Contempt action launched against US attorney general

US House Democrats scheduled a Wednesday vote on whether to hold the nation's top law enforcement official in contempt for failing to produce a full, unredacted special counsel's report on Russian election interference.

Monday's rare and dramatic move against Attorney General Bill Barr, a sitting cabinet official, intensifies the showdown between President Donald Trump and the Democrats who control the House of Representatives and are seeking to hold him to account for what they say was improper conduct.

"The attorney general's failure to comply with our subpoena, after extensive accommodation efforts, leaves us no choice but to initiate contempt proceedings in order to enforce the subpoena and access the full, unredacted report," House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler said in a statement, after a missed 9:00 am (1300 GMT) deadline.

The committee scheduled a legislative process, known as a markup, to consider a contempt report against Barr beginning at 10:00am Wednesday.

Nadler said he reserved the right to postpone the action should the department present a "good faith offer" for access to the full report and evidence.

The Justice Department said in a letter it remained willing to accommodate the "legitimate needs" of Congress, within the scope of the law.

Barr declared Trump fully cleared of conspiracy with Russia and obstruction of justice shortly after special counsel Robert Mueller presented his 448-page report to the Justice Department. But Democrats have protested that Barr has sought to protect the president by refusing to present the full report or underlying evidence to Congress.

In a 27-page contempt report, Nadler said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump's chief nemesis in Congress, is empowered to "take all appropriate action to enforce the subpoena."