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US Justice Dept Will Not Prosecute Barr, Ross for Defying Subpoenas - Deputy AG

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Justice Department will not prosecute Attorney General William Barr or Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross for refusing congressional subpoenas related to the census citizenship controversy, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said.
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"The Department has determined that the response by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Commerce to the subpoena issued by the Committee on Oversight and Reform did not constitute a crime," Rosen said in a letter House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday.

The Justice Department "will not bring the congressional contempt citations before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute the Attorney General or the Secretary," Rosen added.

President Donald Trump had asserted executive privilege and directed the Attorney General and the Commerce Secretary not to provide the subpoenaed documents to the committee, Rosen wrote to Pelosi.

Rosen noted that the Justice Department had taken exactly the same position in 2012 when then-President Barack Obama directed Attorney General Eric Holder not to release any documents to the same Committee on Oversight and Reform connected with its investigation into Operation Fast and Furious.

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