SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Attorney General nominee William Barr testifies at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee January 15, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
'Congress Didn't Ask for a Summary': Demands to #ReleaseTheFullReport Surge After Barr Letter
"I don't want a summary of the Mueller report. I want the whole damn report," said Sen. Bernie Sanders
Mar 25, 2019
Arguing that a four-page summary by President Donald Trump's handpicked Attorney General is far from sufficient transparency for a probe that lasted nearly two years, members of Congress and progressive advocacy groups Sunday night intensified their demands that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's full conclusions be made public immediately.
"Congress didn't ask for a 'summary,' Attorney General Barr. Members of the House voted 420-0 to release the report. The American people deserve to see the full report."
--Sen. Elizabeth Warren
"I don't want a summary of the Mueller report. I want the whole damn report," tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) after Attorney General William Barr submitted his report to Congress.
According to Barr, a frequent critic of Mueller's Russia probe prior to his confirmation as Attorney General in February, the Special Counsel "did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election."
On the question of whether Trump obstructed justice, Barr noted, Mueller was inconclusive. According to Barr's letter, the Special Counsel wrote, "while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
Based on Mueller's findings, Barr asserted that the evidence is "not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense"--a conclusion that independent journalist Marcy Wheeler characterized as "legal sleight of hand."
Following the public release of Barr's summary, Democrats in Congress said the letter "raises as many questions as it answers" and called for Mueller's full conclusions--as well as all underlying documentation--to be released to the public unredacted and without further delay.
"Congress didn't ask for a 'summary,' Attorney General Barr," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote on Twitter. "Members of the House voted 420-0 to release the report. The American people deserve to see the full report."
Progressive advocacy groups--which are planning protests nationwide if Trump attempts to block the release of Mueller's report--echoed congressional Democrats' demands for the totality of the Special Counsel's conclusions.
"An abbreviated summary of Mueller's findings is not enough," declared Public Citizen. "[Nine] in 10 Americans believe the complete Mueller report should be public, and the House of Representatives voted 420 to 0 for full transparency. The demand is vocal, obvious, and must be met."
MoveOn agreed, tweeting Sunday night: "[Twenty-two] months of intensive investigation that produced a number of indictments and convictions and the AG doesn't even consult the person who conducted those investigations before taking just 2 days to summarize his findings? We're going to need more than that."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Arguing that a four-page summary by President Donald Trump's handpicked Attorney General is far from sufficient transparency for a probe that lasted nearly two years, members of Congress and progressive advocacy groups Sunday night intensified their demands that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's full conclusions be made public immediately.
"Congress didn't ask for a 'summary,' Attorney General Barr. Members of the House voted 420-0 to release the report. The American people deserve to see the full report."
--Sen. Elizabeth Warren
"I don't want a summary of the Mueller report. I want the whole damn report," tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) after Attorney General William Barr submitted his report to Congress.
According to Barr, a frequent critic of Mueller's Russia probe prior to his confirmation as Attorney General in February, the Special Counsel "did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election."
On the question of whether Trump obstructed justice, Barr noted, Mueller was inconclusive. According to Barr's letter, the Special Counsel wrote, "while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
Based on Mueller's findings, Barr asserted that the evidence is "not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense"--a conclusion that independent journalist Marcy Wheeler characterized as "legal sleight of hand."
Following the public release of Barr's summary, Democrats in Congress said the letter "raises as many questions as it answers" and called for Mueller's full conclusions--as well as all underlying documentation--to be released to the public unredacted and without further delay.
"Congress didn't ask for a 'summary,' Attorney General Barr," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote on Twitter. "Members of the House voted 420-0 to release the report. The American people deserve to see the full report."
Progressive advocacy groups--which are planning protests nationwide if Trump attempts to block the release of Mueller's report--echoed congressional Democrats' demands for the totality of the Special Counsel's conclusions.
"An abbreviated summary of Mueller's findings is not enough," declared Public Citizen. "[Nine] in 10 Americans believe the complete Mueller report should be public, and the House of Representatives voted 420 to 0 for full transparency. The demand is vocal, obvious, and must be met."
MoveOn agreed, tweeting Sunday night: "[Twenty-two] months of intensive investigation that produced a number of indictments and convictions and the AG doesn't even consult the person who conducted those investigations before taking just 2 days to summarize his findings? We're going to need more than that."
Arguing that a four-page summary by President Donald Trump's handpicked Attorney General is far from sufficient transparency for a probe that lasted nearly two years, members of Congress and progressive advocacy groups Sunday night intensified their demands that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's full conclusions be made public immediately.
"Congress didn't ask for a 'summary,' Attorney General Barr. Members of the House voted 420-0 to release the report. The American people deserve to see the full report."
--Sen. Elizabeth Warren
"I don't want a summary of the Mueller report. I want the whole damn report," tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) after Attorney General William Barr submitted his report to Congress.
According to Barr, a frequent critic of Mueller's Russia probe prior to his confirmation as Attorney General in February, the Special Counsel "did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election."
On the question of whether Trump obstructed justice, Barr noted, Mueller was inconclusive. According to Barr's letter, the Special Counsel wrote, "while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
Based on Mueller's findings, Barr asserted that the evidence is "not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense"--a conclusion that independent journalist Marcy Wheeler characterized as "legal sleight of hand."
Following the public release of Barr's summary, Democrats in Congress said the letter "raises as many questions as it answers" and called for Mueller's full conclusions--as well as all underlying documentation--to be released to the public unredacted and without further delay.
"Congress didn't ask for a 'summary,' Attorney General Barr," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote on Twitter. "Members of the House voted 420-0 to release the report. The American people deserve to see the full report."
Progressive advocacy groups--which are planning protests nationwide if Trump attempts to block the release of Mueller's report--echoed congressional Democrats' demands for the totality of the Special Counsel's conclusions.
"An abbreviated summary of Mueller's findings is not enough," declared Public Citizen. "[Nine] in 10 Americans believe the complete Mueller report should be public, and the House of Representatives voted 420 to 0 for full transparency. The demand is vocal, obvious, and must be met."
MoveOn agreed, tweeting Sunday night: "[Twenty-two] months of intensive investigation that produced a number of indictments and convictions and the AG doesn't even consult the person who conducted those investigations before taking just 2 days to summarize his findings? We're going to need more than that."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.