House Democratic Leaders Set Deadline to See Full Mueller Report

March 26, 2019 by Dan McCue
House Democratic Leaders Set Deadline to See Full Mueller Report
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) at a town hall meeting at The Riverside Church in Morningside Heights in New York on August 8, 2018. (Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA/TNS)

The Democratic chairs of six House committees sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr late Monday demanding that Congress receive Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s full report on his Russia probe no later than Tuesday, April 2.

In their letter, House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler and the five other chairs said Barr’s four-page summary of Mueller’s work is “not sufficient for Congress, a coequal branch of government, to perform oversight duties.”

The other signatories are House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., and House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.

They argue that providing the report “in complete and unredacted form,” along with the underlying evidence and materials, would be fully consistent with the Justice Department practice and precedent in regard to its interactions with Congress.

“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 says.

In his first communication with Congress on the report, Barr said Mueller did not find that President Donald Trump or members of his presidential campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 elections.

Barr went on to say Mueller did not implicate or exonerate Trump of obstruction of justice, effectively punting that question. Absent a recommendation from Mueller, Barr stepped in and decided there wasn’t sufficient evidence to establish that the president obstructed justice.

On a related note, the House Intelligence Committee has postponed Wednesday’s public hearing with Felix Sater, a longtime business associate of President Trump, in order to instead focus on bringing in Justice Department officials to testify on Mueller’s investigation.

In a statement the committee said, “In light of the cursory letter from the Attorney General, and our need to understand Special Counsel Mueller’s areas of inquiry and evidence his office uncovered, we are working in parallel with other Committees to bring in senior officials from the DOJ, FBI and SCO [special counsel’s office] to ensure that our Committee is fully and currently informed about the SCO’s investigation, including all counterintelligence information.”

“With the focus on those efforts this week, we are postponing Mr. Sater’s open interview,” the statement said.

Democratic leaders in Congress continue to follow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lead in asserting  impeachment — a prospect much discussed while Mueller’s investigation was ongoing — is not something they are thinking about as they press demands the full Mueller report be made public.

At least one dissenter in the caucus is continuing to try to make the case for impeachment. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., is circulating a letter among her colleagues in support of a resolution that would instruct the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether the president had “committed impeachable offenses.”

But when she reportedly presented the letter to fellow Democrats in a closed door meeting on Monday, she had no takers.

Asked about the meeting later that night, Pelosi was succinct.

“All I’m interested in is for them to release the full report, the full Mueller report,” the California Democrat said.

 

A+
a-
  • Congress
  • Democrats
  • Jerrold Nadler
  • Robert Mueller
  • William Barr
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    April 26, 2025
    by Beth McCue
    New Poll Finds Tipping Point on Business Attitudes to Renewable Energy Shift  

    A new poll conducted across 15 countries, by Savanta and commissioned by E3G, Beyond Fossil Fuels and We Mean Business... Read More

    A new poll conducted across 15 countries, by Savanta and commissioned by E3G, Beyond Fossil Fuels and We Mean Business Coalition  shows overwhelming support for a rapid transition away from fossil fuels to renewable electricity.   Powering up: Business perspectives on shifting to renewable electricity indicates a... Read More

    April 25, 2025
    by Dan McCue
    Kennedy Unveils Plan to Expand Access to Sickle Cell Treatment

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used a morning keynote address before a group of state lawmakers... Read More

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used a morning keynote address before a group of state lawmakers in Charleston, South Carolina, to unveil a new initiative intended to expand access to the latest treatments for sickle cell disease. Kennedy offered few details in... Read More

    April 25, 2025
    by Dan McCue
    Rubio Welcomes Iraqi Foreign Minister for High-Level Talks

    WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein for high-level talks at the State Department... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein for high-level talks at the State Department on Friday, a clear sign the Trump administration is forging strategic dialogues in the face of shifting dynamics in the Middle East. After the meeting, Hussein,... Read More

    April 25, 2025
    by Tom Ramstack
    Government Lawyers Mistakenly Admit New York Congestion Pricing Is Legal

    WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s lawyers appear to have booby-trapped their own chances this week of defeating New York City’s... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s lawyers appear to have booby-trapped their own chances this week of defeating New York City’s congestion pricing program that charges motorists for driving downtown. They inadvertently filed a memo with the court overseeing a lawsuit between the state and federal government... Read More

    Ex-US Rep. George Santos Sentenced to Over 7 Years in Prison for Fraud and Identity Theft

    CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos was sentenced Friday to over seven years in prison, sobbing as... Read More

    CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos was sentenced Friday to over seven years in prison, sobbing as he learned his punishment for the crimes that led to his expulsion from Congress. Santos, who pleaded guilty last summer to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft,... Read More

    Whooping Cough Cases Rising Again in the US

    Whooping cough cases are rising, and doctors are bracing for yet another tough year. There have been 8,485 cases reported in... Read More

    Whooping cough cases are rising, and doctors are bracing for yet another tough year. There have been 8,485 cases reported in 2025, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s twice as many cases as this time last year, based on the... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top