Despite Robert Mueller’s statement on Wednesday in which he suggested he doesn’t want to testify before Congress, powerful Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said it’s not up to the special counsel.
The Virginia senator said it is likely that House Democrats will still call on Mueller to testify and he will have to comply – especially when he becomes a private citizen again.
“When he becomes a private citizen, there will be those in Congress – probably led by the House – that will urge him to testify, and I think he’ll have a responsibility to do so,” Sen. Warner said on Wednesday.
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Robert Mueller suggested on Wednesday that he won’t testify before Congress – but the choice isn’t his. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/bJhgh6JsVH
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) May 29, 2019
Countless questions still remain about Mueller’s findings
As former federal prosecutor Seth Waxman told MSNBC’s Ari Melber on Wednesday, Mueller might have a stellar reputation, but he will still have to testify before Congress if they call upon him to do so.
“No one’s above responding to a subpoena,” Waxman said. “And there are countless questions that are left unanswered.”
Among those questions, Waxman said, are: “Why didn’t Don Jr. testify? Why didn’t the president testify? … Was it because they plead the fifth?”
Key parts of the final special counsel report that could answer these questions have been redacted, and only Mueller could provide the clarity that the American people deserve.
While Mueller clearly suggested in his public remarks on Wednesday that it’s up to Congress to hold the president accountable for any wrongdoing, his potential testimony could clear up whether his final report was meant to be a roadmap for lawmakers to launch an impeachment inquiry.
Robert Mueller may worry that a potential congressional testimony might turn into a political circus, but there are key questions that remain unanswered and he has a responsibility to the country to answer them.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
