Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he would not be watching former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony Wednesday before two House committees, saying the American people have moved on.
“Well, the Americans have got a pretty full picture of it. I believe the Mueller report came out some time back. No, I won’t be watching,” McConnell said, when asked if he would be tuning in to Mueller’s testimony tomorrow.
“We have already heard from him, you know. It seems to me, I don’t know how many times you want to see this movie again, but I think the American people have moved on past this.”
In late May, Mueller stood by his report into President Donald Trump’s campaign in his first public statement since it was released, saying his report would be his “testimony” if he was subpoenaed to speak before Congress.
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee July 26, 2007 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The hearing was held to examine whether the FBI have misused their power. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Mueller will testify before Congress on July 24, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announced. Mueller was originally supposed to testify in an open session on July 17 after being subpoenaed by the two committees, but the date was pushed back.
Nadler called on Mueller to testify in front of the group after earlier requests from Republican Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the committee. Collins asked Nadler to “immediately” invite Mueller to testify before Congress.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to hold Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt of Congress for withholding information about the administration’s attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, alleging that Barr and Ross withheld documents that had been subpoenaed by the Oversight and Reform Committee as part of its probe into the origins of the citizenship question.
Since the U.S. Attorney’s office is run by Barr, it is unlikely any further legal action will be pursued. (RELATED: Here Is What You Need To Know About Democrats Subpoenas To Those Close To Trump)
“They have to be enforced. The easy thing is to write a subpoena and get the committee to issue it, it’s another thing entirely to have it enforced. Any fool could write a subpoena, and last time I checked the House doesn’t have an army to enforce itself, it’s will. But the subpoena process by the House, especially with respect to the Trump campaign, is basically a PR exercise,” William Canfield, a political lawyer, told the Daily Caller.
“It’s a way of the House Democrats showing their base that they’re tough on the Trump campaign without actually having to do anything. The enforcement mechanism would be the Department of Justice, and you know, last time I checked the Trump administration ran the Department of Justice. So it’s like, it’s strong and drying, sound and fury signifying nothing,” Canfield continued.
Democrats and cable news pundits have continued to say the Mueller report is a cover-up, even though the full, unredacted version has not been released publicly.