Vice President Mike Pence dismissed Democratic leadership’s claims that the U.S. is in the midst of a “Constitutional crisis” on Friday and dismissed the contempt recommendation against the attorney general as merely divisive rhetoric.
“The President and I fully support Attorney General Barr’s decision to refuse to testify under the conditions of the Judiciary Committee put forward,” Pence said during an interview with Fox News broadcast on Friday. “I was on the Judiciary Committee for more than a decade. I don’t have any memory of a member of the Cabinet ever being questioned by committee staff. And I served under Republican and Democrat presidents. So, look, this is not a constitutional crisis. This can be resolved. We’ll leave it to the attorney general to work out arrangements. But it’s time to dial down the rhetoric on Capitol Hill.”
Pence shoots down Nadler and Pelosi's "Constitutional crisis" pic.twitter.com/2nyn0zNuYD
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) May 10, 2019
Both Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) have claimed that the government is in the midst of a “Constitutional crisis” over the Trump administration’s handling of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report and its efforts to block Congress’ oversight efforts.