Nadler prepares subpoena for full Mueller report
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., is tired of waiting.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said Thursday that he would issue a subpoena to obtain the full version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference into the 2016 presidential election and whether Donald Trump cooperated with those efforts.
“Because Congress requires this material in order perform our constitutionally-mandated responsibilities, I will issue a subpoena for the full report and the underlying materials,” Nadler said in a statement posted to Medium that followed a press conference by Attorney General William Barr and the public release of a redacted version of Mueller’s report.
At an afternoon news conference, Nadler said Barr had shown “an unsettling willingness to undermine his own department in order to protect President Trump” with his rosy summary of Mueller’s report and statements made Thursday.
“We clearly can’t believe what Attorney General Barr tells us,” Nadler said.
Nadler said he was seeking to obtain Mueller’s grand jury findings as well as any underlying evidence he used to write his report.
Barr has so far refused requests by congressional Democrats to release the full report or any information obtained by a grand jury, and Nadler disputed news reports that his committee would be provided with information redacted from public view.
“Contrary to public reports, I have not heard from the Department about receiving a less-redacted version of the report,” Nadler wrote.
While Trump was not charged with a crime as a result of the special counsel’s report, Mueller made clear that he believed Congress could take up the matter of whether the president had obstructed justice.
Nadler also wrote a letter Thursday to Mueller requesting that he testify before the Judiciary Committee “as soon as possible,” but no later than May 23.
Nadler’s subpoena for Mueller’s full report likely sets up a protracted legal challenge that could wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court. One of the complications may be that Congress’s legal authority to obtain those records depends in large part on whether it can prove it needs them for legal proceedings, like impeachment, which appears to lack support.
Barr indicated at Thursday’s press conference that he has no intention of providing any further documents, saying that the redacted report along with his planned testimony on it would suffice.
“I believe that this accommodation, together with my upcoming testimony before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, will satisfy any need Congress has for information regarding the special counsel’s investigation,” Barr said.
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