Nancy Pelosi said the offer from Attorney General William Barr to release a summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report to lawmakers was “insufficient” and called for the entire report to be released in full.
Mueller turned in the final report on allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, reportedly giving Barr his findings late on Friday. As Reuters reported, the U.S. House Speaker wants to receive a full copy as well so House committees could proceed with “independent work” of investigating Russian interference and allegations that Donald Trump’s campaign may have colluded with Russia. Since Democrats took control of the House early this year, they have re-opened a number of investigations into Trump.
Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have been vocal about the need to have the report released to the public, as well as any underlying documents. Pelosi also said that she will demand any briefings from the Department of Justice be unclassified so members of Congress can speak freely about the scope of the discussions, The Hill reported.
Pelosi discussed the Mueller report on a conference call with Democratic lawmakers on Saturday, and the report from The Hill noted that her demands will likely lead to a confrontation with a Trump administration trying to keep as much of the report under wraps as possible.
“Right now, we are in the mode wanting to know the truth, wanting the facts so that our chairpersons and members of the committees can take a look into this going forward,” Pelosi reportedly said during the call.
Nancy Pelosi told Democrats she’ll rebuff any efforts by the Justice Department to reveal details of Robert Mueller’s findings in a highly classified setting — a tactic she warned could be employed to shield the report’s conclusions from the public https://t.co/ncZ7tE3o4Z
— POLITICO (@politico) March 23, 2019
It was not yet clear when some of the findings from the Mueller report could be shared with lawmakers. A source told The Hill that the Department of Justice has already told members of Congress that Barr would not be able to provide briefings on Saturday. It was also unclear when the report could be released to the public, or what form it would be released in.
The Mueller report is believed to show conclusions of whether Donald Trump or top members of his campaign actively colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, and there is not yet any indication of whether there will be any conclusion to that effect. Reports on Friday indicated that there would be no new recommendations of indictments with the report, but some legal experts pointed out that this would not necessarily exonerate Trump, as the Department of Justice has a policy not to indict a sitting president.
