Nadler says he will subpoena full Mueller report

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) says he will issue a subpoena for special counsel Robert Mueller’s full investigative report because the Justice Department has not notified the committee that he will provide Congress with a version with fewer redactions.

“Contrary to public reports, I have not heard from the Department about receiving a less-redacted version of the report,” Nadler said in a statement.

“Because Congress requires this material in order to perform our constitutionally-mandated responsibilities, I will issue a subpoena for the full report and the underlying materials.”

{mosads}The timing of when Nadler will issue the subpoena is unclear. A spokesman for the Judiciary panel did not immediately respond to a request for comment when asked about the timing, but the spokesman told The Hill on Wednesday evening that Nadler could issue a subpoena “very quickly” after receiving the report, depending on the committee’s review of the redactions.

In recent weeks, Nadler has threatened to use the order to compel Attorney General William Barr to provide Congress with the full report, including the underlying evidence. Earlier this month, Democrats voted along party lines to issue a subpoena should he refuse to provide such information, but despite the strong-arm attempts, Barr has declined.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) lent his support to the subpoena approach after the redacted report was released Thursday.

“Contrary to Attorney General Barr’s attempts at misdirection, it is crystal clear from the report that the Justice Department’s policy against indicting a sitting President played a key role in Special Counsel Mueller’s analysis—in fact, it is the very first point in the obstruction section of his report,” Cummings said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we still have only part of the story, and Congress must subpoena the full report and all underlying documents.”

Barr has maintained that he is following the special counsel regulations by redacting four areas of information in the report, including any grand jury material, classified information and details pertaining to ongoing investigations.

Democrats say Barr’s refusal is unacceptable, but their fury to subpoena the attorney general is likely to lead to a protracted legal battle.

Democrats say such information is needed in order to properly conduct their oversight investigations into the Trump administration, businesses and campaigns.

These congressional probes, they say, extend outside the scope of the Mueller probe and will therefore use Mueller’s findings to supplement their efforts.

Meanwhile, Republicans are touting the findings from the probe as reason to halt the investigations.

Mueller’s report says the investigative team “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government” in its election interference efforts. But the special counsel also wrote that their evidence prevents “conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred” in terms of the obstruction of justice case.

While Mueller did not make a determination on the matter either way, Barr, along with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and other Justice Department counsels, determined that the evidence did not reach a threshold to charge President Trump of obstruction.

Democrats have dismissed Barr’s decision and vowed to probe this matter, claiming that the president’s top law enforcement official has already shown his true colors as a loyalist who is willing to use his office in order to protect the president.

Updated at 5:24 p.m.