House Democrats Doing Their Best to Let William Barr Turn In His Homework Late

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler warned Attorney General William Barr on Friday that he has just one more chance to comply with a congressional subpoena before he’s in very big trouble, according to a letter sent to the Department of Justice.

Nadler’s letter comes as Barr blew past the House’s Wednesday deadline to turn over Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s un-redacted report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, and President Donald Trump’s efforts to influence the ensuing investigation. And now, Nadler says, Barr has a new deadline of May 6, at 9:00 a.m. sharp, to fork over the goods before Democrats get super-duper serious this time.

“If the Department [of Justice] persists in its baseless refusal to comply with validly issued subpoena, the committee will move to contempt hearings proceedings, and seek legal recourse,” Nadler’s letter stated.

Uh-oh, looks like they mean it this time!!!

The Democrats’ deadline-pushing dithering comes amidst a larger fight between Barr’s DOJ and the Judiciary Committee, which saw the attorney general conspicuously ghost a scheduled Thursday hearing, after he threw a hissy fit over the prospect of being questioned by committee staffers. And now, clearly frustrated by Barr’s foot-dragging shenanigans, Democrats are ready to show him just who’s boss… by giving him even more time to turn in his already overdue homework, even though, as Nadler’s letter says:

…The Department has offered no reason whatsoever for failing to produce the evidence underlying [Mueller’s] report, except for a complaint that there is too much of it and a vague assertion about the sensitivity of law enforcement files.

So why is Nadler going out of his way to afford Barr even more time to inevitably give him the finger? Presumably to give the impression that he’s being reasonable and accommodating, while his fellow Democrats are increasingly calling for Barr to step down—or face impeachment—outright.

Well, sorry, but that’s bullshit. Barr’s already shown time and time again that he doesn’t give a damn, no matter how reasonable and accommodating Democrats want to look. If Nadler really wants to counteract Barr—and by extension, the entire Trump administration—he should have brought down the hammer, hard.