U.S. House Judiciary Committee issues subpoena for full Mueller report

World
Europe

U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler issued a subpoena on Friday to obtain the full Russia investigation report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, saying he cannot accept a redacted version that "leaves most of Congress in the dark."

"My committee needs and is entitled to the full version of the report and the underlying evidence consistent with past practice. The redactions appear to be significant. We have so far seen none of the actual evidence that the Special Counsel developed to make this case," Nadler said in a statement, the day after the release of 448-page report.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr departs after speaking at a news conference to discuss Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, in Washington, DC, U.S., April 18, 2019. /Reuters Photo

U.S. Attorney General William Barr Thursday released a redacted version of Mueller's report, ruled that Mueller's investigation did not uncover evidence that President Donald Trump obstructed the probe of whether he or members of his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

The report blacked out details about secret grand jury information, U.S. intelligence gathering and active criminal cases as well as potentially damaging information about peripheral players who were not charged. Half a dozen former Trump aides were charged by Mueller's office or convicted of crimes during the 22-month-long investigation.

Russia report tells how angry Trump wanted Mueller fired

The Democrats' subpoena gives Barr until May 1 to produce the materials requested.

Democratic leaders played down talk of impeachment just 18 months before the 2020 presidential election, even as some prominent members of the party's progressive wing, most notably U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, promised to push the idea.

U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (L) speaks with ranking Republican member Representative Doug Collins (R) as the committee debates before voting to subpoena Special Counsel Robert Mueller's full unredacted report, on Capitol Hill, Washington, U.S., April, 3, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Former FBI director Mueller also concluded there was not enough evidence to establish that Trump's campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Moscow to sway the 2016 election, a finding that has been known since late March when Barr released a summary of what he described as Mueller's principal conclusions.

By releasing a redacted version of the report, Barr followed through on a promise he had made months earlier to make as much of Mueller's findings public as possible.

But that opened Barr up to widespread criticism from Democrats and some legal experts, who questioned his decision not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice, and accused him of acting like the president's personal defense lawyer.

Ahead of the release, top Congressional Democrats called for Mueller to testify publicly, criticizing Barr for writing what they called a "slanted" summary letter.

Source(s): Reuters