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House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said on Sunday that he was ready to sue the Justice Department for the upcoming final report of special advocate Robert Mueller on Investigation in Russia, reportedly reported by Fox News.
The Inspector General of the Justice Department strongly criticized former FBI director James Comey for publicly exposing the bureau's case against Hillary Clinton, a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, without have concluded to the existence of criminal acts worthy of prosecution. In this context, it seemed unlikely that the Department of Justice would communicate Mueller's findings regarding non-criminal misconduct – but Schiff, D-Calif., Suggested that he had several tools to take matters into his own hands. .
"We will obviously assign the report to appear," Schiff told George Stephanopoulos on ABC News's "This Week" show. "We will bring Bob Mueller to testify before the Congress, we will sue him if necessary, and in the end I think the department understands that we will have to make this public."
It was unclear whether the Department of Justice would be legally required to respond to such subpoenas or whether the courts – which generally escape legal and political conflicts between the branches of the federal government – would compel the DOJ to surrender the document. .
Nevertheless, Schiff criticized the recently confirmed Attorney General William Barr for highlighting what he called a "bias" against the Mueller probe, which Barr now oversees, and Schiff said that transparency was the only realistic solution.
Last month, Barr revealed that he had discussed Mueller's investigation with Vice President Mike Pence on Russia, although he insisted that he did not provide legal advice to the White House and that he did not receive any confidential information from Pence.
WHAT BARR SAID PENCE ON THE MUELLER PROBE?
In his confirmation hearings, Mr. Barr also defended the unsolicited memorandum that he sent to the Justice Ministry last year and criticized the investigation by Russia, explaining that he had a narrow scope and relied on potentially incomplete information.
"If he was trying to restrain, to try to bury any part of this report, it would be his legacy," Schiff said Sunday. "And it will be a tarnished legacy, so I think there will be tremendous pressure not only on the ministry, but also on the attorney general."
Barr stated that, as he understood the rules governing the special advocate, the report would be confidential – and any report to Congress or the public would be written by the Attorney General.
After Barr's testimony, some Democrats sounded the alarm, Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Accusing the latter of having exploited legal "loopholes" to hide Mueller's final report to the public and resist subpoenas to appear against the White House.
"I will pledge to provide as much information as possible, in accordance with the regulations," Barr had said to Blumenthal when asked if he would ensure that Mueller's full report be made public.
At the same time, Schiff pointed out that, regardless of the special advice regulation, Trump could probably solve the problem as a whole by ordering the DOJ to release the report.
"We will get to the bottom of things," said Schiff. "We will share this information with the public, and if the president is serious about all his requests for exemption, he should welcome the release of the report."
Some Democrats refer to documents that Justice Department officials provided to Congress as a result of Hillary Clinton's e-mail inquiry, as well as information requested by Republicans as part of their own investigations.
Schiff told ministry officials, after publishing information relating to the Clinton inquiry, "that it was a new precedent that they were creating and that they would have to respect this precedent if it was a Congress controlled by the Democrats or the Republicans ".
In a letter sent on Friday, Democrats warned against the retention of information on Trump based on departmental views that the president can not be indicted. Many Republicans have also argued that the full report should be published, although most have refrained from saying that he should be summoned to appear.
Whatever happens with the Mueller report, Schiff said White House investigations are just beginning. The Democrat, whom Trump called "little Adam S —-" and "political scientist," announced a new congressional investigation into Trump's financial dealings earlier this month.
Schiff also aggressively attacked Republicans for refusing to convict Trump.
"When he attacked the press as being the enemy of the people, you fell silent." When he attacked justice, labeled judges and rulings that he did not like as illegitimate We have not heard a word, and now he is appearing before the Congress, the first branch of government, which seeks to strip him of his greatest power, that of the stock market, "wrote Schiff in a statement. Washington Post editorial last week.
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"Many of you have acknowledged your deep concern about the President in silent conversations over the past two years, and you have deplored his lack of decency, character and integrity." You deplored his fundamental inability to say But for reasons that are too easy to understand, you have chosen to keep your fears and your alarm alarming private.This must end.The time of silent disagreement is over.You must express yourself. "
Appearing on "Real Time with Bill Maher" on HBO this weekend, Schiff revealed that he had repeatedly declined the invitation of "Hannity" from Fox News to appear on-air for defend his positions.
Catherine Herridge of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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