Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) on Tuesday warned that some of the “atrocities” created by special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation can’t be undone, saying the probe had a real impact on GOP candidates during the 2018 midterm elections.
“I know we’re still two years from a presidential election, but we ran a congressional election under the guise of members having to defend the president — that he was tied up, some even making the case that he was a foreign agent of Russia, much less having the collusion,” Walker told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.”
“So you can’t even go back and undo some of the atrocities that have happened even here in Washington, D.C., during this time period,” he added.
The North Carolina Republican joined a growing chorus of congressional Republicans who have called for an investigation into how the Department of Justice (DOJ) handled the Russia probe, calling Mueller’s 22-month long inquiry a “travesty” to the American people.
“We must hold these people accountable — whether the former administration, whether they work at the DOJ, whether they are other member of Congress. This is travesty that has been placed upon the American people built on a complete falsehood,” Walker told Hill.TV.
He said lawmakers have to “go after” those who are responsible in order to “set a precedent that our government does not work this way.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who is one of Trump’s closest allies, said he intends to ask Attorney General William Barr to appoint a special counsel to “unpack the other side of the story,” and probe whether law enforcement made any missteps.
Those remarks came a day after Barr issued his four-page summary of Mueller’s findings, saying Trump had not conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election. The special counsel’s report did not exonerate the president on allegations of obstruction of justice.
Top lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for the DOJ to publicly release the full report.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has asked Barr to release the Mueller materials no later than April 1. Barr has said he intends to release as much of the report as possible.
Walker told Hill.TV he supports those efforts, noting that the president and his legal team are also on board, but cautioned against certain parts of the report being made public.
“The more that’s revealed the better,” said Walker, the ranking member on the House Homeland Security subcommittee on intelligence and counterterrorism. “There are maybe some portions that get into classified documents or areas that would be sensitive materials that we need to make sure that is refrained from being shared.”
—Tess Bonn
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