Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill are calling for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report to be declassified and made public in short order, following news that his office submitted the final report to the Department of Justice on Friday after 2 years spent digging into Russian interference in the 2016 elections and possible obstruction of justice by President Trump.
Why it matters: Attorney General Bill Barr, who is reviewing Mueller's report now, has said in the past he would release as much information publicly as is possible under the law, but that is no guarantee the report will be declassified and made public in whole. Barr told lawmakers on Friday in a letter he may be ready to reveal the findings as early as this weekend.
The trend: A slew of Democratic hopefuls for the 2020 presidential election called for the report to be made public.
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren: "Attorney General Barr—release the Mueller report to the American public. Now."
- Sen. Cory Booker: "This report should be made public immediately."
- Sen. Bernie Sanders: "As Donald Trump said, 'Let it come out.' I call on the Trump administration to make Special Counsel Mueller's full report public as soon as possible. No one, including the president, is above the law."
- Sen. Kamala Harris: "The Department of Justice launched the Special Counsel investigation to get to the bottom of foreign interference in the 2016 election and any other illegal actions. A declassified report must be made public immediately and Attorney General Barr must publicly testify under oath about the investigation and its findings, and provide all underlying materials to the appropriate Congressional committees..."
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: "Special counsel Mueller’s report should be made public without any delay. The American people have a right to know its findings."
- Beto O'Rourke: "Release the Mueller report to the American people."
- Sen. Mark Warner called for the report to be "swiftly" declassified and made public, per Reuters.
- Sen. Jack Reed: "I urge Mr. Mueller to testify before Congress about the evidence he gathered, the scope of his work, and findings."
