Nadler prepares subpoena

Nadler prepares subpoena for Whitaker if he backs out of testimony

By ANDREW DESIDERIO

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler is preparing to issue a subpoena to compel acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to testify before his panel, signaling he might be anticipating a no-show for Friday’s public hearing.

“In an abundance of caution — to ensure that Mr. Whitaker both appears in the hearing room on Friday morning and answers our questions cleanly — I have asked the Committee to authorize me to issue a subpoena to compel his testimony,” Nadler said in a statement Tuesday. “To be clear, I hope never to use this subpoena.”

The committee will debate a resolution to approve a subpoena later this week, Nadler said. It's the closest a Democratic committee chairman has come to issuing a subpoena since the party took control of the House last month.

Democrats have said they plan to press Whitaker on his supervision of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, including his conversations with the White House and his controversial decision to not recuse himself from overseeing the probe, given his past criticisms of the investigation.

Nadler sent Whitaker a list of questions in advance of the hearing and has vowed to use all of his procedural tools to ensure that the acting attorney general, who is seen as being loyal to President Donald Trump, answers those questions in full.

In a rare bipartisan overture, Nadler pledged last month to coordinate his subpoena efforts with the committee’s top Republican, Doug Collins of Georgia. In his statement Tuesday, Nadler said he consulted with Collins last week, but said Collins “expressed reservations” about Nadler’s desire to have a subpoena in his back pocket.

“I intend to be fully transparent about this process,” Nadler said. “There need not be surprises here. We have been quite public about our intention to obtain this information from Mr. Whitaker.”