Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election spans more than 300 pages, and so far the American people have only seen a four-age review by President Trump’s attorney general.
It adds to Democrats’ concerns that the attorney general’s brief summary leaves unanswered significant questions about Trump’s conduct.
At a press conference today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized Attorney General William Barr for releasing a brief summary of the Mueller investigation rather than the special counsel’s entire report, calling it “condescending” and “arrogant.”
Barr confirmed the report’s length during a phone call yesterday with Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
During that conversation, Barr indicated the Justice Department would miss House Democrats’ April 2 deadline to provide Congress with Mueller’s complete findings, and would not commit to making public an unredacted copy of the report and the evidence that informed it, Nadler told reporters after the phone call.
Any delay would be unacceptable, he added, raising the prospect lawmakers will issue a subpoena for Mueller’s full report.
Barr’s summary of Mueller’s report indicates the special counsel did not establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to sway the 2016 election.
It offers no conclusion on whether the president sought to obstruct justice during the Russia probe, which was another focus of Mueller’s work.
Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have interpreted Barr’s summary as full vindication of the president.
Democrats have complained that Barr’s summary, at four pages, was too pithy to adequately address the special counsel’s complete findings.
They have insisted that Barr must release the full report and its underlying materials before anyone can conclude that Mueller’s findings acquit Trump of serious wrongdoing.
“For Mr. Barr to quickly issue a four-page report in his attempt to try to exonerate Mr. Trump, and now to delay the release of an over three-hundred page report written by Mueller so the American people and we Senators and congressman can see what was written, has too much of the odor of political expediency to help the man who appointed him, President Trump,” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said today on the Senate floor.
Meanwhile, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) today aggressively pushed back at calls for him to step down from Trump and other Republicans, defending his past comments by lighting into the president and his family and campaign over its contacts with Russia.
Schiff at the opening of an Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia listed contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia that he described as being “not OK,” signaling he’ll fiercely defend himself from the calls to end his chairmanship.
“My colleagues may think it is OK the president’s son was offered dirt as part of an effort to help Trump,” Schiff said in his statement, pausing at times for dramatic effect.
“You might think it is OK. I don’t,” Schiff added, his voice rising as he went on.
Schiff spoke after one of the panel’s senior members, in a striking display, called for him to step down.
Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) said Schiff had lost confidence in the panel by promoting a “demonstrably false” narrative that has damaged the “integrity” of their panel.
“The findings of the special counsel conclusively refute your past and present assertions and have exposed you as abused your position to knowingly promote false information,” Conaway said.
Conaway also introduced a letter signed by all nine Republican members of the committee calling for Shiff’s resignation.
Rep. Devin Nunes (Calif.), the top Republican on the panel who has had a fraught relationship with Schiff, was among the signatories.
Trump earlier in a tweet on today called for Schiff’s resignation from Congress.
Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019
Schiff has said he plans to move forward with the panel’s sprawling investigation into Trump’s links to Russia, financial and otherwise, and allegations the president could be potentially “compromised” by the Kremlin or another foreign power.