House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler said special counsel Robert Mueller has asked for a private session to testify about his report, which investigated President Trump’s presidential campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“Mueller, I think I can say at this point, that he wants to testify in private. I don’t know why. He’s willing to make an opening statement [in public], but he wants to testify in private. We’re saying he ought to — we think it’s important for the American people to hear from him and to hear his answers to questions about the report,” the New York Democrat said on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
Mr. Nadler said a transcript of Mr. Mueller’s testimony would be made public but wants to testify privately to avoid a media frenzy.
“He envisions himself, correctly, as a man of great rectitude. Apolitical and he doesn’t want to participate in anything that he might regard as a political spectacle, especially if Republicans on the committee start asking him questions about the beginning of the — about this stuff, the beginning of the investigation,” he said.
Host Rachel Maddow asked Mr. Nadler if the committee might interview Mr. Mueller’s team despite Republicans having “singled out specific members.”
“I think we probably will. I think we’ll probably hear from them and a lot of other people. Our intention is to open all of this up to the American people, to have everybody relevant testify so people understand what was in the Mueller report, what wasn’t in the Mueller report, to understand what was going on,” he said.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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