House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler is trying to appease people in the Democratic base calling for President Donald Trump's impeachment at a time when most Americans want Congress to get back to business, Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, said Tuesday.
"This is about trying to save face," Rep. Ratcliffe told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "Seventy percent of the American people say cut the impeachment garbage, let's get on with infrastructure, immigration, all the things that Democrats promised us that they would do if they were in charge of the House."
The House is to vote on a resolution Tuesday that will empower the Judiciary Committee to file a civil lawsuit for materials being demanded from Attorney General William Barr, even while Nadler said Monday his panel will not vote to hold him in criminal contempt following an agreement with the Justice Department.
Ratcliffe, though, said there is a "0% chance" Democratic lawyers will walk into a court and argue an attorney general should be held in contempt for refusing a subpoena that requires him to commit a crime by releasing grand jury information, and the measure is all about "trying to save face."
Further, he claimed the documents Nadler has been demanding have been available for "some time," and the delay allows him a way to back off his demands because he "overplayed his hand" on the Barr subpoenas.
Ratcliffe said he does not know if the documents will be made public, however.
The lawmaker also commented on the testimony of former White House counsel John Dean before Judiciary, saying it was all about trying to keep Trump in the public view, despite special counsel Robert Mueller's report.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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