Schumer, Pelosi: Trump should not get ‘sneak preview’ of Mueller report

Democratic leaders in Congress on Friday evening renewed their call for special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election to be made public.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) reiterated their call shortly after Attorney General William Barr informed Congress that Mueller had submitted his final report for review.

{mosads}“Now that Special Counsel Mueller has submitted his report to the Attorney General, it is imperative for Mr. Barr to make the full report public and provide its underlying documentation and findings to Congress,” Pelosi and Schumer said in a statement.

“Attorney General Barr must not give President Trump, his lawyers or his staff any ‘sneak preview’ of Special Counsel Mueller’s findings or evidence, and the White House must not be allowed to interfere in decisions about what parts of those findings or evidence are made public,” they said.

The White House had said Friday shortly before the Democratic leaders released their statement that President Trump had not been briefed on Mueller’s final report.

Barr told the House and Senate Judiciary Committees he is reviewing the report and will have additional information for lawmakers as soon as this weekend.

Top Democrats have been adamant in their call for as much information as possible to be made public.

“The Special Counsel’s investigation focused on questions that go to the integrity of our democracy itself: whether foreign powers corruptly interfered in our elections, and whether unlawful means were used to hinder that investigation,” Pelosi and Schumer said. “The American people have a right to the truth. The watchword is transparency.”

The House recently passed a resolution calling on the Department of Justice to fully release the report to Congress and to release it to the public “except to the extent the public disclosure of any portion thereof is expressly prohibited by law” with broad bipartisan support.

In addition to Russian interference, the probe also looked into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, an allegation the president and administration officials have strongly denied.