April 02, 2019

*-- House judiciary panel will OK subpoena for Mueller report, chairman says --*

The House judiciary committee will vote this week to subpoena the uncensored final Russia report and evidence from special counsel Robert Mueller, the panel's chairman said Monday.

House judiciary committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler said Monday the vote will occur Wednesday and will demand the unrestricted release of the analysis -- one day after a deadline congressional Democrats gave U.S. Attorney General William Barr.

"Congress requires the full and complete special counsel report, without redactions, as well as access to the underlying evidence," Nadler said in a statement. "The full and complete report must be released to Congress without delay."

Mueller announced last week the report had been completed and Barr issued a four-page summary of the study -- prompting many to wonder what information in the nearly 400-page report was left out. The summary said the investigation didn't find a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian agents to sway the 2016 election -- but it did not explicitly clear Trump of obstructing justice.

Nadler said he's disturbed by the reluctance to release the report and asked Barr to join the panel in seeking a judge's approval to release all grand jury information from the investigation.

In an op-ed for The New York Times Monday, Nadler called for the report to be made public.

"For nearly two years, the country has waited to read the report," he wrote. "Over those many months, President Trump has raged against the institutions that make our democracy possible -- among them, the free press, the courts and his own Department of Justice. When the special counsel indicted members of the president's inner circle, his attacks got louder."

Nadler said relying on Barr, a political appointee of Trump, to determine whether the president's campaign colluded with the Russians "undermines the work and the integrity of his department." He added that redacting the report before it's presented to the House Judiciary Committee is "unprecedented."

"We require the report, first, because Congress, not the attorney general, has a duty under the Constitution to determine whether wrongdoing has occurred," Nadler said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Barr has been "condescending" and "arrogant" in how he handled the report.

"We do not need your interpretation. Show us the report," she said.

Several former White House aides will be subpoenaed also to see what they know about report.

Last week, Justice Department officials and Sen. Lindsey Graham said a redacted version of the Mueller report will be given to Congress and the American public in the coming weeks. Barr is reviewing the lengthy report to shield potentially sensitive information.

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