Robert Mueller will testify to congress about Trump-Russia report, senior Democrat says

A deal has been brokered for Robert Mueller to testify to Congress about his report into Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice by Donald Trump – an event that has immediately become the latest, most eagerly anticipated appearance of an official on Capitol Hill.

As it emerged Mr Mueller had written to the department of justice to say he did not believe attorney general William Barr’s four-page summary of his 450-page report correctly captured its context and content, a Democratic congressman said the 74-year-old special counsel would likely appear some time this month. It would be the first public appearance by Mr Mueller for more than two years.

The head of the House of Representatives’ judiciary committee, Jerry Nadler, told news agency Reuters it was important the former FBI director testified: “which they've agreed to do subject to setting a date, and we'll see if they do that, sometime in May.”

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said that while the former FBI director was expected to testify at some point in May, no date had been set.

Mr Nadler also released the letter Mr Mueller sent to Mr Barr that asserted the attorney general’s snap summary of the Russia probe’s findings caused public confusion about critical aspects of the investigation.

Shape Created with Sketch. The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 13 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 1/13 Joe Biden The former vice president - poised to be a frontrunner - has announced his run. He recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well EPA 2/13 Bernie Sanders The 2016 runner-up has announced that he will be running again in 2020 Getty 3/13 Pete Buttigieg The Indiana mayor and war veteran will be running for president. If elected, he would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty 4/13 Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He intends to run on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP 5/13 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts Senator has formally launched her bid for president in 2020. A progressive Democrat, she is a major supporter of regulating Wall Street. Reuters 6/13 Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has announced that he will be running for the presidency in 2020. If he secures the nomination he said finding a female vice president would be a priority Getty 7/13 Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam has announced his bid. He intends to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News 8/13 Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that “healthcare should be a right, not a privilege” Getty 9/13 Kamala Harris The former California attorney general will be running for president in 2020. Introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions’ testimony, she has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty 10/13 John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP 11/13 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but is likely to face tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty 12/13 Andrew Yang The entrepreneur has announced his presidential candidacy, and has pledged that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty 13/13 Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a “special meaning” for the Latino community in the US Getty 1/13 Joe Biden The former vice president - poised to be a frontrunner - has announced his run. He recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well EPA 2/13 Bernie Sanders The 2016 runner-up has announced that he will be running again in 2020 Getty 3/13 Pete Buttigieg The Indiana mayor and war veteran will be running for president. If elected, he would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty 4/13 Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He intends to run on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP 5/13 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts Senator has formally launched her bid for president in 2020. A progressive Democrat, she is a major supporter of regulating Wall Street. Reuters 6/13 Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has announced that he will be running for the presidency in 2020. If he secures the nomination he said finding a female vice president would be a priority Getty 7/13 Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam has announced his bid. He intends to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News 8/13 Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that “healthcare should be a right, not a privilege” Getty 9/13 Kamala Harris The former California attorney general will be running for president in 2020. Introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions’ testimony, she has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty 10/13 John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP 11/13 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but is likely to face tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty 12/13 Andrew Yang The entrepreneur has announced his presidential candidacy, and has pledged that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty 13/13 Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a “special meaning” for the Latino community in the US Getty

In his letter, Mr Mueller raised concerns about a short summary that Mr Barr sent to Congress detailing what he said were Mr Mueller’s principal conclusions. The summary said Mr Mueller had not managed to reach a legal conclusion on whether the president had obstructed justice despite presenting evidence of occasions where Mr Trump may have impeded the investigation.

The summary was released two days after the Department of Justice (DoJ) received the special counsel’s report, which was several weeks before a redacted version of Mr Mueller’s 400-page report was released on 18 April.

In a letter dated 24 March, Mr Mueller said Mr Barr’s summary did not fully capture the context, nature and substance of the special counsel’s work and conclusions.

The special counsel told Mr Barr: “[This] threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the department appointed the special counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations.”

Mr Mueller’s report revealed 11 instances where the behaviour of the president or officials related to his campaign might have amounted to obstruction. The report also said that the Trump campaign was “receptive” to assistance from Moscow during the 2016 election and expected to benefit from Russian interference.

Mr Mueller also wrote: “While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

Mr Mueller said in his report that he believed his hands were tied over criminal charges by DoJ rules that prevented a sitting president from facing such action. However, he made it clear that he did not exonerate Mr Trump of obstruction of justice but left the decision about whether to chase criminal charges to the attorney general. Mr Barr and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, said that they believed the actions mentioned in the report did not rise to the level needed for a criminal prosecution.

As Mr Nadler announced the deal over Mr Mueller’s testimony, Mr Barr appeared before a Senate panel to face questions about his handling of the special counsel’s report amid accusations – particularly from Democrats – that Mr Barr had misrepresented the document’s findings.

Asked if he was happy for Mr Mueller to testify, he said the decision would be up to Mr Trump, but added: “I’ve already said I have no objection.”

Mr Barr defended the way he dealt with the report’s release and redactions – removing parts of the document to protect sensitive information – made by the DoJ. In prepared testimony to the senate judiciary committee hearing, he denied accusations that he has sought to protect Mr Trump.

At the outset of the hearing, the committee’s chairman, Republican Lindsey Graham – who has said that Mr Trump said to fight Democrat-led investigations into the report “like hell” – remarked that the report showed that congress should focus on protecting the coming 2020 election from foreign interference.

“My takeaway from this report is we’ve got a lot to do to defend democracy against Russians and other bad actors,” Mr Graham said.

Mr Barr faced tough questions from Democrats on the committee, with senator Dianne Feinstein setting the tone.

“Contrary to declarations of total and complete exoneration, the special counsel’s report contained substantial evidence of misconduct,” Ms Feinstein, the committee’s top Democrat, said in opening remarks.