Jerry Nadler Calls for Unredacted Mueller Report, Mueller to Testify

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler said that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report "outlines disturbing evidence that President Trump engaged in obstruction of justice," as he and other Democrats made clear that a full congressional investigation of the president’s actions looms.

The release of a redacted version of the report prompted heated back-and-forth statements from top Democrats and Republicans in Congress about the next steps. While Democrats promised further investigation, Republicans sent out the coordinated message that it is now time to move on from the Mueller investigation for the good of the country.

Both parties are seeking to shape public opinion about the president and his conduct before and during his first term in the run up to the 2020 election. The GOP has increasingly fallen in line behind Trump, while Democrats are seeking to unseat him and expand on the congressional seats they picked up in the 2018 midterms.

Democratic Leadership

House Speaker Nancy Pelosidescribed Barr’s press conference as “staggering partisan effort by the Trump Admin to spin public’s view” of the special counsel’s report. She said it is “urgent” that Mueller testify in Congress.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called Barr’s handling of the Mueller report “regrettably partisan” and also described the attorney general’s news conference as spin.



Nadler, of New York, tweeted a copy of his letter to Mueller requesting his testimony “as soon as possible.” Nadler also said in an emailed statement that he will issue a subpoena for an unredacted version, along with the underlying materials.

“The Special Counsel made clear that he did not exonerate the President. The responsibility now falls to Congress to hold the President accountable for his actions,” Nadler said.

Adam Schiff, a California representative and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee also called on Mueller to testify before his panel and tweeted a copy of his letter.

Republican Leadership

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell in an emailed statement praised Barr as “an experienced leader” has worked to “ensure maximum possible transparency while carefully protecting classified material and legally restricted grand jury information.”

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy sharply criticized Democrats for what he described as “a partisan quest to vilify a political opponent,” and he praised Barr’s actions to balance transparency and legal restrictions.

“Democrats want to keep searching for imaginary evidence that supports their claims, but it is simply not there,” McCarthy said in an emailed statement

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, applauded Barr’s “commitment to transparency and keeping the American people informed, consistent with the law and our national security interests.”

North Carolina Senator Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said “the American people have a right to review as much of the report as possible to understand the Special Counsel’s conclusions and the reasoning behind them.”

2020 Candidates

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchartweeted that Barr is “not impartial when it comes to this investigation,” and she joined other Democrats in calling for Mueller himself to testify in Congress.

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand called Barr’s press conference “a farce and an embarrassing display of propaganda on behalf of President Trump.”

“Barr works for the people, not the president. They deserve to know Mueller’s full findings because nobody—especially not the president—is immune from accountability,” Gillibrand said.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Twitter it’s a “disgrace to see an Attorney General acting as if he’s the personal attorney and publicist for the President of the United States.”

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said on Twitter, “The American people deserve the truth. Not spin from a Trump appointee.”

California Senator Kamala Harris called Barr’s press conference “stunt, filled with political spin and propaganda,” and tweeted a link to her campaign website. She said the redacted Mueller report “is not enough.”

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