Top Democrats Call For Public Release of Mueller Report
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer said Friday evening that it is imperative that Attorney General William Barr make Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s full report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election public.
In a joint statement, Pelosi and Schumer said Barr should not give President Donald Trump or his lawyers a sneak preview of the findings or evidence.
“The White House must not be allowed to interfere in decisions about what parts of those findings or evidence are made public,” they said.
Their statement came amid a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill in the wake of Mueller’s report being delivered by a security officer to the office of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein early Friday afternoon.
Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said the report was delivered to Attorney General Barr minutes later.
New York Democrat Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said in a statement that the committee looks “forward to getting the full Mueller report and related materials.”
He added that transparency and the public interest “demand nothing less” because the public needs to have faith in the rule of law.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said early Friday evening that the White House “has not received or been briefed on the Special Counsel’s report.”
“We look forward to the process taking its course,” she said.
The comprehensive report, still confidential, marks the end of Mueller’s probe but likely sets up a prolonged court battle over who gets to see it in its entirety.
“I am reviewing the report and anticipate that I may be in a position to advise you of the special counsel’s principal conclusions as soon as this weekend,” Barr said in his letter the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary committees.
Barr also said the Justice Department had not denied any requested action by his office.
The great unknown, of course, is what is actually in the Mueller report and whether investigators ultimately concluded the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to sway the presidential election.
However, with the delivery of the report on Friday the investigation ended without any public charges of a criminal conspiracy between the campaign and Russia, or of obstruction by the president.
