Attorney General William Barr on Thursday said he would have no objections to special counsel Robert Mueller personally testifying before Congress on the findings in his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have called for it. Now Mueller should agree to make this happen.
Assuming what Barr said is accurate, the Mueller report did not establish that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. At the same time, Barr asserted that Mueller presented evidence that could be potentially seen as obstruction of justice, but that he did not ultimately decide to reach a conclusion.
[WATCH: William Barr’s press conference on Mueller report release]
We’ll know soon whether Barr is accurately conveying the substance of Mueller’s report, but many questions will remain even after it is released. In Barr’s account, Mueller conveyed to him in a separate meeting that his decision not to pursue obstruction charges was unrelated to considerations about whether it was possible to indict a sitting president. It would be good to be able to hear that directly from Mueller.
More broadly, after a two-year investigation, the American people have an interest in hearing directly from the special counsel about his findings and hearing him answer any questions that will no doubt remain after the report is released. Barr also said he consulted with Mueller’s team about redactions in the report. It would be helpful to hear whether Mueller was on the same page about the redactions, and I’m sure Democrats will want to hear from Mueller about whether the hidden material has the result of downplaying evidence gathered against Trump.
Americans would benefit from having Mueller say, publicly, that there was no collusion, if indeed that was the case. Democrats will want to draw out Mueller more on the obstruction issue, and no doubt Republicans will want to press Mueller about the origins of the investigation.
For a public figure in the modern age, Mueller has been granted incredible leeway in conducting his investigation without having to answer questions about his various decisions. Now that his investigation has concluded, it’s time for him to answer questions publicly.
