House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff said Sunday that he was “absolutely” prepared to sue the Trump administration — and to subpoena special counsel Robert Mueller — if the Mueller report is not made public.
“We will obviously subpoena the report. We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress. We will take it to court if necessary,” said the California Democrat on ABC’s “This Week.” “And in the end I think the [Justice] department understands they’re going to have to make this public.”
Does that mean that he would take the White House to court? “Absolutely. We are going to get to the bottom of this,” Mr. Schiff said.
“We are going to share this information with the public,” he said. “And if the president is serious about all of his claims of exoneration, then he should welcome the publication of this report.”
The Mueller report on possible Russia interference in the 2016 presidential campaign is expected to be released soon, although not this week, but the Justice Department is not required to release the document to the public.
.@GStephanopoulos: Are you prepared to take the administration to court if the Mueller report is not released to the public?
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 24, 2019
Rep. Adam Schiff: “Absolutely. We are going to get to the bottom of this. We are going to share this information with the public” https://t.co/a6Gw4si7my pic.twitter.com/s1Qyy1VKJd
Mr. Schiff made it clear he would do whatever necessary to make the findings public.
“He [Mueller] does have a responsibility to report it,” Mr. Schiff said. “And in fact, if you take the position—and I think it’s a flawed one—but if you take the position that the president cannot be indicted and the only remedy for improper or illegal or other conduct is impeachment, then you cannot withhold that information from Congress or essentially the president has immunity.”
He said Attorney General William Barr would be under “immense pressure” to publish the report.
“If he were to try to withhold, to bury any part of this report, that will be his legacy,” Mr. Schiff said. “And it will be a tarnished legacy. So I think there will be immense pressure not only on the department but on the attorney general to be forthcoming.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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