The DOJ shot down Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler’s subpoena for the full, unredacted Mueller Report and underlying documents on Wednesday.

A letter from Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd to Nadler said, “Allowing your committee to use Justice Department investigative files to re-investigate the same matters that the department has investigated and to second-guess decisions that have been made by the department would not only set a dangerous precedent, but would also have immediate negative consequences.” The letter also said Nadler’s subpoena was “not legitimate oversight” and an “overbroad and extraordinarily burdensome” request.

On Friday, Nadler sent a new offer to Barr (which can be viewed here) in his mission to obtain the full report. He has also threatened to hold Barr in contempt if he fails to comply by Monday at 9 am.

Nadler’s letter begins by asking why the DOJ “is willing to allow only a small number of Members to view a less-redacted version of the report, subject to the condition that they cannot discuss what they have seen with anyone else.” He asks Barr to reconsider this.

Nadler notes that the DOJ is also “unwilling to work with the Committee to seek a court order permitting disclosure of materials in the report that are subject to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e).” (Note: Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) indicates grand jury material.) He reiterates his request that the DOJ work together with his staff to obtain a court order that would permit Congress to obtain this material. Nadler said Congress has obtained Rule 6(e) material in the past under the “judicial proceeding” exception.

Next, Nadler writes:

The Committee is willing to prioritize a specific, defined set of underlying investigative and evidentiary materials for immediate production. As indicated in item two of the Committee’s subpoena, the Committee has a heightened interest in obtaining access to the investigative and evidentiary materials specifically cited in the report. This discrete and readily identifiable set of documents includes reports from witness interviews (commonly known as “302s”) and items such as contemporaneous notes taken by witnesses of relevant events. Since these materials are publicly cited and described in the Mueller report, there can be no question about the Committee’s need for and right to this underlying evidence.

He claims that because current DOJ policy does not allow a sitting president to be indicted, it is especially urgent that Congress be able to review the underlying evidence. In a reference to impeachment, Nadler added, “Congress must be allowed to “evaluate whether constitutional remedies are appropriate.”

Nadler wrote that the DOJ’s insistence that “Congress’s requests do not serve “legitimate purposes” is not the Department’s judgment to make.”

Big, bad Jerry Nadler. I’m sure Barr is shaking in his boots.