and the underlying evidence used to produce it. Ahead of the vote, President Donald Trump asserted executive privilege over those materials and reserved the right to block them. U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a committee member who represents a district based in Delaware County, said Congress needs to see the background for the full report. “We need to do our job. We need to look at the underlying evidence. We need to look at the full Mueller report to determine what the next steps are for Congress,” she said. “Mueller’s report pretty clearly developed conclusions — whether unstated or otherwise — and said Congress has to deal with this, so it’s our job.” The hearing was contentious and hyperpartisan. U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania isn’t on the committee, but the Republican said Barr is under no legal obligation to release the whole report. Democrats are just trying to score political points with their base, he said. “If you ask me, this is all politically motivated. It’s not about the report,” Toomey said. “Bill Barr did exactly what he should have done and what he promised to do, so I think it’s very unfortunate that the House is going down this road.” U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean of Montgomery County, also a House Judiciary Committee member, said it boggles her mind that the GOP is claiming the report exonerates Trump — while also trying to keep information from Congress. “What do they have to hide? Why wouldn’t they want us to see it?” she said. “It’s very gravely disappointing to see the arguments of the other side, because they’re false arguments.” The contempt resolution against Barr now moves to the full House. If it is approved, it would trigger a criminal referral to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, which would decide whether to prosecute. Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York declared the action by Trump’s Justice Department a clear new sign of the president’s “blanket defiance” of Congress’ constitutional rights to conduct oversight. “We did not relish doing this, but we have no choice,” Nadler said after the vote. The White House’s blockade, he said, “is an attack on the ability of the American people to know what the executive branch is doing.” He said, “This cannot be.” But Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said it was disappointing that members of Congress “have chosen to engage in such inappropriate political theatrics.” Barr made “extraordinary efforts” to provide Congress and the public with information about Mueller’s work, she said. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said neither the White House nor Barr “will comply with Chairman Nadler’s unlawful and reckless demands.” Though the White House initially hesitated on invoking privilege, Trump told his staff and political advisers in recent weeks to refuse to cooperate with Democrats, believing the party’s goal was simply to damage him politically going into his re-election campaign. The coming legal battle could stretch to 2020, and the White House is aiming to tie up congressional probes until Election Day. Executive privilege is the president’s power to keep information from the courts, Congress and the public to protect the confidentiality of the Oval Office decision-making process. The president’s decision was weeks in the making, the next inevitable escalation between the White House and Congress over a number of probes. The White House has rejected all efforts to probe Trump’s business dealings or tax returns as well as the West Wing’s security clearance procedure. Democrats made their case that Congress was at a historic juncture as it confronts what they consider Trump’s stonewalling of lawmakers’ ability to conduct oversight of the administration. Republicans portrayed the majority as angry and lashing out at Barr after the special counsel did not find that Trump colluded with Russia to swing the 2016 election. Said Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas: “The president now seeks to take a wrecking ball to the Constitution of the United States.” And Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana said the road ahead may be “messy” but Democrats must fight to “protect our democracy.” Other Democrats called the standoff a “serious” and “grave” moment. However, the panel’s top Republican, Doug Collins of Georgia, said Democrats were manufacturing a crisis and rushing the process to “sully Bill Barr’s good name.” Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a Trump ally, said the Democrats were trying to “delegitimize” the president and biding time before they try to impeach him. “Get over it,” Gaetz said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the next step will be consideration by the full House. Nadler said that will happen soon. If approved by the House, where the Democrats hold a solid majority, the contempt resolution would almost certainly move to an unusual, and potentially protracted, multi-pronged court battle with the Trump administration. The contempt finding could be referred to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, a Justice Department official who would be likely to defend rather than oppose Barr. Democratic House leaders could also file a lawsuit, though the case could take months or even years to resolve. Some committee members have suggested they also could fine Barr as he withholds information. Nadler said Wednesday the Trump administration’s refusal to provide the special counsel’s full Russia report to Congress presents a “constitutional crisis.” In a letter Wednesday to Trump, Barr explained that the special counsel’s files contain millions of pages of classified and unclassified information. He said it was the committee’s “abrupt resort to a contempt vote” that “has not allowed sufficient time for you to consider fully whether to make a conclusive assertion of executive privilege.” Barr told Trump he should assert privilege now, “pending a full decision on the matter.” Talks with the Justice Department broke down over the committee’s subpoena for an unredacted version of the report. Barr released a redacted version of Mueller’s 400-plus-page report to the public last month, but Democrats subpoenaed the full document, along with underlying evidence. The department has rejected that demand, while allowing a few top lawmakers from the House and Senate to