House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., says his panel plans to bring in special counsel Robert Mueller to testify on the Russia investigation if the Justice Department does not release his entire report to the public.
“We will obviously subpoena the report. We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress. We take it to court if necessary,” the California Democrat said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday when asked about about transparency of any underlying evidence if someone has not been prosecuted.
Attorney General William Barr assured Democrats in his confirmation hearing that he would make as much of Mueller’s report public as possible. However, as “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos mentioned, officials have said that Justice Department regulations do not require the release of underlying evidence.
Schiff said the Justice Department has already “violated” that policy in the last two years.
“I have had this conversation with [Deputy Attorney General] Rod Rosenstein and others on down at the Justice Department, as they turned over thousands and thousands of pages of discovery in the Clinton email investigation and there was no indictment in that investigation, that this was a new precedent they were setting and they were going to have to live by this precedent whether it was a Congress controlled by the Democrats or Republicans,” Schiff said.
Adam Schiff: DOJ “understands” that they are going to have to make the Mueller report public and if they don’t, “we will obviously subpoena the report, we will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress, we will take it to court if necessary.” Via ABC pic.twitter.com/19dDNkG8ic
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 24, 2019
Mueller is required to submit a confidential report to the attorney general after he wraps up his investigation. In the report, Mueller must explain why he decided to bring charges against or not prosecute any matters under investigation. Rules do not require the report to be shared with Congress or be made public, but Barr is required to inform Congress if the Justice Department prevented Mueller’s team from taking any action.
Six Democratic chairmen in the House, including Schiff, wrote to Barr in a letter Friday, saying they expect he will make Mueller’s report public “without delay and to the maximum extent permitted by law” and to explain why any information is redacted.
Under new Democratic leadership this term, the House Intelligence Committee is embarking on a sweeping investigation into President Trump’s financial transactions and Russia, and Schiff has adamantly stressed that his panel will continue its work unimpeded regardless of what Mueller’s report says.
