If President Donald Trump and and his Attorney General William Barr think they can bury any final report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, they should think again because a former Justice Department official says that Congress will get the full report one way or another.
The nation is bracing itself for the anticipated final report from Mueller that may drop next week, which will conclude the Russia investigation.
And everyone is also bracing for the fight between Congress and the Justice Department to release the full report to the public without delay.
House Judiciary Committee Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) has already threatened to subpoena the report if Barr tries to hide it to protect Trump:
“I think Barr was sought out by Trump…to find somebody who would do his bidding,” Cohen told CNN. “I’m afraid he will give us very little insight into the report and we will have to subpoena Mueller and/or the report.”
And six House committee chairs have already sent a letter to the DOJ warning that they expect the report to be released in the name of transparency regardless of what it says.
“We write to express, in the strongest possible terms, our expectation that the Department of Justice will release to the public the report Special Counsel Mueller submits to you—without delay and to the maximum extent permitted by law,” the letter reads.
But former DOJ official and MSNBC legal analyst Matthew Miller told Axios this week that Congress will ultimately win the fight to release the report one way or another whether Trump and cronies like it or not.
“It’s not just the Mueller report, whatever that is, that’s relevant,” Miller pointed out. “It’s also all the underlying evidence he collected.”
Such evidence could be used to justify even more investigations and possibly even impeachment proceedings.
Miller also observed that there is precedent for the FBI turning over nearly an entire case file to Congress.
“The FBI set a precedent in the Clinton case by turning over nearly the entire case file to Congress within three months of the investigation closing,” Miller said, referring to the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails that Republicans are so obsessed about. “Now that that precedent has been set, no good argument for not doing so here. All the FBI 302s (interview records) … Just imagine how many news cycles are in there.”
Indeed, it could be several months before the media finds a shiny new story to run with because of all the potential bombshells in this report. It could carry all the way into 2020, which would be a catastrophe for Republicans.
The American people will also not tolerate the Trump administration trying to hide the report. An overwhelming 87 percent of Americans want the report released to the public. Burying it will only fuel the belief that Trump has something to hide and that he is guilty. There is no other reason to not want the report released to the public.
Nevertheless, Congress is prepared to fight for transparency and so are the American people. In the end, Trump will have to face the music as his alleged crimes see the light of day for all to see.
Featured Image: Screenshot
