House Democrats will be hearing from former special counsel Robert Mueller one week after they originally planned. He will now testify before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees on July 24 for a longer period of time.
“At his request, we have agreed to postpone the hearing for one week, until July 24, at which time Mr. Mueller will appear in public before the House Judiciary Committee followed by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,” Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler and Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff announced in a statement.
“All members — Democrats and Republicans — of both committees will have a meaningful opportunity to question the Special Counsel in public, and the American people will finally have an opportunity to hear directly from Mr. Mueller about what his investigation uncovered,” they added.
A Democratic staffer told The Washington Times the problem arose after some members were concerned that they wouldn’t have time to question the special counsel due to the time constraints.
“Whenever the hearing takes place, it’s important that every single member of the House Democratic Caucus who serves on the Judiciary Committee participates in the Mueller hearing,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, chair of the Democratic Caucus, told reporters earlier Friday morning.
Rep. Doug Collins, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, said he appreciated Mr. Nadler taking Republican concerns’ seriously.
The hearing’s date was in flux earlier on Friday, with several members of the Judiciary Committee unsure about rescheduling the hearing.
Mr. Mueller will now testify for three hours with the Judiciary Committee before starting his time with the Intelligence Committee.
President Trump told reporters Friday that House Democrats are trying to hurt him politically with Mr. Mueller’s testimony because they’re afraid the Democratic presidential candidates are too weak to beat him on the merits in 2020.
“They want to hurt the president for the election, because I see what I’m running against,” Mr. Trump said before the hearing was rescheduled. “You got sleepy Joe Biden — he doesn’t have the energy to be president. And the people that are nipping on his heels — they don’t have what it takes.”
Saying that Mr. Mueller has already made clear his conclusions, the president added, “You can only get so many bites at the apple.”
“We got to get on to running a country,” Mr. Trump said. “You got immigration, infrastructure, drug prices. The Democrats aren’t working. All they’re doing is trying to hurt people.”
• Dave Boyer contributed to this report.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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