Democrats press for full release of Mueller\'s report

Democrats press for full release of Mueller's report

AP  |  Washington 

Democrats are pressing for full disclosure of Robert Mueller's report on the Trump-investigation and vowing to use subpoena powers and other legal means if necessary to get it.

was expected to release his first summary of Mueller's findings on Sunday, people familiar with the process said, on what lawmakers anticipated could be a day of reckoning in the two-year probe into and Russian efforts to elect him. Since receiving the report Friday, Barr has been deciding how much of it and the public will see.

Democrats are on a hair trigger over the prospect that some information may be withheld.

"I suspect that we'll find those words of transparency to prove hollow, that in fact they will fight to make sure that doesn't get this underlying evidence," Rep. of California, of the intelligence committee, said Sunday on ABC's "" His plan: Ask for information and if that's denied, "subpoena.

If subpoenas are denied, we will haul people before the And yes, we will prosecute in court as necessary to get this information."

At his resort in Florida, Trump stirred from his unusual, nearly two-day silence on with the mild tweet: "Good Morning, Have a Great Day!" Then he followed up: "MAKE GREAT AGAIN!"

Mueller's investigation is known to have concluded without a recommendation for further indictments after having snared nearly three dozen people, senior Trump campaign operatives among them.

The probe illuminated Russia's assault on the American political system, painted the Trump campaign as eager to exploit the release of hacked Democratic emails to hurt Democrat and exposed lies by Trump aides aimed at covering up their Russia-related contacts.

Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler, of the Judiciary Committee, said Democrats won't be willing to wait long for the to hand over full information on the probe into whether Trump's 2016 campaign coordinated with to sway the election and whether the later sought to obstruct the investigation.

"It won't be months," he said on CNN's "State of the Union." Asked if he still believes Trump obstructed justice, he indicated there has been obstruction but "whether it's criminal is another question." Although Democrats have stoutly defended Mueller's work against Trump's repeated cries of "witch hunt," Schiff was disappointed that the did not succeed in interviewing the personally.

"It was a mistake to rely on written responses by the president," Schiff said, because those yield answers framed more by lawyers than by Trump. He said he was not surprised that Trump's lawyers resisted having him submit to a personal interview, given that "the president is someone who seems pathologically incapable of telling the truth for long periods of time."

On the other side, also on "This Week," Republican Rep. of said Democrats faced the prospect of seeing no blockbuster in the Mueller report and were flailing as they try to pin something on the president.

They considered Mueller "right next to Jesus, he can almost walk on water," Jordan said, but "now they're launching all kind of other charges, all kinds of other investigations."

Mueller submitted his report to Barr instead of directly to Congress and the public because, unlike independent counsels such as in the case of President Bill Clinton, his investigation operated under the close supervision of the Justice Department, which appointed him.

Mueller was assigned to the job in May 2017 by Deputy Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw much of his work. Barr and Rosenstein analyzed Mueller's report on Saturday, laboring to condense it into a summary letter of main conclusions.

Barr said he wants to release as much as he can under the law. That decision will require him to weigh the Justice Department's of not releasing negative information about people who aren't indicted against the extraordinary public interest in a criminal investigation into the president and his campaign.

Democrats are citing the department's recent precedent of norm-breaking disclosures, including during the email investigation, to argue that they're entitled to Mueller's entire report and the underlying evidence he collected.

Former FBI James Comey, for instance, famously held a July 2016 conference in which he criticized Clinton as "extremely careless" in her use of a but said the FBI would not recommend charges.

Even with the details still under wraps, Friday's end to the 22-month probe without additional indictments by Mueller was welcome to some in Trump's orbit who had feared a final round of charges could target more Trump associates or members of the president's family.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, March 25 2019. 01:00 IST