Trump news: Pelosi says Barr committed ‘crimes’ as house votes to force president to keep US in Paris climate agreement

Read along from our coverage of Washington as it happened

William Barr eviscerated by Democratic senator Marie Hirono at Mueller report hearing

Attorney general William Barr has refused to show up for planned testimony before the House Judiciary Committee after enduring a grilling by Democratic senators on Wednesday, who questioned his handling of the Mueller report and called for his resignation.

On Thursday, Democrats in the House blasted Mr Barr for skipping the hearing, and accused the executive branch of subverting constitutional checks and balances by undermining Congress.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the challenge we face is that the president of the United States wants desperately to prevent Congress, a co-equal branch of government, from providing any check whatsoever to even his most reckless decisions,” said chairman Jerrold Nadler, addressing an empty chair as colleague Steve Cohen chewed on a bucket of fried chicken, a stunt to imply Mr Barr was a coward for failing to attend.

Democrats accused Mr Barr on Wednesday of acting as Donald Trump’s human shield by declining to pursue obstruction of justice charges against the president. And, those same Democats called for the attorney general's resignation after the existence of a letter written to him by Robert Mueller appeared to suggest he had lied to Congress during a previous appearance on 10 April.

That drama playing out in Washington came as unrest in Venezuela has persisted, with the United States supporting regime change.

In response to the US position, representative Ilhan Omar claimed that US use of sanctions to force regime change has led to strife in Central America. Ms Omar went as far as to say that US foreign policy in Central America has exacerbated the immigration problem at the US southern border.

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Key Points

• William Barr refuses to appear before House Judiciary and branded a 'chicken'
• Attorney general subjected to torrid interrogation by Senate Democrats
• Nearly half of American voters think Trump's tweets will cost him 2020, poll finds
• White House requests $4.5bn in additional emergency funding for border 'crisis'

[2 May 2019 15:02 · Clark Mindock]

Representative Jerry Nadler has threatened to hold Mr Barr in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify today, and for refusing to deliver an un-redacted version of the Mueller report to the House.

He said, during a press conference this morning, that he would give Mr Barr a "day or two" to hand over the report.

[2 May 2019 15:51 · Clark Mindock]

Representative Ted Lieu pushed back this morning when asked if Democrat efforts to force the Trump administration to hand over documents had backfired when Mr Barr was a no-show.

Mr Lieu painted a pretty clear picture of how he sees things going forward, if the White House continues to resist handing over evidence to the House Judiciary Committee:

“If we can’t gather the facts, then we’re going to launch an Article III impeachment. Under Nixon, what happened to him, Article III was obstructed congress. If we can’t gather facts, that may be the only tool we have left, and we’ll use it if we have no other tools left.”

[2 May 2019 16:09 · Clark Mindock]

Nancy Pelosi is briefing reporters during her weekly press conference in the Capitol.

She has blasted Republicans in the Senate, and accused Mr Barr of committing crimes by lying to Congress.

"They're not even loyal to strengthening the institution of which we are a part," Ms Pelosi said of yesterday of Republican questioning of Mr Barr, saying that they were beholden to special interests in their questioning.

On Mr Barr's potential crimes:

"He lied to Congress," she said. "If anyone else did it, it would be considered a crime."

[2 May 2019 16:12 · Clark Mindock]

Here's what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of Mr Barr's motivations yesterday:

"What is his motivation? His motivation is not to oath of office. It's to President Trump and special interests," she said.

[2 May 2019 16:30 · Clark Mindock]

In case you missed it, here's what House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler had to say about Mr Barr's no-show this morning.

He says he will give him another chance, even as he has suggested he could hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress if he doesn't comply with their requests.

"The attorney general is bound, as are other witnesses to come before the committee, and he cannot dictate to us how we will do our job. We feel that this is the most effective way of doing it, and that is our decision,” Mr Nadler said. 

[2 May 2019 16:50 · Clark Mindock]

The White House has mocked Democrats in the House after Mr Barr's no-show this morning.

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the events show that House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler can't handle power.

“I think what we’re seeing from Chairman Nadler is he’s incapable of holding power,” Ms Sanders said on Thursday morning.

She continued: "If he and his committee aren’t capable of actually asking the attorney general themselves and need to staff that out, it seems like a pretty pathetic moment for the chairman of that committee and look — we lost confidence in Jerry Nadler a long time ago but it’s surprising to find out he’s actually lost confidence in himself and his capability to do his job. If he can’t and he’s not capable of asking the attorney general questions- maybe he should step down and resign and allow somebody else that can.”

[2 May 2019 17:20 · Clark Mindock]

As politicos in Washington clutch their pearls following Mr Barr's House Judiciary snub, the situation in Venezuela remains fraught:

[2 May 2019 17:35 · Clark Mindock]

Stephen Moore has withdrawn himself from contention for a seat on the Federal Reserve, according to Donald Trump.

Mr Moore had been mired in controversy, and had seemingly lost support from Republicans in Congress who would have been key to his nomination.

[2 May 2019 18:00 · Clark Mindock]

Republicans are saying that Democrats are turning Congress into a "circus".

Doug Collins, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said that there is "no precedent" for allowing a single lawyer to question a congressional witness. Democrats had planned on conducting all of their questioning of Mr Barr through a single lawyer in an effort to keep the questioning on topic given rules related to how long each House member is allowed to question the witness.

“Why does the Chairman think so little of his lawyers on his committee that he wouldn’t take 30 minutes for himself or for others to actually ask questions?” Mr Collins said.

[2 May 2019 18:29 · Clark Mindock]

Democrats in the House have just voted to force Donald Trump to keep the US in the Paris climate accord.

The vote follows after Mr Trump decided to remove the US from the landmark agreement, which was negotiated by his predecessor and aimed at reducing carbon emissions and the risk of climate change.

“Today, we are honoring the United States’ commitment to the Paris Agreement and rejecting President Trump’s disastrous plan to withdraw," a statement from Repesentatives Alan Lowenthal and Don Beyer reads.

“The climate crisis is a public health issue. It is an economic issue. It is a national security issue. It is a civil rights issue. We are proud to pass the first bill in a decade to do something about it, and we expect to follow the Climate Action Now Act with further legislation.”