Nadler Will Subpoena Full Mueller Report

The House Judiciary chairman accused Bill Barr of misrepresenting the report.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler on April 9, 2019.Zach Gibson/Getty Images

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler said Thursday that he will subpoena a full, non-redacted copy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. The New York Democrat also said that Attorney General William Barr misrepresented the report in a Thursday morning press conference and argued that Barr has shown “an unsettling willingness to undermine his own Department in order to protect President Trump.”

Nadler said that contrary to public reports, the Justice Department has not yet turned over to the Judiciary Committee a version that’s less redacted than the one Barr released publicly on Thursday. “Because Congress requires this material in order to perform our constitutionally-mandated responsibilities, I will issue a subpoena for the full report and the underlying materials,” he said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

Nadler says he is requesting that Mueller testify before his committee by May 23. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also said Thursday that he had asked Mueller to testify before his panel. 

Nadler said Thursday that Mueller’s report “outlines disturbing evidence that President Trump engaged in obstruction of justice,” noting the report’s finding of “substantial evidence” that Trump tried to prevent an investigation into his campaign and his own conduct.


Listen to our DC bureau chief David Corn discuss Mueller’s findings on this special breaking news edition of the Mother Jones Podcast:

In the report, Mueller declined to reach a conclusion about whether Trump had engaged in obstruction of justice, citing in part a long-standing Department of Justice opinion that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Still, Mueller made clear that his investigation did not exonerate Trump, writing that “if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment.” Mueller further noted that a president “does not have immunity [from prosecution] after he leaves office.”

Nadler charged that the the Mueller report “directly contradicts several statements” that Barr made Thursday. These include Barr’s claim that the White House had “fully cooperated” with Mueller’s investigation. Nadler noted that the “report makes clear that the President refused to be interviewed by the Special Counsel and refused to provide written answers to follow-up questions; and his associates destroyed evidence relevant to the Russia investigation.”

Read Nadler’s letter asking Mueller to testify:



AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate