Top Democrats have rebuffed an offer from Attorney General William Barr to read a less-redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Friday that the attorney general is putting too many restrictions on who can view the less-redacted version, and asked for greater access.
“Unfortunately, your proposed accommodation — which among other things would prohibit discussion of the full report, even with other Committee Members — is not acceptable,” the lawmakers wrote to Barr.
“Given the comprehensive factual findings presented by the special counsel’s report, some of which will only be fully understood with access to the redacted material, we cannot agree to the conditions you are placing on our access to the full report,” they said.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Mark Warner, D-Va., also signed the letter sent Friday.
Barr offered to allow a dozen lawmakers and some staffers to view another version of the report at a secure location at the Justice Department. The Democrats also said Barr’s offer does not guarantee them access to grand jury material.
“While the current proposal is not workable, we are open to discussing a reasonable accommodation with the Department that would protect law enforcement sensitive information while allowing Congress to fulfill its constitutional duties,” the Democrats wrote.
The letter follows Nadler’s subpoena for the full Mueller report earlier Friday. Nadler said the Justice Department has until May 1 to comply.
“The redactions appear to be significant. We have so far seen none of the actual evidence that the Special Counsel developed to make this case,” he said in a statement. “Even the redacted version of the report outlines serious instances of wrongdoing by President Trump and some of his closest associates. It now falls to Congress to determine the full scope of that alleged misconduct and to decide what steps we must take going forward.”
