House Judiciary Committee preparing to subpoena Attorney General Bill Barr in light of recent Berman firing

• House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler confirmed the committee is preparing to subpoena Attorney General Bill Bar to testify on July 2.
• The news about the intention to subpoena comes in light of the recent ouster of Geoffrey Berman, former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
• Berman was in the midst of investigating Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, among others in the Trump orbit, at the time of his removal by the president.
• Nadler told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that the House committee has "begun the process to issue that subpoena."
• Nadler said he doesn't know if Barr will respect the subpoena, but "the corruption of the Attorney General Barr may lead him to defy it."
• "We have other remedies, too, to try to force the attorney general," Nadler continued. "We can eliminate his office budget. There are a number of things we can do, which we will do."

Rep. Jerry Nadler confirmed the House Judiciary Committee is preparing to subpoena Attorney General Bill Barr to testify on July 2.

The subpoena comes in light of the recent firing of Geoffrey Berman, who previously served as the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Berman was investigating Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, among others in the Trump orbit, at the time of his removal by the president.

Nadler, who is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, appeared on "The Rachel Maddow Show" Monday night, saying it is "very much true" that the House committee has "begun the process to issue that subpoena."

Nadler told Maddow he doesn't know if Barr will respect the subpoena, but "the corruption of the Attorney General Barr may lead him to defy it."

"We have other remedies, too, to try to force the attorney general," Nadler continued. "We can eliminate his office budget. There are a number of things we can do, which we will do."

The committee's intention to subpoena was first reported by Axios, after Daniel Schwarz, a spokesperson for Nadler, confirmed it to the publication.

"There's certain procedural steps that need to be taken if you were going to send a subpoena, but one of them is consulting the minority," Schwarz told Axios.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio responded to the Barr subpoena in a letter to Nadler, which was obtained by Axios. Jordan wrote that Barr had previously agreed to appear voluntarily to testify in March, but the hearing was cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"Attorney General Barr remains willing to testify voluntarily once the pandemic concludes," Jordan wrote in the letter. "Accordingly, there is no legitimate basis for you to compel his testimony at this time."

Representatives from the Justice Department did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.