view a version with fewer redactions. That version blacks out grand jury information, which needs a judge’s approval for release, and it doesn’t include the report’s underlying evidence. Democrats have said they won’t view that version until they get broader access. Almost half the report’s pages contain some type of redaction including those around the Russian influence campaign, presidential pardons and other topics. Barr has refused to testify in public to the committee after a disagreement over the Democrats’ demand that he answer questions from a staff attorney in addition to lawmakers. The committee is in talks for Mueller himself to appear May 15, but there is no agreement yet, and Trump has said Mueller should not testify. Nadler also has threatened to hold former White House Counsel Don McGahn in contempt of Congress if he doesn’t testify before the committee later this month. Nadler rejected a White House claim that documents McGahn refused to provide despite a subpoena are controlled by the White House and thus McGahn has no legal right to them. Pelosi, who has tamped down calls from her liberal flank to launch impeachment proceedings against Trump, said in a Washington Post interview Wednesday that the president, by obstructing Congress was becoming “self-impeachable.” Mueller, in his report, said he could not establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but he did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein decided there were not grounds to charge Trump with obstruction.<doc-sep>
Dana Bash: This is so telling about where the Republican party is NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 24: Trump Tower stands on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on August 24, 2018 in New York City. Following new allegations over hush money that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid to an adult-film actress, the Manhattan district attorneyÕs office in New York City may seek criminal charges against the Trump Organization in the coming days. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Why GOP is standing in the way of Capitol riot investigation WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 08: US Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA) remarks on the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the US Capitol November 8, 2006 in Washington, DC. Warner said he supports President George W. Bush's nomination of former CIA Director Robert Gates for Secretary of Defense. Warner said he anticipates Gates' confirmation before the end of the year. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), joined by Senate Assistant Minority Leader John Thune (R-SD) (L) and Senate Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), speaks following a Senate Republican Policy luncheon at the Russell Senate Office Building on May 18, 2021 in Washington, DC. (CNN) — The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress, escalating the looming constitutional collision over the Mueller report between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration. The committee voted along party lines, 24 to 16, to hold Barr in contempt. This morning before the vote, President Donald Trump asserted executive privilege over special counsel Robert Mueller’s report and its underlying evidence, following through on a threat the Justice Department made the night before if the committee moved forward with the contempt vote.The contempt vote and the invocation of executive privilege adds more fuel to the simmering feud between House Democrats and the administration over Democratic investigations. The President has vowed to oppose all Democratic subpoenas, and Democrats have responded by suggesting that the President’s obstruction of congressional investigations could prompt them to consider impeachment. Barr would be the first Trump administration official held in contempt by the Democratic-led House. The matter now moves to the full House for a vote — and then is surely heading to a courtroom showdown between House Democrats and the Justice Department in Democrats’ push to obtain the unredacted Mueller report and evidence. The contempt vote followed a spirited and lengthy debate in the committee, where Democrats warned of a constitutional crisis amid the administration’s blockade and Republicans slammed their Democratic colleagues of abusing their power by going after the attorney general. “This is unprecedented. If allowed to go unchecked, this obstruction means the end of congressional oversight. As a co-equal branch of government, we should not and cannot allow this to continue,” House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said. “Democrats are angry. They are angry our nation’s chief law enforcement officer and his deputy had the audacity to decide the evidence didn’t support charges for obstructing an investigation into something the President didn’t do,” responded Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee. “Rather than face the music, Democrats have resolved to neutralize Bill Barr by attacking his integrity and distinguished career.” The Justice Department told the committee just minutes before the hearing on contempt began Wednesday that the President had invoked executive privilege over all the materials that Nadler had subpoenaed. “Faced with Chairman Nadler’s blatant abuse of power, and at the Attorney General’s request, the President has no other option than to make a protective assertion of executive privilege,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. On Tuesday, the committee and Justice Department officials traded offers back and forth as they negotiated to try to stave off the contempt vote. But late Tuesday, the Justice Department sent the committee a letter stating that Barr would ask Trump to invoke executive privilege if the contempt vote moved forward. “In the face of the Committee’s threatened contempt vote, the Attorney General will be compelled to request that the President invoke executive privilege with respect to the materials subject to the subpoena,” wrote Assistant Attorney Stephen Boyd. Nadler responded by saying the vote would be moving forward, accusing the Justice Department of a “last-minute outburst” and urging negotiations over the Mueller report to continue. “The Department’s decision reflects President Trump’s blanket defiance of Congress’s constitutionally mandated duties,” Nadler said in a statement.