Former special counsel Robert Mueller has agreed to testify in public about his two-year Russia investigation at a hearing before the House Intelligence Committee and Judiciary Committee on July 17. The announcement came from the chairmen of the two panels, who issued a subpoena compelling his testimony.
In a news release issued late Tuesday, Judiciary Committee Chairmen Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said that Mueller had agreed to testify next month.
“Pursuant to subpoenas issued by the House Judiciary and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence tonight, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III has agreed to testify before both Committees on July 17 in open session,” the chairmen said in a statement.
“Americans have demanded to hear directly from the Special Counsel,” the statement said, “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 into that attack.”
The chairmen suggested in a letter to Mueller on Tuesday accompanying the subpoena that they understand that Mueller may limit what he plans to share with lawmakers, with Schiff and Nadler writing that they know “there are certain sensitivities associated with your open testimony.”
Photos show Athena Strand kidnapping truck as jurors weigh death penalty for killer FedEx driver
Coast Guard Confiscates Over $33 Million of Cocaine in Major Bust
Swalwell ripped for changing his tune on how sexual assault victims ‘deserve to be heard’
WATCH: Eviction standoff turns war zone as gunman kills deputy in ambush, gets run over by armored vehicle
Top White House officials encouraged potential Bondi replacement to make case to Trump for AG job: Sources
Trump Demands Fox News Take ‘Real Loser’ Host off the Air
Swalwell’s baggage on full display as California governor bid hits turbulence
Fairfax County schools retain copious cultural observance days out of ‘diversity’ concerns
‘A National Embarrassment’: Kamala Harris Mocked for Incredibly Bizarre Trump Impression
Trump adversary running for Senate borrows his filibuster playbook
‘Quiet!’ Trump Snaps at ‘Failing’ NYT Reporter After War Crimes Question
Trump backs Hilton ahead of California GOP vote, testing Bianco’s grip on party endorsement
The era of amateur Vaticanology dawns in the United States
Vance en route to Pakistan for high-stakes Iran talks as ‘fragile’ ceasefire teeters
Late Breaking: Dem Leader Jeffries Calls on Swalwell to Drop Out of California Gov Race After Sex Abuse Allegations, Doesn’t Demand Resignation from House
“In particular, the Special Counsel’s Office referred several criminal investigations to other offices at the Department of Justice, and certain matters are ongoing. Your office, moreover, admirably limited public comment while the Special Counsel’s Office’s work was ongoing. You have also explained that you prefer for the Special Counsel’s Office’s written work to speak for itself,” they wrote.
Mueller did not want to testify, but will respect the subpoena to testify in open session, Schiff said on “The Rachel Maddow Show” Tuesday night on MSNBC. Mueller’s staff will speak to the committees in a closed session after Mueller’s public testimony.
“Clearly this is something, I think from his perspective as prosecutor, he is reluctant to come, as a prosecutor normally would be,” Schiff said. “But as Bob Mueller was the first to point out in his own report, he did not make a traditional prosecutorial judgement.”
Congress did not feel it sufficient to rely only a written report without the ability to ask follow-up questions, Schiff said, and believed that it was appropriate for the House to flesh out questions, Schiff said.
“It seemed like such an obvious step, from my own point of view, if you’re going accept the role as special counsel in one of the most significant investigations in modern history, you’re going to have to expect that you’re going to be asked to come to testify before Congress,” Schiff said.
Photos show Athena Strand kidnapping truck as jurors weigh death penalty for killer FedEx driver
Coast Guard Confiscates Over $33 Million of Cocaine in Major Bust
Swalwell ripped for changing his tune on how sexual assault victims ‘deserve to be heard’
WATCH: Eviction standoff turns war zone as gunman kills deputy in ambush, gets run over by armored vehicle
Top White House officials encouraged potential Bondi replacement to make case to Trump for AG job: Sources
Trump Demands Fox News Take ‘Real Loser’ Host off the Air
Swalwell’s baggage on full display as California governor bid hits turbulence
Fairfax County schools retain copious cultural observance days out of ‘diversity’ concerns
‘A National Embarrassment’: Kamala Harris Mocked for Incredibly Bizarre Trump Impression
Trump adversary running for Senate borrows his filibuster playbook
‘Quiet!’ Trump Snaps at ‘Failing’ NYT Reporter After War Crimes Question
Trump backs Hilton ahead of California GOP vote, testing Bianco’s grip on party endorsement
The era of amateur Vaticanology dawns in the United States
Vance en route to Pakistan for high-stakes Iran talks as ‘fragile’ ceasefire teeters
Late Breaking: Dem Leader Jeffries Calls on Swalwell to Drop Out of California Gov Race After Sex Abuse Allegations, Doesn’t Demand Resignation from House
Earlier this month, Nadler said he was “confident” that Mueller would eventually testify before Congress. Ever since the 448-page redacted report was released in April, lawmakers had been in talks with Mueller so that he could testify before Congress publicly. When Mueller spoke publicly for the first time about the Russia investigation in late May, he indicated that he did not want to testify before Congress. “I hope and expect that this is the only time that I will speak to you in this manner,” he said then.
