Attorney General William Barr is reportedly still on board with allowing special counsel Robert Mueller to testify before Congress, even though President Trump says he should not.
A source told ABC News that Barr, who has the authority to block the special counsel from testifying, believes Mueller should appear before lawmakers. That aligns with Barr’s position during an April 18 news conference in which he said he has “no objection to Bob Mueller personally testifying.”
But the president opposes allowing Mueller to face congressional queries. “Bob Mueller should not testify,” Trump tweeted on Sunday. “No redos for the Dems!”
A representative for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
Mueller wrapped up the Russia investigation in March. His team did not find sufficient evidence showing criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin during the 2016 election. Mueller, did not, however, clear Trump of obstruction of justice. Barr says he determined that there is insufficient evidence to prove an obstruction crime, but Democrats argue that Mueller’s report, which outlines 10 instances of possible obstruction, leaves it up to Congress to investigate and decide.
Barr testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week about Mueller’s investigation but refused to appear before the House Judiciary Committee due to a clash with the Democratic majority who sought to allow committee lawyers to ask questions.
Democrats have urged Republicans to summon Mueller to testify because they believe Barr was not credible and misled the public with his rollout of Mueller’s report. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused Trump of attempting to “silence the special counsel.”
“We need special counsel Mueller to testify because, as we have seen, the attorney general has shown us he cannot be trusted on the matter of the Russia investigation,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Monday.
