The House voted Thursday to urge the Justice Department to make special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report available to Congress and to the public, and now it heads to a fight in the Senate.
A resolution urging release passed on a 420-0 vote, with four lawmakers answering “present.”
The nonbinding measure expresses the opinion of Congress, but Democrats said it was a strong message to the Trump administration and the Justice Department.
“A vote for this resolution will send a clear signal to both the American people and to the department of justice that Congress believes transparency is a fundamental principle necessary to ensure that government remains accountable to the public,” Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler said on the House floor.
Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said it would also send a strong signal discouraging adversaries from meddling in future elections.
“Let’s send a unanimous message to the Russians and to any other country or entity that would try to subvert our democratic elections that [it] will not be tolerated,” he said.
A similar measure is being pushed by Judiciary Committee members on both sides of the aisle in the Senate, led by Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Charles E. Grassley.
House Republicans supported the measure, but said it was unnecessary because it restated what’s already required by law.
“We’ve talked about this. It’s nothing but a restatement of the regulation,” said Rep. Doug Collins, Georgia Republican. “Let’s let the report be given to the attorney general.”
Under current law, Mr. Mueller is required to submit his final report to Attorney General William Barr, who then determines what will be included in a report sent to Congress.
During his confirmation hearing in the Senate this year, Mr. Barr said he wanted to be as transparent as possible, but would not commit to making the entire report public.
Mr. Collins, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, argued that Democrats felt the same way Republicans do now when it came to the Starr Report on the investigation into former President Bill Clinton.
“What happens when it comes back and it says none of this was true — the president did not do anything wrong? Then the meltdown will occur,” he said.
The resolution did not get a smooth transition in the Senate Thursday afternoon.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham objected to Democrats’ attempt to force quick floor action.
He said he would support it if Democrats would agree to add in a call for a new special counsel to investigate into how the FBI and DOJ handled the Hillary Clinton email probe. Democrats refused that request.
Mr. Graham said he’ll write legislation to push for the special counsel nonetheless.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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