Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi showed that Democrats are ready for Trump’s efforts to hide the Mueller report with a demand for unclassified briefings.

Nancy Pelosi cuts off Trump’s efforts to keep Mueller briefings classified

In a letter to her colleagues sent PoliticusUSA, the Speaker wrote:

Today, we are having an emergency Caucus conference call at 3:00 p.m. E.T. to discuss the transmittal of the Mueller report to the Department of Justice (DOJ). While we do not know the substance of the report, we will have the relevant Committees of jurisdiction on the call today to update Members on where we go from here.

Leader Schumer and I yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating Democrats’ call for transparency, stating that, “Now that Special Counsel Mueller has submitted his report to the Attorney General, it is imperative for Mr. Barr to make the full report public and provide its underlying documentation and findings to Congress.” Our six distinguished Committee chairs of jurisdiction also stated their call for transparency in a joint statement available here.

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This transparency is even more urgent because of Attorney General Barr’s letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees yesterday in which he writes, “I am reviewing the report and anticipate that I may be in a position to advise [the Judiciary Committee Chairs and Ranking Members] of the Special Counsel’s principal conclusions as soon as this weekend.” We are insisting that any briefings to any Committees be unclassified so that Members can speak freely about every aspect of the report and not be confined to what DOJ chooses to release publicly.

Even if DOJ chooses not to prosecute additional individuals, the underlying findings must be provided to Congress and the American people. The Attorney General’s offer to provide the Committees with a summary of the report’s conclusions is insufficient. Congress requires the full report and the underlying documents so that the Committees can proceed with their independent work, including oversight and legislating to address any issues the Mueller report may raise.

The American people deserve the truth. I have great confidence in our Committee Chairs and Members to honor our Congressional responsibility For the People.

Thank you for your leadership.

Democrats are preparing to fight Trump to get the Mueller report

With Democrats in control of the House, Trump can’t keep the Mueller report secret. As Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) noted, the White House can delay the report, but it is only a matter of time before the American people get to read every single word.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is already warning Trump and the DOJ that if Congress takes them to court to get the report, they will lose.
The report will be released. The Trump and Republican spin today means nothing. It is just the White House trying to make a bad story go away.

Democrats are digging in for a fight, and Pelosi is not going to let Trump’s DOJ silence her members and prevent them from talking about Mueller’s conclusions that will almost certainly be bad for Trump.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association