Lawmakers on both sides stake their positions as the legal crosses into the political.
House committees plan multiple investigations
CLIFF OWEN/AP
WASHINGTON – After Attorney General William Barr gave Congress his summary of the nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, lawmakers planned Sunday to pick up the baton with multiple investigations of President Donald Trump, his administration and his business.
Lawmakers of both parties parsed Barr’s four-page summary for statements that supported their positions. Barr said special counsel Robert Mueller “did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia,” which Republicans said vindicated Trump.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called it a “good day for the rule of law” and a “great day for President Trump and his team.”
“No collusion and no obstruction. The cloud hanging over President Trump has been removed by this report,” Graham said. “Bad day for those hoping the Mueller investigation would take President Trump down.”
Barr’s summary said Mueller didn’t draw any conclusions about whether Trump obstructed justice. “The special counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,’ ” Barr said.
Democrats said dozens of indictments and convictions against some of Trump’s top aides pointed to the need for a variety of expanded investigations.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said the panel will call on Barr to testify “in the near future” about discrepancies in the decisions about Trump and the underlying evidence Mueller collected.
“But special counsel Mueller clearly and explicitly is not exonerating the president, and we must hear from AG Barr about his decision making and see all the underlying evidence for the American people to know all the facts,” Nadler said in a tweet.
The first fight could be over the documents themselves as lawmakers of both parties seek more than the summary Barr provided of Mueller’s report. House Democratic chairmen said they will build on Mueller’s foundation with investigations of possible foreign influence on Trump, obstruction of justice or public corruption.
Barr reiterated in his summary that his goal is “to release as much of the special counsel’s report as I can consistent with applicable law, regulations and departmental policies.”
Federal law prohibits the release of grand jury evidence to protect the integrity of that system, and Barr said he asked for Mueller’s assistance in identifying that material before releasing more of his full report.
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Mueller focused on criminal issues and may not shed light on intelligence findings Schiff’s panel will explore about “whether the president or others around him have been compromised by a foreign power.” He listed meetings of Trump campaign aides with Russians and negotiations during the 2016 campaign for a Trump Tower in Moscow.