As Attorney General William Barr spent Saturday determining what to make public from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s final report on the Russia investigation, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi pushed back on behalf of her party, declaring that receiving only a summary of the top findings would be “insufficient.”
After Mueller delivered the much awaited report Friday evening, ending the 22-month investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and President Donald Trump’s ties with Russia, Barr said he would advise lawmakers on Mueller’s “principal conclusions” as soon as this weekend.
As of Saturday afternoon, it remained unclear exactly how Barr would communicate the contents of Mueller’s report to Congress. But lawmakers have been told to not expect anything from Barr about the report before Sunday, according to multiple reports.
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Pelosi’s office told The Daily Beast that discussions between the Department of Justice and the House Judiciary Committee are ongoing. Spokespeople for the Judiciary Committee did not immediately respond to request for comment on the status of those discussions.
The president, who traveled to Florida hours before Mueller submitted his report, is huddling at his Mar-a-Lago retreat with his top advisers and legal team and spent part of the day golfing. He has remained silent about the completion of the special counsel’s investigation, which he has repeatedly derided as a “witch hunt.”
As the president, lawmakers and the public waited, Pelosi and Democratic lawmakers spent Saturday amping up the pressure on Barr to make as much of Mueller’s findings public as possible.
On Saturday afternoon, Pelosi sent a message to the attorney general that anything less than full disclosure would be unacceptable.
“Congress requires the full report and the underlying documents so that the Committees can proceed with their independent work, including oversight and legislating to address any issues the Mueller report may raise,” she wrote in a letter to Democrats, adding that the report’s findings must also be provided to the public.
And during an “emergency caucus conference call” on Saturday afternoon, the speaker worked to shut down the possibility that Barr might restrict the report’s classified details to a small group of Democratic and Republican committee heads, Politico reported.
Capitol Hill Republicans, meanwhile, have welcomed the conclusion of Mueller’s investigation and notable lawmakers have also called on a high level of disclosure from the attorney general.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he would work with Democrats to “ensure as much transparency as possible, consistent with the law.” Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), the top Republican on the House Judiciary panel, tweeted that he expects Barr to release the Mueller report without delay.
