Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday is appearing before a House subcommittee where he is expected to be grilled by Democrats over his four-page summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
Barr is ostensibly testifying before a House appropriations subcommittee to discuss the Justice Department’s budget, but Democrats on the panel are expected to zero in on Barr’s interpretation of the Mueller report.
Barr last month released a synopsis of Mueller’s findings following the special counsel’s nearly two-year investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and whether President Trump or any of his campaign associates colluded with Russia.
The attorney general said Mueller did not find evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Trump and Moscow but did not reach a conclusion on whether the president obstructed justice.
Barr wrote that he and deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein examined the evidence and determined that they would not be able to make a case for obstruction.
Democrats have called for Barr to release the entire nearly 400-page report and the underlying evidence that Mueller and Barr used to make their conclusions.
According to prepared remarks, Rep. Nita Lowey, the chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, is expected to say Barr’s letter “raises more questions than it answers.”
“It’s been reported that the report is 300-400 pages, and I use the term ‘reported’ because we have no idea how long it actually is,” Lowey of New York will say. “All we have is your four-page summary letter, which seems to cherry pick from the report to draw the most favorable conclusion possible for the president.”
Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY) is expected to question Barr on why he released the synopsis within two days of Mueller turning in his report to the Justice Department but failed to include summary documents the special counsel included.
“Last week, the New York Times reported that the Special Counsel’s office had already created summary documents that were ignored in your letter, and that some investigators within the Special Counsel’s office felt that your summary understates the level of malfeasance by the president and several of his campaign and White House advisors,” Serrano, who chairs the appropriations subcommittee where Barr will testify.
Serrano will call for Barr to release the report.
“I believe the American people deserve to see the full Mueller Report, and to be trusted to make their own determinations on the merits based on what the Special Counsel has presented,” he will say.
Barr has said he would release the report later this month after redacting classified information, grand jury testimony and details that pertain to ongoing investigations.
But Republicans are expected to try to keep the hearing on point – about the Justice Department’s budget.
“We expect the questions to center around the purpose of the hearing: the president’s budget and other appropriations matters,” Brian Rell, chief of staff for Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (R-Ala.), said in an email to the Washington Post. “I would be shocked, shocked, I say if other matters were to be the focus of the hearing.”
Barr is scheduled to appear before a Senate appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday.