Bill Barr did not mince words about his brawl with House Democrats when he ran

into Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday on the sidelines of a Capitol Hill event.
According to a source close to the attorney general, Barr approached her in a holding tent
after the National Peace Officers Memorial Service and asked whether she had brought her
handcuffs.
CALLS TO JAIL ATTORNEY GENERAL BARR GROW FROM DEMOCRATIC
RANKS
The quip was a reference to the calls from some rank-and-file Democrats for Barr himself to
be arrested, amid the fight over access to Russia probe documents.

The House Judiciary Committee voted last week to hold Barr in contempt for failing to
comply with a subpoena for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s unredacted Russia report and
underlying materials, as President Trump asserted executive privilege to protect those same
files from release.

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., was one of the first calling for the House to pursue “inherent
contempt,” which would have Barr arrested by the sergeant at arms—a tactic reportedly not
employed since the 1930s.

Several other lawmakers, including Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Pramila Jayapal, D-
Wash., have warmed to the idea.

“We know how to arrest people around here,” Raskin told Politico. “And if we need to arrest
someone, the [House] sergeant-at-arms will know how to do it. I’m not afraid of that.”

He added: “If they can arrest my constituents, we can arrest someone else who’s disobeying
the law.”

But despite rank-and-file Democrats calling for the drastic measure, Pelosi has seemed cool
to the idea. Last week, she pushed back when asked about the potential step.

“We do have a jail in the basement of the Capitol, but if we were arresting all of the people in
the administration, we would have an overcrowded jail situation,” Pelosi said. “And I’m not
for that.”
Inherent contempt is one of three contempt options available, along with criminal contempt
(under which an individual is charged with a crime) and civil judgment (leading to a civil
court process).

IMPRISONING BILL BARR IS LEFT'S NEW RALLYING CRY: 'HAVE HIM

LOCKED UP'
But while Pelosi has not outright called for his arrest, the speaker has claimed that the
attorney general lied to Congress.

“He lied to Congress. And if anybody else did that, it would be considered a crime,” Pelosi
told reporters last month. “Nobody is above the law. Not the president of the United States.
Not the attorney general.