Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Sunday said that he plans to grant Democrats’ request for former special counsel Robert Mueller to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee after he blasted President Trump for commuting Roger Stone’s prison sentence in a Washington Post op-ed.
On Saturday night, Mueller issued a rare public rebuke in his op-ed that argued that Stone “remains a convicted felon, and rightly so.” Trump’s move to commute Stone’s sentence came after Mueller’s two-year investigation found evidence of correspondence between Stone and WikiLeaks regarding the release of hacked Democratic party emails during the 2016 presidential election cycle.
In a statement on Sunday, Graham directly responded to Mueller’s op-ed by saying that it shows how the former special counsel is “willing — and also capable — of defending” the Russia probe he conducted.
Graham then acknowledged Democrats’ renewed calls for Mueller to testify after Republicans on the Judiciary Committee voted last month to give the South Carolina senator broad subpoena authority as part of his investigation into the Russia probe that he’s expressed skepticism of.
“Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have previously requested Mr. Mueller appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify about his investigation,” Graham said in a statement. “That request will be granted.”
Shortly before Graham signaled that he will give the green light to Democrats’ request for Mueller to testify, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) railed against Republicans for refusing to “stand up for the rule of law” in response to Trump’s move to commute Stone’s prison sentence during an interview on ABC News on Sunday morning.
“It shouldn’t matter, but this was a Republican-led investigation that Roger Stone lied to, the committee was then chaired by a Republican,” Schiff said on ABC News. “And here you have no more than a couple of Republicans willing to say a single word about someone who came before Congress and lied to them, intimidated witnesses and obstructed them. And why? Because he did it to cover for a president of their party.”
Rep. Adam Schiff slams GOP for silence on Trump's Stone commutation: “Republicans won’t stand up for the rule of law, won’t stand up for the independence of the Justice Department … this was a Republican-led investigation that Roger Stone lied to.” https://t.co/OIBN1nggXM pic.twitter.com/R3GFGQwoci
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) July 12, 2020
