House Democrats To Vote This Week On Authorizing Subpoenas For Mueller Report
Updated at 9:44 a.m. ET
The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote for Wednesday to authorize subpoenas for the full version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report, the committee announced Monday.
That announcement followed Attorney General William Barr statement that Congress and the public would have to wait until mid-April to see a redacted version of the report, which was submitted to Barr by Mueller on March 22nd.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., had given Barr until Tuesday to submit a complete version of the report, including underlying evidence.
"As I have made clear, Congress requires the full and complete special counsel report, without redactions, as well as access to the underlying evidence," said Nadler.
Barr's letter describing the report says it does not establish that President Trump and his 2016 campaign conspired with Russia. The report also does not come to a conclusion about whether Trump obstructed justice as the investigation proceeded, Barr wrote.
Barr wrote to members of Congress that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had determined that Mueller had not developed sufficient evidence to establish that Trump had committed an obstruction of justice offense.
Democrats accused Barr of trying to protect the president by suppressing details from the public. Barr's synopsis also left questions unanswered about many other aspects of what Mueller's investigation has uncovered.
Barr says he's following Justice Department guidelines and that the report must be redacted to protect national security secrets, grand jury information and sensitive information about people who were not accused of any wrongdoing.
The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee was quick to defend Barr.
"Judiciary Democrats have escalated from setting arbitrary deadlines to demanding unredacted material that Congress does not, in truth, require and that the law does not allow to be shared outside the Justice Department," said ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga.
An NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll last week found overwhelming majorities those surveyed want to see the full report.
Barr will likely face questions about his handling of the Mueller report next month. He's scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 1 and has offered to testify before the House Judiciary Committee the following day. [Copyright 2019 NPR]
