Top Democrat to Sue Justice Department if Mueller Report is Withheld
Top Democrat to Sue Justice Department if Mueller Report is Withheld
A top House Democrat says his committee will sue the Trump administration if the Justice Department withholds the Mueller report from the public.
"We will obviously subpoena the report, we will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress, we will take it to court, if necessary," Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told ABC's This Week program Sunday.
"We are going to get to the bottom of this. We are going to share this information with the public and if the president is serious about all of his claims of exoneration, then he should welcome the publication of this report."
Reports say Robert Mueller is wrapping up his investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to turn the 2016 presidential election in Trump's favor, and if the president obstructed justice in the probe.
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Mueller will hand over his report to the Justice Department which, based on Mueller's recommendations, will decide if anyone should be charged with a crime.
Attorney General William Barr failed to make it clear during his confirmation hearings whether he would release the report to the public.
But Barr said in his written testimony that he wants as much "transparency" as he can.
"If he were to try to withhold or try to bury any part of this report, that will be his legacy and it will be a tarnished legacy," Schiff said. "So I think there will be immense pressure not only on the department, but on the attorney general to be forthcoming."
While many Republicans also say they believe the public needs to know the whole story, Republican Senator Roy Blunt said he does not think Congress can subpoena the report.
But Blunt said "We need to get the facts out there, get this behind us in a way that people thought that anybody that should have been talked to was talked to, any question that schooled have been asked was asked."
Blunt appeared on CBS television's Face the Nation.