On Tuesday night, a letter from Special Counsel Robert Mueller to Attorney General William Barr leaked, in which Mueller expresses his concern that Barr’s March 24 letter to Congress “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this office’s work and conclusions.”
Here’s how the political world is reacting so far:
Top Democrats
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA):
Attorney General Barr misled the public and owes the American people answers. It’s time for DOJ to release the full report & all underlying docs — and finally allow Mueller to testify. Americans deserve the facts. Barr must stop standing in the way. https://t.co/9mfIaKSOSj
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 1, 2019
House Intel Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA):
Now it is confirmed Mueller objected to the “context, nature, and substance” of Barr’s misleading summary of the report.
And the false public narrative it allowed the White House to create.
No one can place any reliance on what Barr says. We need to hear from Mueller himself. https://t.co/ET7tQxnGQG
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) May 1, 2019
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY):
In light of Mueller’s letter, the misleading nature of Barr’s 4/10 testimony & 4/18 press conference is even more glaring.
Barr must bring the letter with him when he testifies in the Senate tomorrow.
And it’s time for Mueller to testify publicly. Now.https://t.co/d3lObZSQBE
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) May 1, 2019
House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY):
“The Special Counsel’s concerns reflect our own,” he wrote in a Medium post. “The Attorney General should not have taken it upon himself to describe the Special Counsel’s findings in a light more favorable to the President. It was only a matter of time before the facts caught up to him.”
Ex-Government Officials
Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general:
“I used to walk down the Justice Department on the fifth floor and see all those portraits of legendary attorneys general, Griffin Bell and Robert Jackson and people like that. Bill Barr will not be like that,” he said on MSNBC. “There is no chance anymore. He has fundamentally sullied his reputation and his legacy with the way he’s acted, and, you know, in the history books these folks will go down for what they are.”
Jon Brennan, former CIA director:
“I thought he’d protect the rule of law and institution of the Department of Justice,” Brennan said on MSNBC. “But these reports reinforce the notion that he is acting as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and not as the Attorney General of the United States.”
Trumpworld
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani:
He called Mueller’s letter “very odd” in an interview with NBC, adding that “if he didn’t want confusion, he should have made a decision. He was made special counsel to make decisions, and the fact he didn’t says to me (that Trump) was innocent.”
