House Democrats will convene via conference call on Monday to discuss the next steps following the public release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s election interference and whether President Trump obstructed justice.
In a letter to House Democrats Thursday night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told her caucus that they will talk about their strategy following the Passover and Easter holiday weekend, which will also offer lawmakers time to review the 448-page report in full.
{mosads}Pelosi said the conclusion offered by Attorney General William Barr in his four-page summary and press conference that Trump did not obstruct justice was “directly undercut” by Mueller’s report. Pelosi added that the version of the Mueller report provided by the Justice Department was “disrespectfully late and selectively redacted.”
Pelosi cited a line from the Mueller report stating that “We concluded Congress has authority to prohibit a president’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice,” which “accords with our constitutional system of checks and balances and the principle that no person is above the law.”
“Congress will not be silent,” Pelosi wrote.
House committee chairmen are pushing for a full, unredacted version of the report to move forward with their investigations.
Mueller said in his report that he was unable to “conclusively” determine that no criminal conduct occurred as to whether Trump obstructed justice.
But the report detailed several instances of potential obstruction, including Trump’s firing of James Comey as FBI director and attempts to order then-White House counsel Don McGahn to demand the special counsel be removed. McGahn refused to carry out the order and would not deny media reports about it despite pressure from the president.
Some Democrats renewed their push to impeach Trump following the report’s release, including Reps. Al Green (D-Texas) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) also announced Thursday that she is signing on to a resolution sponsored by Tlaib calling on the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Trump committed impeachable offenses.
But Pelosi and other members of House Democratic leadership have been cautious on impeachment, arguing that it should have bipartisan support.