House Democrats approve subpoenas for a who’s who of Mueller witnesses

WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a dozen new subpoenas targeting a who’s who of witnesses cited in Robert Mueller’s report as Democrats sought to elevate their showdown with President Donald Trump over episodes of possible obstruction of justice documented by the special counsel.

The panel also approved a separate group of subpoenas seeking information about the Trump administration’s practice of separating children from their families at the border.

And House Democratic leaders set Tuesday for a full House vote to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress over their refusal to relinquish under subpoena documents related to the administration’s efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

“The House will not shirk from its oversight of this administration and its malign effort to silence the voices of millions in our democracy,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the majority leader, referring to fears that a citizenship question would dissuade immigrants from answering the census.

Among the prominent figures to be subpoenaed by the Democrats are Jeff Sessions, the former attorney general; Rod Rosenstein, his deputy who appointed Mueller, the special counsel; John Kelly, the former White House chief of staff; Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser; and Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign manager. Democrats also authorized a subpoena for David Pecker, who as head of American Media helped Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign buy the silence of a pornographic film actress and a former Playboy model, both of whom claimed to have had sexual relationships with him.

White House officials could try to intervene to block testimony from many of those subpoenaed Thursday who are current or former high-level administration officials, as they have with other witnesses.

On the census issue, Barr and Ross could still reach an accommodation with the House Oversight and Reform Committee, but more likely, Tuesday’s vote would allow the committee to go to court to try to pry the documents loose and make criminal referrals for Barr and Ross to the Justice Department for defying congressional subpoenas.

Trump fumed about the new subpoenas on Twitter on Thursday morning, urging Democrats to “go back to work” on policy issues rather than trying to take additional “bites at the apple” after the conclusion of Mueller’s 22-month investigation.