Special counsel Robert Mueller appears to have the green light to testify before Congress about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by President Trump.
“It’s Bob’s call whether he wants to testify,” Attorney General William Barr told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. He was departing for El Salvador where he would be meeting his Central American counterparts to discuss gang violence. “I’m trying to break away from Washington and do the real work of the attorney general,” he added.
This could represent a breakthrough in the fight being waged between Congress and the Trump administration over access to Mueller’s full, unredacted report, underlying documents, and testimony of some of the key players in the 22 month long probe, including Mueller himself.
Barr previously said he had no objection to Mueller testifying, but Trump gave mixed signals about it over the past couple weeks. Trump tweeted on May 5 that Mueller should not testify because it could amount to further investigations against him. “No redos for the Dems!” he said. On Thursday, Trump reversed course, saying he would leave it to Barr to decide.
Mueller’s camp has been silent on the matter, but both House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., have said they were negotiating with Justice Department to get Mueller to testify before their respective panels.
Lawmakers are eager not only to question Mueller about the investigation and its findings, but also a letter he sent to Barr criticizing the four-page memo about the Russia investigation’s “principal conclusions” that preceded the release of the redacted report. In the letter dated March 27, Mueller objected to Barr’s March 24 memo because it “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the investigation. Mueller called on Barr to alleviate public confusion by releasing the report’s introduction and executive summary for each volume.
Despite this, Barr says the special counsel did not think he misrepresented the investigation’s findings.
Mueller’s report, released last month by the Justice Department with redactions, shows his team was unable to find sufficient evidence to establish criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Mueller also details 10 instances in which Trump might have obstructed justice, but he declines to say either way whether Trump committed a crime citing a Justice Department guideline that sitting presidents cannot be indicted. Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined there was not enough evidence to establish an obstruction offense. Although Trump and his allies say he is exonerated, Democrats have called for more investigations.
Both the judiciary and intelligence panels have subpoenaed for access to the full 448-page Mueller report after the Justice Department released a redacted version last month. After the Justice Department defied to comply with Nadler’s subpoena, the House Judiciary Committee voted to cite Barr for contempt of Congress, but did so along party lines. Meanwhile, the White House asserted executive privilege over Mueller’s findings.
A rare bipartisan push by the House Intelligence Committee, which has seen Schiff team up with ranking member Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., seeks the full Mueller report, as well as the underlying intelligence and counterintelligence materials. Schiff indicated his panel is open to the prospect of contempt if the Justice Department doesn’t cooperate.
Top Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have declared the standoff with the Trump administration a “constitutional crisis” over the refusal to cooperate with congressional investigations into Trump and his inner circle.
