The Latest: Empty chair for Barr as House opens hearing

WASHINGTON — The Latest on a House Judiciary Committee hearing about the attorney general’s handling of the special counsel’s Russia report (all times local):

9:15 a.m.

The House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing that isn’t really a hearing, with lawmakers facing an empty chair after Attorney General William Barr informed the panel he wouldn’t show up for the session on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler said as the session opened Thursday that Barr has “a choice” whether to stand up to President Donald Trump, who has pledged to fight congressional oversight.

Democratic members of the committee had fun with the spectacle, with Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen bringing buckets of fried chicken and Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline jokingly looking under the desk to make sure Barr wasn’t there.

For most of Wednesday, Barr underwent at times scathing questioning by Democratic senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The House panel is considering holding Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to show.

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12:10 a.m.

There might well be an empty witness chair when the House Judiciary Committee meets to discuss the special counsel’s report and Attorney General William Barr’s handling of it.

Barr has told the Democratic-run committee that he will not appear at Thursday morning’s hearing. The committee’s chairman, New York Democrat Jerrold Nadler, says the panel will meet anyway.

For most of Wednesday, Barr underwent at times scathing questioning by Democratic senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The House panel is considering holding Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to show.

The House panel also is weighing whether to issue subpoenas after the Justice Department let pass a committee deadline to provide the panel with a full, unredacted version of Mueller’s Russia report and its underlying evidence.

The Associated Press