House Committee Wants Barr to Release Summaries of Mueller Report

Published on:

06 Apr 2019, 2:18 am

The chair of the House Judiciary Committee wants Attorney General William Barr to release any summaries of special counsel Robert Mueller's report that were prepared by Mueller's own team.

Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler sent a letter to Barr after media reports said Mueller's team was unhappy with Barr's own summary because, the reports say, Mueller's probe was more damaging to Trump than Barr led Congress and the public to believe.

"If these recent reports are accurate…then those summaries should be publicly released as soon as possible," Nadler wrote. "You have already provided an interpretation of the Special Counsel's conclusions in a fashion that appears to minimize the implications of the report as to the president. Releasing the summaries without delay would begin to allow the American people to judge the facts for themselves."

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., joined at right by Ranking Member Doug Collins, R-Ga., passes a resolution to subpoena special counsel Robert Mueller's full report, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. VOA

According to Barr's four-page summary of a more than 300-page report, Mueller concluded that neither Trump nor his campaign colluded with Russia in trying to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

According to Barr, while Mueller's report "did not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him." Barr also wrote he and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, could not find evidence that Trump committed a crime by allegedly trying to derail the investigation.

While Trump insists the Mueller report, based on Barr's summary, totally exonerates him and some Republicans say it's time to move on, many Democrats are not satisfied — especially when Mueller said he cannot exonerate Trump.

The House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines Wednesday to authorize Nadler to issue subpoenas for the entire Mueller report, as well as all the evidence he used.Barr on Thursday defended his handling of Mueller's report. He has promised to release as much of the report as possible, adding that the document contains confidential grand jury materials.

ALSO READ: Investigators Say 'Findings in Mueller Report are more Damaging for the President'

The Justice Department said it is working with the Mueller team to determine what the public can see. Trump had called the Mueller investigation a witch hunt. He has also said the whole report should be released and called Mueller "honorable." Thursday, he lashed out at Democrats.

"According to polling, few people seem to care about the Russian Collusion Hoax, but some Democrats are fighting hard to keep the Witch Hunt alive," he tweeted. "They should focus on legislation or, even better, an investigation of how the ridiculous Collusion Delusion got started – so illegal!" But several courts have upheld Mueller's appointment as special counsel. (VOA)