Schiff Threatens Mueller with Subpoena if Russia Report Not Made Public
House Intelligence Committee Chairman warn Robert Mueller he will bring him up to testify
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House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., has warned special counsel Robert Mueller he will bring him up to testify on the Russia investigation if the entire report is not released to the public by the Justice Department.
“We will obviously subpoena the report. We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress. We take it to court if necessary,” the California Democrat said on ABC’s “This Week” regarding transparency of the case.
Attorney General William Barr confirmed that his hearing would reveal 'as much as possible' of Mueller’s report.
But "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos noted that officials have stated that the Justice Department regulations do not require the release of the underlying evidence.
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Schiff added the Justice Department has already “violated” that specific policy in the last two years.
“I have had this conversation with [Deputy Attorney General] Rod Rosenstein and others on down at the Justice Department, as they turned over thousands and thousands of pages of discovery in the Clinton email investigation, and there was no indictment in that investigation, that this was a new precedent they were setting and they were going to have to live by this precedent whether it was a Congress controlled by the Democrats or Republicans,” Schiff said.
When Mueller concludes his investigations, he is then required to submit a confidential report to the attorney general.
Mueller must demonstrate in the report why he chose to bring charges against or not prosecute any matters under investigation.
Adam Schiff: DOJ "understands" that they are going to have to make the Mueller report public and if they don't, "we will obviously subpoena the report, we will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress, we will take it to court if necessary." Via ABC pic.twitter.com/19dDNkG8ic
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 24, 2019
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But rules do not require the report to be made public or shared with Congress.
Barr is obligated to notify Congress if the Justice Department prevented Mueller’s team from taking any action.
Six Democratic chairmen in the House wrote to Barr saying they expect Mueller’s report will be made public “without delay and to the maximum extent permitted by law."
Last month, a GOP senator said he would favor special counsel Robert Mueller's closing report be released to the public.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La told CNN that Mr. Mueller should write the report knowing the American people will see it.
"To me, this is an unusual circumstance, and I think Mr. Mueller ought to write his report knowing that it's going to be released to the American people and then everybody can make up their mind," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on CNN.
Kennedy questioned William Barr, who is Trump's nominee to be attorney general, on the first day of the confirmation hearings on Tuesday.
