Robert Mueller Agrees to Publicly Testify to Congress
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees on July 17, the committee chairmen announced on Tuesday.
Mueller has resisted testifying, saying the special counsel’s report on Russian election interference and obstruction ought to speak for itself. In a public statement on May 29, he said that any testimony he would give would not go beyond the written report.
Related stories
Robert Mueller Breaks Silence on Russia Probe
Robert Mueller Spotted With 'NCIS,' 'Man from U.N.C.L.E.' Actor David McCallum
SAG-AFTRA, Adam Schiff Express Alarm on 'Deep Fake' Technologies
But Reps. Adam Schiff and Jerrold Nadler, the chairmen of the Intelligence and Judiciary committees, respectively, issued subpoenas to Mueller on Tuesday. In a letter, the chairmen praised Mueller’s discretion and noted his reluctance to appear.
“Nevertheless, the American public deserves to hear directly from you about your investigation and conclusions,” the chairmen wrote. “We will work with you to address legitimate concerns about preserving the integrity of your work, but we expect that you will appear before our Committees as scheduled.”
Mueller’s team concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge any member of President Trump’s campaign with conspiring with Russians to interfere with the campaign. But Mueller did not reach a conclusion as to whether President Trump obstructed the investigation of that interference, citing a Justice Department policy against bringing charges against the president. Mueller has also refused to say whether Trump would have been charged absent that policy.
“Russia attacked our democracy to help Trump win,” Schiff said in a tweet. “Trump welcomed and used that help. As Mueller said, that should concern every American. And now, every American will get to hear directly from Mueller.”
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
