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Whitaker to Meet With House Lawmakers to Clarify Testimony, Official Says

Whitaker to Meet With House Lawmakers to Clarify Testimony, Official Says

(Bloomberg) -- Former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will meet Wednesday with the top Democrat and Republican on the House Judiciary Committee to clarify some of his answers from a hearing last month, an official familiar with the committee’s activities said Monday.

Whitaker left the Justice Department earlier this month after William Barr’s swearing-in as attorney general.

The meeting Wednesday with Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York and the panel’s top Republican, Doug Collins of Georgia, isn’t a formal deposition or transcribed interview. But it’s a follow-up to Whitaker’s Feb. 8 testimony to the full committee, which Nadler concluded by saying he fully intended to have Whitaker return.

Nadler told Whitaker in a Feb. 12 letter that he’s seeking clarification on whether President Donald Trump called Whitaker to express frustration after the president’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in Manhattan to lying to Congress and arranging hush money payments on the president’s behalf.

Nadler also is seeking details on dates and times Whitaker was briefed on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference.

Nadler had said earlier that he was leaving his options open. “I fully intend to call you back for an interview, by subpoena if necessary,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo

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