Mueller is coming: Special Counsel reportedly in talks to testify before Congress

Plus: 'Chicken Barr should have shown up today and answered questions,' says Rep. Cohen. [View in browser]( [Image](  MAY 2, 2019 "He lied to Congress. He lied to Congress... If anybody else did that, it would be considered a crime. Nobody is above the law — not the president of the United States, not the attorney general."  [Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted Attorney General William Barr at a press conference Thursday](, saying that part of previous testimony Barr gave Congress on April 9th was a lie. The attorney general then denied knowledge of concerns raised by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team over Barr's four-page summary of the Mueller report. By March 28, Barr had already received a formal letter from Mueller that conveyed the special counsel's concerns and spoken with him about it over the phone.  [Asked by MSNBC's Kasie Hunt]( if Barr should go to jail for lying to Congress, Pelosi paused for a few seconds and said, “There’s a process involved here and as I said, I'll say it again, the committee will act upon how we will proceed.”  Attorney General Barr skipped out on testifying to the House Judiciary Committee Thursday. Barr and the committee's Democratic leadership were at odds over the format of the hearing— specifically whether Barr could be questioned by staff, in addition to lawmakers.   The House Judiciary Committee [still had]( that hearing though, and several members of Congress expressed their displeasure. Notable in his disapproval was Rep. Steve Cohen, who showed up [with a plastic chicken and a tub of Kentucky Fried Chicken](. He proceeded to eat some chicken breast on the dais.  [Image]( "The message is Bill Barr is a chicken," Cohen[told MSNBC's Hallie Jackson](. "Chicken Barr should have shown up today and answered questions," Cohen added.   The decision not to appear before the committee could lead House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler to subpoena the attorney general, although he has not yet done so.  [NBC News reports]( that the Judiciary Committee is now dealing directly with Robert Mueller's team to try to get him to testify before the committee, but that nothing has been finalized at this point. ICYMI: Videos from MSNBC Today [Image]( [Trump & AG Barr's nightmare?: Mueller in talks to break silenceÂ]( House Judiciary Committee has begun discussions directly with Special Counsel Mueller’s team about him testifying before the committee, a source familiar with the discussions tells NBC News. (The Beat with Ari Melber) [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Image](  [White House counsel sends letter to Barr, a 'blistering attack' on Mueller reportÂ]( In a new letter to AG Barr, White House lawyer Emmett Flood described the Mueller report as suffering from an "extraordinary legal defect," and says that it "deliberately fails to comply with the requirements of governing law." (Velshi&Ruhle)  [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Image](  [President Trump gets spiritual on the National Day of PrayerÂ]( Everybody knows Donald Trump's favorite book is the Bible...although it seems pretty clear he's never actually read it. (All In with Chris Hayes) [Facebook]( [Twitter]( More Videos - [Sen. Bernie Sanders says he is "not anti-China" (All In with Chris Hayes)]( - [Bennet: McConnell 'completely immune to give and take' (The Rachel Maddow Show)]( - [Did Kamala Harris’ moment at Barr’s hearing reshape the Democratic primary? (Deadline: White House)]( - [Matthews: Trump is making a big mistake]( - [Six full time staffers investigating Trump for House Intel Cmte.: Maddow]( - [Reuters: Foreign leases at Trump property raise concerns (Velshi&Ruhle)]( - [Trump’s Fed pick, Stephen Moore, withdrew nomination (Velshi&Ruhle)]( - [Filmmakers: 'The foster care system is really misunderstood' (Velshi&Ruhle)]( - [Facebook bans Alex Jones, Yiannopoulos, Farrakhan, others for violating policies (MSNBC Live with Katy Tur)]( - [Why fmr. WH Counsel Don McGahn is 'a very dangerous man' for Trump (The 11th Hour with Brian Williams)]( [Latest from NBC News]( Quote of the Day [“This is an elemental struggle over power... and Democrats are either going to marshal all the power that they have and wield that power or they're not.”]( — Chris Hayes, on the White House brazenly defying Congress on subpoenas ([video]() Road Warriors Dispatch from Jacob Soboroff On family separations I covered family separations on the ground last summer in Texas. Days after President Trump ended the policy his own administration created, the Department of Homeland Security said there was a “central database” that would be used to reunite thousands of parents and kids. But it turns out— according to [emails we exclusively obtained](— officials at both ICE and HHS only had data on 60 of over 2,000 separated parents.  The [emails]( [reveal]( the scramble the administration went through when the separation policy was reversed — and why it ultimately took months to reunite most separated children with their families, a process that continues to this day. [Image] What to watch Friday MSNBC Road Warriors are reporting from across the country, following the 2020 Democratic hopefuls on their campaigns heading into the weekend.  Garrett Haake is in Austin, Texas covering Beto O'Rourke's campaign strategy; Vaughn Hillyard is with Gov. Jay Inslee in Los Angeles; Lee Ann Caldwell in Iowa with Sen. Elizabeth Warren; and Ali Vitali has a one-on-one interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar. This newsletter was prepped for you by Stephanie Haberman and Wyatt Mayes.  Like our new format? Tell us what you think and [drop us an e-mail](mailto:msnbc.digital.editors@nbcuni.com). Lead newsletter photo credit: Jim Watson / AFP - Getty Images [Image: The Oath podcast with Chuck Rosenberg](  A brand new podcast with episodes with James Comey and Preet Bharara. Follow MSNBC [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( [LinkedIn]( Download the NBC News Mobile App and watch MSNBC [Image] [Image] [Privacy]( [Unsubscribe](listvar=sub_daily)