WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr has informed lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee that he will skip a hearing on special counsel Robert Mueller's report , escalating an already acrimonious battle between Democrats and the Justice Department.

Barr's decision — he cites a disagreement over the questioning — came the day the department missed a committee deadline to provide the panel with a full, unredacted version of Mueller's Russia report and its underlying evidence. Those moves are likely to prompt a vote on holding Barr in contempt and possibly the issuance of subpoenas...