Two senators on Monday introduced legislation that would make public special counsel Robert Mueller’s eventual findings on Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, and Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, introduced the bipartisan legislation that would require all future special counsel findings to be made public. Under the legislation, the findings would be made public once a probe ends or in the event a special counsel is fired or resigns.
“A special counsel is appointed only in rare serious circumstances involving grave violations of public trust,” the senators said in a joint statement. “The public has a right and need to know the facts of such betrayals of public trust.”
Dubbed the Special Counsel Transparency Act, the legislation would require a special counsel to turn over their findings within two weeks. The special counsel must include “all factual findings and underlying evidence.” An unclassified version would then be released to the public.
The legislation comes after attorney general nominee William Barr hedged last week when asked if he would publicly release Mr. Mueller’s final conclusions.
Mr. Barr told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that he wanted to be as transparent as possible, but refused to give a firm commitment to releasing the entire report.
“I can assure you that, where judgments are to be made, I will make those judgments based solely on the law and I will not let personal, political or other improper interests influence my decision,” he said.
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