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Ministry of Justice officials have criticized the congressional Democrats this week for ignoring a less expurgated version of the report of their special adviser to Russia, Robert Mueller, even as they sought a subpoena for the full document. accused the department of obstructing.
The Department of Justice issued a statement a few hours after Attorney General William Barr testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee for more than five hours to answer questions about how the department handled the release of the report. last month. In addition to a letter denying access to the fully unedited report and other records, the statement stated that Democrats, including the Speaker of the Judiciary, Jerry Nadler, DN.Y., had "refused" up to now to revise a version of the report with much less redactions. .
BARR ACCUSES THE BREACHES OF THE USE OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS AS "WEAPON" POLITICAL WEAPON " AS FLARE HEARING VOLTAGES
"The Attorney General has also voluntarily released the confidential report of the special council with minimal redactions to Congress and the public, put an even less redacted report at the disposal of President Nadler and congressional leaders (which they refused to consult), and is made available to the President. Committee by volunteering to testify this week, "said spokeswoman Kerri Kupec.
The Democrats opposed Barr's decision to send the report to Congress with deletions, and Nadler assigned the entire report to the underlying elements. Deputy Attorney General Stephen Boyd, in his Wednesday letter to Nadler, said the less-redacted version already available to key members "would consider 98.5% of the ratio, including 99.9% of the volume." II, which deals with the investigation of the case ". President's actions. "
"Unfortunately, before even reviewing the less redacted version or waiting for the Attorney General's testimony, you served a subpoena …", he wrote. "You served such an assignment knowing that the department could not legally provide the unredacted report, that the committee had no legitimate legislative purpose to search for complete investigation files and that the processing your requests would put a heavy burden on the department. "
A GOP legislator said the key section on obstruction in the version ignored by the Democrats contained only four phrases.
Nadler, however, explained Thursday – at a hearing that Barr had boycotted the forum's terms – that Democrats did not want to see this version because of restrictions on its viewing.
He specified that a dozen members had been allowed to look behind "some but not all" redactions, provided that they agree not to discuss what they see with their colleagues and to leave notes to the DOJ.
"It is urgent that we see the documents we have summoned to appear, but I can not accept conditions that prevent me from discussing the full report with my colleagues, which prevents the House from taking concrete action on the issue. Whole report. "
His counterpart, senior member of the Representative, Doug Collins, R-Ga., Replied that Nadler could still see him and ask for more.
"The president will not even see what the attorney general has proposed," he said.
NADLER DELIVERS BARR'S DECISION TO SAVE HEARING, THREATS CONTEMPTIVE QUOTE
Politico reported Tuesday that only two lawmakers – Collins and Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S. – had consulted the less redacted version, both claiming that the changes had no bearing on Mueller's findings. The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Was also considering examining it. The Democrats, however, boycotted the less expurgated version, saying Barr should instead provide an unredacted version.
Collins, after viewing the report last month, said the report addressed the issue of potential obstruction "includes only four redactions in total" and reinforces Mueller's key findings that it does not exist. There was no evidence of collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign, and there was insufficient evidence for President Trump to be charged with obstructing justice.
Wednesday night, however, the controversy had appeared Thursday before the judicial committee of the House. Nadler had demanded that Barr be questioned by the committee staff rather than legislators – a request that led Barr to refuse to appear.
"Congress and the executive branch are equal branches of government and each has a constitutional obligation to respect and reconcile their respective legitimate interests. President Nadler's insistence that staff question the Attorney General, a Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate, is inappropriate, "said Kupec.
This denial led the Democratic caucus chair, Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., To promise the Democrats to "plan the assignment of" Barr "s he decided not to run for office."
"He can run but he can not hide," Jeffries said.
Nadler, meanwhile, accused Barr of trying to "blackmail the committee so that it does not follow the most effective way to gather the information we need."
"He is terrified of having to deal with a competent lawyer," he said.
Although Barr has not yet been summoned to testify, Nadler stated that contempt quotes could be possible on the road not only if the full Mueller report was not published, but also if Barr did not did not comply with a possible subpoena.
Jake Gibson and Gregg Re of Fox News contributed to this article
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