House Republicans are so desperate to keep Congress from getting the full Mueller report that Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) is calling for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee.
In a letter to Committee chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) after the body approved a subpoena last week for the report, Collins urged Mueller be brought in.
“Today, I write encouraging you to invite Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III to testify before our Committee without delay,” he wrote. “If you seek both transparency and for the American public to learn the full contours of the Special Counsel’s investigation, public testimony from Special Counsel Mueller himself is undoubtedly the best way to accomplish this goal.”
Collins went on to claim that if Democrats want the full Mueller report they will have to impeach President Donald Trump to do so, a claim Republicans made over the weekend in yet another effort to excuse Attorney General William Barr’s effort to bury it.
Of course, in order to impeach Trump, the full report is required to see what evidence there is of high crimes and misdemeanors, especially since even Barr reported in his summary that the report does not exonerate Trump.
Collins then argued that Barr is not part of the investigation.
“Attorney General Barr was never part of this investigation, and instead simply reviewed the special counsel’s final report and has provided Congress, so far, with the special counsel’s principal conclusions,” he wrote. “While he can testify surrounding his decision to provide the committee with principal conclusions, it is special counsel Mueller who is best-positioned to testify regarding the underlying facts and material in which you are so interested.”
Here’s the full letter via Twitter.
INBOX: House Judiciary Ranking Member @RepDougCollins
has asked Chairman @RepJerryNadler
to invite Special Counsel Robert Mueller to testify before the committee “without delay.” pic.twitter.com/o7jZhKQE6f— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) April 8, 2019
The problem is that Barr made himself part of the investigation by opting to not charge Trump with obstruction of justice, a determination Mueller chose not to make in his report. And Barr is currently engaged in a cover-up by keeping the report under wraps, which casts doubt on his summary, especially since members of Mueller’s team say the report is more damaging to Trump than Barr portrayed.
So yes, Mueller should testify, but Barr should release the full report unredacted to Congress and the American people in the interest of total transparency. After all, if Trump is innocent, releasing the report should be no problem. Unless, of course, Trump isn’t as innocent as Barr claims.
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