Top House Judiciary Committee Republican Congressman Doug Collins (GA) is calling on chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) to ask Special Counsel Robert Mueller to testify before Congress rather than focus on testimony from Attorney General William Barr.
In a letter to Nadler today, Collins wrote “If you seek both transparency and for the American public to learn the full contours of the Special Counsel’s investigation, public testimony from Special Counsel Mueller himself is undoubtedly the best way to accomplish this goal.”
“To that end, Special Counsel Mueller should be invited to testify before the Committee during the week of April 22. Although the House is expected to be in recess that week, I think we can agree this business is too important to wait, and Members of the Committee will surely return to Washington at such a critical moment in our country’s history,” the letter states.
The Hill reports: The GOP lawmaker’s letter comes after Democrats on the panel voted last week along party lines to authorize a subpoena for Mueller’s investigative report as well as the underlying evidence used in the investigation. While Nadler has said he will give Barr time to turn over the final, unredacted report to Congress before issuing the subpoena, he has not provided a timeline on the matter. Nadler also signaled to reporters last week that he is interested in having Mueller testify, but he indicated he wants to see the full report before making such decisions.
Collins insists Mueller is the best person to testify about the Trump-Russia investigation.
His letter continues, “Attorney General Barr was never a part of this investigation, and instead simply reviewed the Special Counsel’s final report and has provided Congress, so far, with the Special Counsel’s principal conclusions. While he can testify surrounding his decision to provide the Committee with principal conclusions, it is Special Counsel Mueller who is best-positioned to testify regarding the underlying facts and material in which you are so interested.”
Collins states that Democrats’ calls for Barr to release the unredacted Mueller report would force the Attorney General to violate the law.
“You and your fellow Democrats created an untenable but politically convenient situation: force Attorney General William P. Barr to break the law to comply with your subpoena or label him as part of a cover-up if he does not,” Collins writes.
For the full report, click HERE.
