Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Wednesday accused the Trump administration of “playing games” in its refusal to hand over to Congress the unredacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
“They’re playing games with this. This is not hide-and-go-seek,” Raskin, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said on Hill.TV’s “Rising.”
“We are the Congress of the United States. We’re the lawmaking branch of the government. We are in Article I,” he said in an interview shortly before White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Trump will exert executive privilege over the Mueller report.
“Remember, the president’s job is simply to take care that the laws are faithfully executed — not circumvented, not trashed, not violated. And the president is not implementing the laws here. He is not being faithful to the law, and he’s not maintaining his oath to the Constitution,” Raskin added.
The Judiciary Committee is set to vote Wednesday morning to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to respond to a subpoena for Mueller’s full report and investigative files.
The developments mark a growing rift between House Democrats, who are investigating various aspects of Trump’s businesses, campaign and administration.
“This is really an extraordinary time where the president says he’s going to stop cooperating with Congress in order that they not turn over the taxes, they not turn over the unredacted Mueller report, they not cooperate with the investigation into the security clearance process, which has been corrupted in the White House personnel office,” Raskin said.
— Julia Manchester
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