House committee chairs call for Mueller report to be released by April 2

Source: The Hill | March 25, 2019 | Olivia Beavers

Top House Democrats are pressing Attorney General William Barr to provide Congress with the full report and underlying evidence from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, giving him a deadline of early next month to provide such information.

Six House committee chairmen and chairwomen in a letter on Monday said Barr’s summary of Mueller’s findings, which was delivered to lawmakers on Sunday, “leaves open many questions,” calling on him to provide the report by next Tuesday.

“We look forward to receiving the report in full no later than April 2, and to begin receiving the underlying evidence and documents that same day,” the lawmakers wrote.

“Your four-page summary of the Special Counsel’s review is not sufficient for Congress, as a coequal branch of government, to perform this critical work. The release of the full report and the underlying evidence and documents is urgently needed by our committees to perform their duties under the Constitution,” they continued.

Democrats, who control the House, have the power to subpoena, which they have signaled they will use in an attempt to obtain the report and underlying evidence from the 22-month long probe.

Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) — the heads of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Reform, Intelligence, Financial Services, and Ways and Means committees, respectively — all signed the letter.

The letter marks an escalation in efforts by Democrats to gain access to additional details included in Mueller’s report, raising the possibility of a potential showdown between Democrats in Congress and the Justice Department.

In particular, Democrats have seized on Barr’s decision to conclude there was no obstruction of justice by President Trump in the Russia probe, claiming this interpretation is further reason for all of Mueller’s findings to be provided to Congress.

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