Fight for Mueller
Pols pushing to let him finish probe, air results
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers are considering ways of using the power of the purse to make sure special counsel Robert Mueller is allowed to complete his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and that his report will be made public, a Bronx congressman told the Daily News.
Rep. Jose Serrano (DBronx), who heads the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Department of Justice, said in an interview that he and his colleagues’ first goal is “to make sure that the Justice Department lets Mueller finish his work.”
“We control the money. If I want to stop you from doing something, I’m using monies to do that,” said Serrano, chairman of the Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee.
Serrano cited spending restrictions as a way pressure might be put on the Justice Department regarding the special counsel. He said the subcommittee could specify, for example, “none of these dollars can be used to stop Mueller’s investigation. None of these dollars can be used to not release” the report.
Congress used similar riders on military spending bills during former President Barack Obama’s presidency to prevent him from closing the detention facility at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Mueller was appointed in 2017 by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. His investigation has so far led to 34 indictments, seven guilty pleas and a multicount conviction.
Serrano said Mueller’s discoveries must not be kept secret, adding that lawmakers are discussing if they are “going to take a stand that all of the American people are going to see this report.”
Trump’s newly confirmed attorney general, William Barr, is responsible for determining what the public sees from Mueller’s final report, which must be submitted confidentially to the attorney general at the conclusion of the investigation.
The attorney general decides if releasing the report would be in the public interest.
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Barr was repeatedly asked about release of the report. He said he intended “to get as much accurate information out” as regulations permitted.
“I am in favor of making sure that this investigation . . . doesn’t die at the table at the printing shop, or the ending to this isn’t, ‘Well, they didn’t find anything,’ ” Serrano said.
While Democrats control the House, any additions to government funding bills, such as restrictions, would have to be approved by the Republican-led Senate.
In January, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), both members of the Judiciary Committee, introduced the Special Counsel Transparency Act, which would require special counsels to submit a report directly to Congress and the public at the end of an investigation. The bill has not been moved forward for a Senate vote.