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Yesterday,
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff,
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Committee on Oversight and Reform
Chairman Elijah E. Cummings, Committee on Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine
Waters, Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot L. Engel, and Committee on
Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal issued the following joint statement on
the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report:
“Despite a series of
statements and letters by Attorney General Barr which mischaracterized Special
Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings – beginning with his four-page summary almost
a month ago, his congressional testimony last week, and today’s misleading
press conference – the Special Counsel’s report speaks for itself and
explicitly does not exonerate the president. Attorney General Barr
misrepresented important aspects of the Special Counsel’s findings and provided
the White House advance access to the report.
“Taken as a whole, Mueller’s
report paints a damning portrait of lies that appear to have materially
impaired the investigation, a body of evidence of improper contacts with a
foreign adversary, and serious allegations about how President Trump sought to
obstruct a legitimate, and deeply important, counterintelligence investigation.
“We are profoundly troubled
by the astonishing efforts by President Trump identified in the report to
obstruct the investigation, including his attempts to remove the Special
Counsel and encourage witnesses to lie and to destroy or conceal evidence. In direct contradiction to the statements of
the Attorney General this morning that the Special Counsel did not consider
Department of Justice policy against indicting a sitting president, the Special
Counsel stated that ‘fairness concerns counseled against potentially reaching
that judgment [of criminal conduct] when no charges can be brought.’ Nor do we
believe it was the Attorney General’s place to make such a judgment, either,
and it is now apparent that the Special Counsel expressed no desire to have
Barr make that decision himself. Instead, as the Special Counsel undoubtedly
anticipated, it must fall to Congress to assess the President’s improper,
corrupt and immoral conduct in an effort to obstruct the investigation.
“Despite redactions that
appear to obscure important details, the Special Counsel’s report finds that
the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election in a ‘sweeping and
systematic’ fashion in order to assist the candidacy of Donald Trump, and that
the Trump campaign was aware of those efforts and expected it would benefit
electorally from Russia’s efforts. Contrary to Attorney General Barr’s
statements, the report catalogues the extensive interactions between Russian
officials and agents and Trump campaign associates of a profoundly compromising
nature. The report details how Russia deployed a multi-faceted intelligence
operation and sought to exploit and influence the Trump campaign and
transition, while the Trump campaign, beginning with candidate Trump, sought to
benefit from a hostile foreign intelligence operation.
“The report also details the
multiple convictions of Trump campaign officials and associates secured by the
Special Counsel for crimes related to obstructing the investigation, which
hampered the investigation, according to the Special Counsel. In addition, the report outlines efforts to
destroy evidence, conceal evidence through encrypted apps, and otherwise
interfere with the Special Counsel’s ability to conduct this
investigation. This apparent coordinated
effort to cover up illicit contacts and links with Russia should concern all
Americans, whether or not criminal charges were brought.
“Although the details of the
report are shocking, much of it still remains redacted and many questions remain. We must get the full report and the
underlying evidence, including grand jury material, in order to perform our
constitutional duties, including deciding whether new legislation is necessary.
Special Counsel Mueller’s fact-gathering has concluded. It is now Congress’
responsibility to review and assess the evidence.”
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