House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday special counsel Robert Mueller must “provide public testimony” in Congress “as soon as possible.”
Pelosi, D-Calif., and Schumer, D-N.Y., said Mueller himself must testify because Attorney General William Barr has handled the special counsel’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion by Donald Trump’s campaign in a partisan manner.
Barr is scheduled to hold a Thursday morning news conference about the Mueller report, which he plans to release later in the day. Democrats have called on Barr to cancel the press conference because he is holding it before the public and members of Congress have had a chance to read the report.
[Read more: Mueller won’t stand with Barr at presser]
“Attorney General Barr’s regrettably partisan handling of the Mueller report, including his slanted March 24th summary letter, his irresponsible testimony before Congress last week, and his indefensible plan to spin the report in a press conference later this morning — hours before he allows the public or Congress to see it — have resulted in a crisis of confidence in his independence and impartiality,” Schumer and Pelosi said.
“We believe the only way to begin restoring public trust in the handling of the Special Counsel’s investigation is for Special Counsel Mueller himself to provide public testimony in the House and Senate as soon as possible. The American people deserve to hear the truth.”
