House Panel to Vote This Week on Authorizing Subpoenas for Mueller Report

The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote for Wednesday to authorize subpoenas for the full, un-redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report, the committee announced Monday.

That announcement followed Attorney General William Barr's statement that Congress and the public would have to wait until mid-April to see a redacted version of the report, which Mueller submitted to Barr on March 22.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., had given Barr until Tuesday to submit a complete version of the roughly 400-page report, including underlying evidence.

"As I have made clear, Congress requires the full and complete special counsel report, without redactions, as well as access to the underlying evidence," said Nadler.

Barr's letter describing the report says it does not establish that President Trump and his 2016 presidential campaign conspired with Russia. The report also does not come to a conclusion about whether Trump obstructed justice as the investigation proceeded, Barr wrote.

Barr wrote to members of Congress that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had determined that Mueller had not developed sufficient evidence to establish that Trump had committed an obstruction of justice offense.

Democrats accused Barr of trying to protect the president by suppressing details from the public. Barr's synopsis also left questions unanswered about many other aspects Mueller's investigation.

Barr says he's following Justice Department guidelines and that the report must be redacted to protect national security secrets, grand jury information and sensitive information about people who were not accused of any wrongdoing.

The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee was quick to defend Barr.

"Judiciary Democrats have escalated from setting arbitrary deadlines to demanding unredacted material that Congress does not, in truth, require and that the law does not allow to be shared outside the Justice Department," said ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga.

An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll last week found overwhelming majorities of those surveyed want to see the full report.

Barr will likely face questions about his handling of the Mueller report next month. He's scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 1 and has offered to testify before the House Judiciary Committee the following day.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Dublin, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, said lawmakers and the public need to see the whole report in order to protect the integrity of U.S. elections.

"The only way to protect the ballot box going forward is to understand who worked with the Russians, what vulnerabilities exist, what the government response was and then allow us to make reforms," said Swalwell, a possible presidential contender.

But, he added, he's not expecting the attorney general to immediately cooperate.

"That would mean that this administration is doing something it's never done before which is comply and be transparent."

KQED's Ryan Levi contributed to this report.

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