Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said Wednesday morning it is “striking” that the two people who claimed to be exonerated in the Mueller report were President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Well, it’s striking that the two people who are repeatedly and publicly saying they’re fully exonerated by the Mueller report are President Trump and Vladimir Putin,” Coons said Wednesday on “Morning Joe,” an MSNBC program. “I don’t think there’s anyone here in my party, in my caucus, who believes this report fully exonerates either our president or Vladimir Putin.”
He continued:
That’s exactly why getting the details in this report, in particular about obstruction, where the attorney general reached his own conclusion and did not leave it to us to carry out our constitutional duty to conduct oversight and to be better informed about whether or not the president violated the American people’s trust and his constitutional duty, to see that the laws are fully and fairly enforced, that is something that is appropriate for Congress to see this report, to be able to act on.
Trump tweeted after Barr submitted his report to Congress, “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT.”
But Democrats, including House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, were quick to shut such talk down. “In light of the very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department following the Special Counsel report, where Mueller did not exonerate the President, we will be calling Attorney General Barr in to testify before @HouseJudiciary in the near future,” said Nadler.
“AG Barr’s letter raises as many questions as it answers,” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, also chiming in. “The fact that Mueller’s report does not exonerate the president on a charge as serious as obstruction of justice demonstrates how urgent it is that the full report & documentation be made public without any further delay.” (RELATED: Democratic Sen. Chris Coons Refuses To Agree With Jeffrey Toobin’s Impeachment Charge)
Coons had several questions for current Attorney General William Barr during his confirmation hearings, including whether or not Barr would fire special counsel Robert Mueller during the course of his investigation.