Democrats ask for full Mueller files; GOP says ‘move on’
WASHINGTON — House Democrats pressed the Justice Department Monday to provide the full report from special counsel Robert Mueller even as Republicans went on the offensive, calling for the Dems to “move on” from the Russia investigation.
President Donald Trump accused those responsible for launching Mr. Mueller’s probe of “treasonous things against our country” and said they “certainly will be looked into,” while Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, blocked a nonbinding resolution — already passed unanimously by the House — calling for the report to be made public.
For his part, Mr. Trump said before Mr. McConnell’s action that the release of Mr. Mueller’s full report “wouldn’t bother me at all,” and Democrats quickly put that statement to the test, demanding that his administration hand over the entire document and not just Sunday’s four-page summary from Attorney General William Barr.
Six House Democratic committee chairmen wrote to Mr. Barr that his summary is “not sufficient” and asked to be given Mr. Mueller’s full report by April 2. They also want to begin receiving the underlying evidence the same day. The information is “urgently needed by our committees to perform their duties under the Constitution,” they wrote, implying that the information would be subpoenaed if it is not turned over
by the deadline.
Mr. Barr said in his letter to Congress that Mr. Mueller did not find that Mr. Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated” with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election — knocking down arguments from Democrats who have long claimed there was evidence of such collusion.
But he also said Mr. Mueller reached no conclusion on whether Mr. Trump obstructed the federal investigation, instead setting out “evidence on both sides” of the question and stating that “while this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” Absent a recommendation from Mr. Mueller, Mr. Barr stepped in and decided there wasn’t sufficient evidence to establish that the president obstructed justice.
Mr. Mueller’s team told Mr. Barr and and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, about three weeks ago that it would not reach a conclusion on obstruction, according to a Justice Department official who said the decision was unexpected. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity Monday to discuss private conversations, would not say whether Mr. Mueller had asked or invited Mr. Barr to substitute his own judgment.
“All I’m interested in is them releasing the full report, the full Mueller report,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Meanwhile, after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tried for the second time to pass via unanimous consent a resolution to make public Mr. Mueller’s report, Mr. McConnell objected — this time saying he wants to give Mr. Barr and the special counsel time to complete their investigations and because the attorney general has committed to make as much of the report public, but he shouldn’t be rushed.
“It’s not unreasonable to give the special counsel and the Justice Department just a little time to complete their review in a professional and responsible manner,” Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor. “Remember, as I said earlier, we’re likely dealing here with potential other prosecutions, classified information, damaging people’s reputation.”
Mr. Schumer criticized Mr. McConnell’s objections, saying Republicans support the language in his resolution.
“The president himself says it should be released,” the New York Democrat added. “It’s hard to understand why the majority leader should stand alone with objections no one else found to be reasonable or sustainable and oppose this resolution.”
Meanwhile, despite Mr. Mueller’s refusal to exonerate Mr. Trump, his spokesmen and leading congressional Republicans all claimed total vindication for the president anyway. Questioned by reporters, Mr. Trump said he welcomed Mr. Mueller’s results but complained he had been abused by the investigation.
“We can never let this happen to another president again,” he said. “There are a lot of people out there that have done some very evil things, very bad things, I would say treasonous things against our country.”
“Those people will certainly be looked at. I’ve been looking at them for a long time. And I’m saying, why haven’t they been looked at? They lied to Congress. Many of them you know who they are.”
Mr. Trump has railed against former Justice Department officials, including former FBI Director James Comey, accusing them of an illegal witch hunt for the purpose of delegitimizing his presidency.