Attorney General William Barr will testify on Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill. This will be his first appearance before lawmakers since he revealed the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Leading Democrats have declared that, because of leaks from those close to the probe, Barr will have to explain himself.
The hearing will be led by the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee and is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Fox News was told Barr’s four-page summary of Mueller’s conclusions will be a prominent feature in the questioning. The subcommittee’s chairman, Democrat José Serrano of New York, will focus on Barr’s actions in his prepared opening remarks, according to an excerpt released by his office late Monday.
“In extremely quick fashion, you turned a 300-plus page report into a 4-page letter that supposedly summarized [Mueller’s] findings,” Serrano will say.
Serrano also said he was worried Barr would send the Mueller report to Congress with “too many scratch-outs” and redactions.
Barr’s letter to lawmakers stated that Mueller found no evidence of Trump-Russian collusion and also said that Mueller had not exonerated Trump on the issue of obstruction of justice.
Barr and Attorney General Rod Rosenstein later cleared the president of criminal culpability on that count as well, noting that Mueller had provided evidence on both sides of the issue and left the determination up to them.
“The American people,” Serrano will say, “have been left with many unanswered questions; serious concerns about the process by which you formulated your letter; and uncertainty about when we can expect to see the full report.”
Fox News was also told the Tuesday hearing could focus on the Trump administration’s recent decision not to defend ObamaCare in court, as well as solutions to gun violence.
Serrano’s opening statement will be followed by comments from the top Republican on the subcommittee, Alabama Rep. Robert Aderholt.