Before Attorney General William Barr testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Chairman Jerry Nadler wants the Justice Department to hand over a letter special counsel Robert Mueller wrote criticizing the four-page summary of his report.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday evening that Mueller wrote to Barr last month to object to his summary because it “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the 22-month investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by President Trump.
The letter is the first known instance of Mueller commenting on Barr’s controversial rollout of his report, which has been heavily criticized by Democrats.
Coupled with a fight over the terms of Thursday’s hearing and the Justice Department’s unwillingness to set a date for Mueller to testify, Nadler, D-N.Y., said the letter confirms his suspicion that Barr sought to spin Mueller’s findings before they were released to the public.
“The Special Counsel was concerned, among other things, that the Attorney General’s mischaracterization ‘threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations.’ He also requested that the Department release the introduction and executive summaries prepared by the Special Counsel’s team — as I did at the time,” Nadler said in a post to Medium. “The Special Counsel’s concerns reflect our own. The Attorney General should not have taken it upon himself to describe the Special Counsel’s findings in a light more favorable to the President. It was only a matter of time before the facts caught up to him.”
Nadler scolded Barr for withholding the letter from Congress and asked that it be delivered by 10 a.m. Wednesday, the same time Barr’s hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee is set to begin.
In the summary, Barr said Mueller found no evidence of conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. The summary also said Mueller did not reach a conclusion about whether Trump obstructed justice, adding that Barr and Rosenstein then concluded there was insufficient evidence to establish such a charge. Trump and his allies seized on the summary, claiming the president was completely exonerated.
The Post report said after Mueller sent the letter to Barr, the two talked on the phone. While Mueller said the summary was not inaccurate, he stressed that it was misleading and was being misinterpreted by the media. “After the Attorney General received Special Counsel Mueller’s letter, he called him to discuss it. In a cordial and professional conversation, the Special Counsel emphasized that nothing in the Attorney General’s March 24 letter was inaccurate or misleading. But, he expressed frustration over the lack of context and the resulting media coverage regarding the Special Counsel’s obstruction analysis,” a Justice Department official said.
The letter further escalates a standoff between Nadler and Barr, who were already feuding over the format of Thursday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing. Barr has threatened to pull out in objection to having to answer questions from not only members but also the counsel for each party.
Nadler, who has threatened subpoena action if Barr backs out, remained resolute Thursday evening.
“The Attorney General has expressed some reluctance to appear before the House Judiciary Committee this Thursday. These reports make it that much more important for him to appear and answer our questions. The Department of Justice has also been reluctant to confirm a date for Special Counsel Mueller to testify. Given this evening’s reports, I will press the Department to schedule that hearing without delay,” he said.
Other Democrats have taken to more extreme calls for accountability, namely immediate resignation. “On April 20th, I asked Barr, ‘Did Bob Mueller support your conclusion?’ His answer was, ‘I don’t know whether Mueller supported my conclusion.’ We now know Mueller stated his concerns on March 27th, and that Barr totally misled me, the Congress, and the public. He must resign,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., tweeted.
On April 20th, I asked Barr, “Did Bob Mueller support your conclusion?” His answer was, “I don’t know whether Mueller supported my conclusion.”
We now know Mueller stated his concerns on March 27th, and that Barr totally misled me, the Congress, and the public. He must resign. pic.twitter.com/rod404BbYo
— Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) May 1, 2019
On the other side of the aisle, Republicans argue their Democratic counterparts are overreacting. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on Monday that Nadler was going “way over the top” with the terms of Thursday’s hearing. Noting how Mueller found no conspiracy between Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Kremlin, Graham added, “This is political revenge. The House is on a witch hunt — truly a witch hunt to try to make something out of nothing.”
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a member of the Judiciary Committee, encouraged Barr not to make an appearance unless Democrats relent on the format which he said is a covert way to start impeachment proceedings against Trump. “They are just not calling it that. And the reason they’re not calling it that is because they know it is not justified and they know the American people do not want it. But that is what they are doing and that’s why they want the staff to ask Bill Barr questions because that is how it works in the impeachment process,” Jordan told Fox Business on Tuesday evening.
While Barr’s testimony before the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee remains in doubt, the fireworks are expected to begin Wednesday morning on the Senate side. Barr hinted at how he will answer pointed questions that are sure to come from Democrats at the end of his prepared remarks. “From here on, the exercise of responding and reacting to the report is a matter for the American people and the political process. As I am sure you agree, it is vitally important for the Department of Justice to stand apart from the political process and not to become an adjunct of it,” Barr will say.
