U.S. House judiciary panel intends to subpoena Attorney General Barr

[June 23, 2020]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee intends to subpoena Attorney General William Barr to testify about the firing of a federal prosecutor whose office had been investigating President Donald Trump's personal lawyer.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr speaks during a roundtable discussion on "America's seniors" hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 15, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis

A spokeswoman for the committee confirmed the move on Monday, but said no official date had been set for Barr's appearance.

Democrat Jerrold Nadler, the committee's chairman, told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that Barr deserved to be impeached over the issue but the Senate's Republican majority would block such a move.

Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to Nadler on Monday saying he opposed issuing a subpoena and urged him instead to try to find a mutually agreeable date for the attorney general to testify.

The dispute began on Friday when Barr announced Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, was stepping down and would be replaced by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton.

Berman then issued a statement saying he refused to resign, a position he only backed down from on Saturday after Barr allowed Berman's deputy Audrey Strauss to take the reins on an acting basis.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Writing by Mohammad Zargham; editing by Jane Wardell)

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