Dem senator: ‘Appropriate’ for Barr, Mueller to testify publicly about Russia probe

Sen. Christopher Coons (D-Del.) said Saturday that it would be “appropriate” for Attorney General William Barr and special counsel Robert Mueller to testify about Mueller’s probe into the 2016 election in the wake of the investigation’s conclusion. 

“I do think it would be appropriate. … Depending on how much we get and how quickly we get it, a hearing with the attorney general and the special counsel would certainly be a way for us to inform the general public about what we did and didn’t get and why,” Coons told reporters during a conference call. “It would put them on the record publicly.”

He added that there would be “a lot of folks with lingering questions and doubts and concerns” about Mueller’s findings regarding Russia’s election interference and potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. 

{mosads}”I think it serves the rule of law and our society generally for those doubts to be addressed in a public way,” Coons said. 

Mueller handed over his report on the Russia investigation to the Justice Department late Friday, marking the end of the nearly two-year investigation. 

Barr, in a letter to the House and Senate Judiciary committees, said he was reviewing the report and “may be in a position to advise” lawmakers on the “principal conclusions” of Mueller’s report by this weekend.

Democrats have called on Barr to release Mueller’s report publicly. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), a 2020 contender who is also a member of the Judiciary Committee, is also calling on Barr to testify publicly. 

Coons added on Saturday that he expected he would hear from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) or Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the panel, as soon as they had “anything of substance” from Barr. 

“We don’t know yet … and certainly I don’t know yet what may be coming to us from the Mueller investigation through the attorney general,” he said.

Coons, ending he call with reporters, added, “Know we’re all going to be waiting by our phones today.”