Mueller to publicly testify about report on Russia probe
WASHINGTON : US Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who issued a report in April on Russian meddling in the 2016 election, will testify in open session before the House of Representatives' Judiciary and Intelligence Committees on July 17, the panels' Democratic chairmen said.
Representative Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the judiciary panel, and Representative Adam Schiff, head of the intelligence panel, said in a joint statement that Mr Mueller agreed to testify after the two committees issued subpoenas on Tuesday.
His report found Russia meddled in the election and President Donald Trump's election campaign had multiple contacts with Russia.
But the report found insufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between the campaign and Moscow.
The report, which was partially redacted, also outlined instances in which Mr Trump tried to interfere with Mr Mueller's investigation, but declined to make a judgment on whether that amounted to obstruction of justice.
Mr Mueller, in his first public comments since starting the two-year investigation, said on May 29 that his probe was never going to end with criminal charges against Trump and indicated it was up to Congress to decide whether he should be impeached.
"Americans have demanded to hear directly from the Special Counsel so they can understand what he and his team examined, uncovered, and determined about Russia's attack on our democracy, the Trump campaign's acceptance and use of that help and President Trump and his associates' obstruction of the investigation," Mr Nadler and Mr Schiff said.
Mr Trump said yesterday in an interview with Fox Business Network, without offering any evidence, that Mr Mueller illegally "terminated" Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) communications.
"Mueller terminated them illegally. He terminated all of the e-mails ... Robert Mueller terminated their text messages together. He terminated them. They're gone. And that's illegal."
He was referring to two former FBI employees who exchanged disparaging messages about the president. - REUTERS
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
