Betraying his worry and reinforcing the White House attempt to bury the Mueller Report on Trump-Russia links, Donald Trump says Special Counsel Robert Mueller should not testify to Congressional committees.
As late as Friday, Trump said that the decision over Mueller’s imminent appearance before the House Judiciary Committee is up to Attorney General William Barr. But in lie-filled tweets on Sunday, Trump blared:
….to testify. Are they looking for a redo because they hated seeing the strong NO COLLUSION conclusion? There was no crime, except on the other side (incredibly not covered in the Report), and NO OBSTRUCTION. Bob Mueller should not testify. No redos for the Dems!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2019
He opened Monday morning, “No High Crimes & Misdemeanors,” No Collusion, No Conspiracy, No Obstruction. ALL THE CRIMES ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE.”
Trump was initially exultant when the Mueller Report was published on April 18, after Barr — who took up his post in February — continued his protection of Trump with a pre-emptive press conference to dismiss the report’s conclusions of “numerous” Trump-Russia contacts and Trump’s obstruction or attempted obstruction of justice.
But as journalists read the 448-page report and countered the White House spin with accurate summaries of the findings, Trump returned to his falsehoods about Mueller and his team and doubled down on “NO COLLUSION”.
His latest tweets follow a turbulent appearance by Barr before the Senate Judiciary Committee, with the Attorney General struggling over Mueller’s complaints that the Attorney General had misrepresented the report.
Barr refused to appear before the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee or to give unredacted copies of the report to legislators, risking contempt of Congress. But Mueller’s appearance has tentatively been scheduled for May 15, raising the prospect of a dramatic hearing which challenges the White House’s tactics.
The Special Counsel may also appear before the House Intelligence Committee.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reacted:
[Trump] repeatedly tried to fire Mueller, then he refused to be interviewed by Mueller. Now he’s trying to silence Mueller. Mueller must testify publicly before Congress.
Blocking Inquiries
The White House is fighting on multiple fronts to prevent any further examination of Trump-Russia and Trump’s financial affairs, in addition to Barr’s stonewalling on provision of unredacted copies of the Mueller Report.
Trump’s staff are reportedly trying to prevent White House Counsel Donald McGahn from testifying. He is a central figure in two of the eight obstruction cases detailed by the Mueller Report — Trump’s order to fire Mueller in June 2017, weeks after the Special Counsel was appointed, and his subsequent command to McGahn to deny the attempted dismissal.
The Treasury is refusing the handover of Trump’s tax records to the House Oversight Committee, and Trump’s lawyers have filed to block subpoena of his accountants Mazars USA for six years of financial statements.
In addition to the ongoing issues over collusion with Russia and its intermediaries and his obstruction of justice, Trump has been accused by former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen of deception over his wealth to mislead tax and insurance officials. The claim has been supported by documents provided by Cohen to the Washington Post.
TrumpWatch, Day 825: Trump Vows to Block All Subpoenas for Congressional Hearings
