WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to give a speech Tuesday declaring that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference is over, despite House Democrats pursuing more information.
"Case closed," McConnell, R-Ky., is expected to say on the Senate floor.
McConnell will compare Democratic complaints over the need to continue the 22-month investigation to the movie "Groundhog Day," where the protagonist repeats the same day repetitively. He will also call efforts for continued investigation "unhinged partisanship" that would keep the country divided.
“This investigation went on for two years," McConnell is expected to say. "It’s finally over."
The speech comes on the same day staffers from the House Judiciary Committee are meeting with Justice Department officials about whether more information from Mueller's 448-page report can be released publicly.
Attorney General William Barr redacted portions of the report that dealt with grand-jury evidence, information from ongoing cases, intelligence information and information that might infringe on the privacy of people not charged. He defended his handling of the report at the Senate Judiciary Committee last Wednesday.
But House Democrats including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have insisted that Congress receive the full report. Democrats contend the report described potential conspiracy between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia, even though Mueller filed no charges in that area. They also say the numerous episodes of potential obstruction of justice must be explored after Mueller reached no decision on obstruction charges.
Barr decided that the evidence Mueller collected didn't merit obstruction charges. Trump has said the report completely exonerated him.
If lawmakers and department officials can't reach a compromise, the Judiciary Committee scheduled a Wednesday vote on whether to hold Barr in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena for the entire report.
More on Congress and special counsel Robert Mueller's report:
House Judiciary Committee sets Wednesday contempt vote for Attorney General William Barr
'Slow-motion constitutional car crash': Trump, Congress battle over investigations with no end in sight
'We're out of it.' Attorney General Barr defends release, conclusions of special counsel's Russia report
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/05/07/case-closed-senate-leader-mcconnell-declare-russia-probe-over/1126770001/
2019-05-07 12:52:00Z
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