“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Member of the Judiciary Committee, said in a brief interview. “I haven’t seen anything since that leads me to think [Graham] actually going to call Mueller. “
Despite the bipartisan public agreement, there are real obstacles and risks in securing Mueller’s testimony. For Republicans, a strong defense of Mueller could shed unwanted light on President Donald Trump’s previous statements and behavior in the closing stretch of the election. For Democrats, another hesitant move by the former FBI chief could give Trump and his allies more ammunition for their attacks on investigations that have haunted Trump and his associates for years.
Then there are the logistical hurdles.
House Democrats faced an uphill battle to pressure a reluctant Mueller to testify last year; It took weeks of talks, and eventually a subpoena, for Mueller to appear before the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees, an appearance that Graham later called “not pretty.”
Negotiating with Mueller a second time will not be easier, and Graham said his staff is not yet in contact with Mueller or his team.
Graham is leading a comprehensive review of the origins of the Russia investigation, which has trapped Trump and his allies for years. And you’re looking at the testimony of former FBI big shots in the coming months, including former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, even before hearing from Mueller.
That puts a potential Mueller audience just weeks before Americans head to the polls. Democrats view Graham’s stance as a simple effort to discredit Mueller’s investigation and, in the process, push a key issue from Trump’s re-election campaign as close as possible to the November election. Graham has argued that his research has nothing to do with choice.
“He will be invited,” Graham reiterated last week. “[But] that will come at the end. I’m just working on the practical aspects. “
A Mueller spokesman and former deputy special counsel Aaron Zebley declined to comment on possible testimony before the panel.
With Graham’s investigation, Democrats also see an election year plot by Republican senators to cover up Trump, who has tried to respond to those who spearheaded the various investigations that attacked him and his associates. To this day, Trump continues to remind Americans of probes that he believes unfairly attacked him, an effort that energizes his loyal fan base.
At the same time, Democrats still welcome Mueller’s appearance before the committee and dismiss the idea that it would be politically risky for them, leaning on Mueller to dismiss Republicans’ characterizations of their investigation as unfounded and defend what they believe. which is a predicate query right
“They will hear more of the truth. It’s the old Harry Truman story: someone in the crowd yelled, “Give them hell, Harry.” And he said, ‘I’m just going to tell you the truth and they’ll think it’s hell,’ ”Blumenthal joked.
Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Another member of the panel, called Mueller a qualified professional who is “more than capable” of defending his investigation, which brought 34 criminal charges.
“I think for people who are trafficking in these conspiracy theories and these unfounded allegations about Mueller, the risk is that it is forceful and clear, and shows that it was a well-preached investigation,” Coons said in a brief interview. .
In justifying their investigation into the origins of Russia’s investigation, Republicans point to several recently declassified pieces of information that question the genesis of the investigation into possible links between Trump’s associates and the Kremlin. That includes a report by the Justice Department inspector general that documented serious mistakes and abuse as part of the order-seeking process for a former Trump campaign adviser.
Earlier this month, Graham released documents suggesting that senior FBI officials were initially skeptical of the emerging narrative early in the Trump presidency that his campaign was in contact with Russian intelligence officials. Republicans say the risks of listening to Mueller instead lie with Democrats, who they say will be forced to defend an investigation riddled with prejudice and corruption.
“I want to know how, [did] this became a fishing expedition, and we got a lot of evidence that it should never have started in the first place, “said Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), former chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
“Now, that is probably not his fault. He didn’t make the decision to establish his job, ”added Grassley de Mueller. “But it is a little irritating that the president has gone through two years of entry to Russia, $ 30 million, and then there is a impeachment and I don’t know how many other things that were going to get him out of office before he was elected president.” .
In fact, Republicans acknowledge that their concerns about the Russia investigation have less to do with Mueller himself and focus more on Justice Department officials who spearheaded the counterintelligence investigation that ultimately became the Mueller investigation, then that then Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special council
Republicans have focused their anger more on the Obama administration, specifically the top FBI agents who opened and continued to investigate what Trump said was a “hoax” and a “witch hunt,” even as more evidence began to emerge that Russia was interfering in the 2016 campaign to boost Trump’s prospects against Hillary Clinton.
“Increasingly disturbing evidence has emerged about the politicization and corruption of the Obama Department of Justice and the FBI, and I think it’s important for Mr. Mueller to describe what they knew and when they knew it,” said Senator Ted. Cruz (R-Texas), an enemy of Trump who once used his position on the Judiciary Committee to criticize the Obama administration for its handling of the Russia investigation.
Graham announced earlier this month that he would grant the Democrats’ request for Mueller to appear before the committee, citing Mueller’s opinion piece in the July 11 Washington Post in which he strongly defended his nearly two-year investigation into the Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections.
In the op-ed, Mueller also defended the prosecution in his office of Roger Stone, Trump’s longtime confidant whose prison sentence the president had commuted a day earlier. Stone was convicted of seven charges including obstruction, witness tampering, and false statements.
In short, I had no intention of calling Mr. Mueller. He testified before the house. It wasn’t pretty to see. But at the end of the day, Trey decided to step in on the Roger Stone case, ”Graham said recently on a Fox News podcast with former Rep. Trey Gowdy (RS.C.).
Democrats had said they were eager for Mueller to appear before the committee to allow him to further justify his investigation, which has led to constant attacks by Trump and his allies, particularly as the committee continues to release new information about the origins of the investigation. .
When asked about the timing of Mueller’s possible appearance before the Senate, Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said that her party’s initial calls for Mueller to testify occurred months ago, noting Democrats have since sought the testimony of other central figures in Russia’s investigation such as Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, only to be shut down by the committee’s Republican majority.
“That gives you an idea where Lindsey is coming from with regards to getting to the truth of anything,” added Hirono.
Democrats insist they are not afraid of what might come out of a Mueller hearing, even if it happens so close to the election. They said Americans would see through what they perceive as a partisan trick.
“Everything Lindsey has been up to lately is really, in my opinion, for political ends,” Hirono said. “And she’s very much in tune with the president, who does nothing without a political motive behind it, who has to do with protecting, as we say in Hawaii, her. okole. “
