Mueller’s team reluctant to have him testify: Report

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is reportedly hesitant to have him testify publicly before the House Judiciary Committee.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, CNN reported Tuesday that Mr. Mueller’s team worries he will appear political after staying out of the public limelight while spearheading a 22-month investigation into President Trump.

The special counsel team is reviewing “numerous options” for Mr. Mueller to testify, including having him appear behind closed doors, CNN reported.

Mr. Trump has balked at the idea of Mr. Mueller testifying before Congress, Justice Department officials, including Attorney General William P. Barr, appear to support it.

“It’s Bob’s call whether he wants to testify,” Mr. Barr told The Wall Street Journal.

House Judiciary Committee members on both sides of the aisle have demanded Mr. Mueller discuss his conclusions with them. Chairman Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat, has vowed to subpoena the special counsel if necessary, but said he hopes it doesn’t come to that.

Meanwhile, Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, on Tuesday blasted Democrats for not calling Mr. Mueller to testify, while wondering why they have focused on administration officials such as former White House counsel Don McGahn.

“We’ve subpoenaed the documents, we’ve subpoenaed the underlying documents, we’ve subpoenaed stuff that we can’t get, but the one thing that we seem to avoid is Mr. Mueller himself, the one who wrote it,” the Georgia congressman said. “We’ve asked since April about Mr. Mueller coming. But every time we seem to get close to Mueller, Mueller just gets pushed on a little bit.

“Haven’t seen a subpoena here, and this is what’s really amazing — we’ll get back to subpoenas in a moment — but just think about that. You wanted the work of the author, but you don’t want to talk to the author,” Mr. Collins continued.