Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Democrats on six House committees—including Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Oversight chair Elijah Cummings (D-MD), and Intelligence chair Adam Schiff (D-CA)—are demanding that the Justice Department release Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s full report “without delay.” According to the Associated Press, the Democrats said they expect Attorney General William Barr to turn over all the evidence Mueller has collected in his probe into potential Russian collusion in the 2016 election. If not, the lawmakers said it “would raise serious questions about whether the Department of Justice policy is being used as a pretext for a cover-up of misconduct.” The hashtag “#ReleaseTheReport” was also utilized on Twitter among Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who warned Barr against giving President Trump or members of his legal team a “sneak preview.”
Earlier Friday, the AP reported that Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said the president’s lawyers wanted an early look at Mueller’s findings before they were made public. Giuliani later disputed that reporting in comments to The Daily Beast, saying the matter “will be handled properly” and it’s “up to DOJ.” The White House had earlier issued a statement saying it was looking “forward” to the next steps after Mueller handed in his report and noting that the administration “has not received or been briefed on the Special Counsel’s report.”