Democrats Demand Attorney General Barr Turn Over Full Mueller Report
House Democrats are giving Attorney General William Barr until April 2 to provide a copy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report to Congress after lawmakers were only given a four-page summary of the investigation.
Six House committee chairs wrote a letter Monday to Barr demanding the full report into whether President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia and whether Trump obstructed justice. The letter also asked for the investigation’s underlying evidence and materials by next week.
“Your March 24 letter concerning Special Counsel Mueller’s report leaves open many questions concerning the conduct of the President and his closest advisors, as well as that of the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election,” the letter stated. “Accordingly, we formally request that you release the Special Counsel’s full report to Congress no later than Tuesday, April 2. We also ask that you begin transmitting the underlying evidence and materials to the relevant committees at the time.”
The letter was signed by House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, House Financial Chairwoman Maxine Waters, House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal and House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel.
“Each of our committees is currently engaged in oversight activities that go directly to the President’s conduct, his attempts to interfere with federal and congressional investigations, his relationships and communications with the Russian government and other foreign powers, and/or other alleged instances of misconduct,” the letter said. “Your four-page summary of the Special Counsel’s review is not sufficient for Congress, as a coequal branch of government, to perform this critical work.”
Democrats called for transparency in the report of Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation after reading Barr’s principal conclusions of the report. Barr’s summary submitted Sunday said Mueller “ultimately determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment” about whether Trump obstructed justice. The attorney general, a Trump appointee who started his job last month, decided after reading Mueller’s report that there was not enough evidence to establish Trump’s guilt.
The attorney general has previously said he believes Justice Department rules prevent him from releasing derogatory information about individuals his office has not criminally charged. A Justice Department opinion also says federal prosecutors cannot indict a sitting president.
The letter from the committee chairs addressed Barr’s hesitation.
“To the extent that you believe applicable law limits your ability to comply, we urge you to begin the process of consultation with us immediately in order to establish shared parameters for resolving those issues without delay,” the letter stated.
In addition to the Monday night letter, Democrats have also threatened to issue a subpoena in order to get the full report. The House Judiciary Committee said Sunday that it plans to call Barr to testify before lawmakers, citing “very concerning discrepancies” in the attorney general’s summary. The full House also unanimously approved a resolution on March 14 calling for the release of the full Mueller report.
Read the full letter here:
Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
