Donald Trump gets away with everything. Right now there’s not been much of a stink made about the latest woman — of well over a dozen — to accuse the sitting president of sexual misconduct; there’s not even been much pushback after he dismissively said, of his accuser E. Jean Carrol, “She’s not my type.” People have gotten so used to him not being held accountable that, when Robert Mueller — he of the famed “Mueller Report,” which even Fox News’ Shepard Smith said one should read — said he wouldn’t say anything about his findings, they assumed that was that, and the president would keep on keeping on.
But not so fast: Late Tuesday, as per CNN, House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler and House Intelligence chairman Adam Schiff put out joint a statement saying Mueller would be publicly testifying after all, after they issued a subpoena demanding his presence. The testimony is scheduled to occur on Tuesday, July 16.
Subpoenas haven’t worked before; see, among others: Attorney General William Barr, still unpunished after he was summoned before Congress to explain his possibly misleading summary of Mueller’s report, which Barr almost didn’t release publicly (and then with heavy redactions). So this is a surprise.
“Americans have demanded to hear directly from the Special Counsel so they can understand what he and his team examined, uncovered, and determined about Russia’s attack on our democracy, the Trump campaign’s acceptance and use of that help, and President Trump and his associates’ obstruction of the investigation into that attack,” the statement read.
Both the House Judiciary and House Intelligence committees will question Mueller separately during a public hearing. The latter will also grill the former FBI director in a closed session, where they will discuss the counterintelligence sections of the investigation.
The so-called “Mueller Report” has been summarized in contradictory ways. The president, as well as Barr (and the president’s fanbase), have called it an “exoneration.” Others, including Democrats and those who’ve read the entirety of the still-redacted report, think otherwise.
Of particular controversy is whether Mueller advised penalizing, if not impeaching, Trump over how he handled the investigation into his and his administration’s (and family members’) involvement in Russian interference into the 2016 presidential election. Hopefully this testimony will clear things up. See you in a few weeks.
(Via CNN)