Rep. Adam Schiff on Sunday predicted special counsel Robert Mueller will testify before Congress about his Russia investigation as Democrats and the White House square off over subpoenas.
Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said it’s Congress’ “first priority” to have Mueller appear now that a copy of his redacted report has been made public.
“I am convinced it’s going to happen. That is inexorable. The American people have every right to hear what the man who did the investigation has to say and we now know we certainly can’t rely on the attorney general who misrepresented his conclusions,” the California Democrat said on ABC’s “This Week.” “So he is going to testify.”
He also floated again the idea of using Congress’ power of “inherent contempt” to fine or even jail administration officials who defy subpoenas to testify — although he acknowledged the maneuver would be tied up in the courts.
“We’re are going have to use that device if necessary, we’re going to have to use the power of the purse if necessary. We’re going to have to enforce our ability to do oversight,” Schiff said.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has been in negotiations to have Mueller appear before his panel and has said he would issue a subpoena to compel him to appear if necessary.
Democrats have accused Attorney General William Barr of mischaracterizing Mueller’s findings and want the special counsel to appear to explain how he reached his conclusions. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said the continuing investigations into Trump are “politically motivated.”
“One of the things that Adam Schiff and the other partisans don’t understand is that if you’re accused of a crime by a grand jury and they don’t indict you, the prosecutor doesn’t go all over town saying we thought he did this, we thought he did this, this is all the evidence,” Paul said on ABC following Schiff’s appearance.
Paul said now that Mueller’s report cleared Trump of colluding with the Russians during the 2016 election, Democrats are now trying to pin an obstruction charge on the president.
“So this is really I think degenerated into partisan politics and the best thing we could do at this point is say let’s get on with the country’s business,” Paul said.
In his report, Mueller said there was no evidence of a criminal conspiracy, but he didn’t exonerate Trump of obstruction, leaving the decision up to Congress.