McConnell says investigation over, but House Democrats push back

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday declared the special counsel investigation closed as a former White House counsel defied a House subpoena for documents, setting up a constitutional clash between the executive branch and Congress.

“This investigation went on for two years,” McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor. “It’s finally over.”

“The case is closed,” McConnell later told reporters at the Capitol.

Democrats quickly pushed back, saying Republicans are trying to “whitewash” the damaging findings of the probe, which they say identified specific instances of President Donald Trump trying to obstruct the investigation.

Former White House counsel Don McGahn, who testified before the special counsel that Trump ordered him to fire Robert Mueller, was ordered by the White House to defy a House Judiciary Committee subpoena of documents.

The White House claimed executive privilege in its order to McGahn to hold on to the documents. It’s unknown whether McGahn will be allowed to testify on March 15.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats will continue to conduct congressional oversight.

“It’s sort of like Richard Nixon saying ‘Let’s move on’ at the height of the investigation of his wrongdoing,” Schumer said.

Nevada U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, both Democrats, have backed their party leaders in the battle with Republicans and the White House over the Mueller probe.

Constitutional crisis

Schumer chided McConnell for trying to move past the embarrassing details of the report, all while encouraging a potential constitutional crisis between the White House and Congress.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the Senate Judiciary Committee should also seek answers to quetions raised in the report.

Mueller ended his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election six weeks ago and delivered a 448-page report to the Justice Department.

Mueller said he could not establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, which actively used social media and other tactics in an effort to swing the election for Trump and against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The investigation also revealed damning details about the president’s actions. It documented his repeated attempts to interfere with the Mueller investigation, including an order to McGahn to fire the special counsel, which McGahn told the special counsel he ignored, according to the report.

Mueller did not come to a conclusion on obstruction but said he would not specifically exonerate the president. Mueller left it to Congress to investigate further and determine whether prosecution is warranted.

Attorney General William Barr released his own summary of the report before handing over to Congress a redacted version of the Mueller document.

Nevada Democrats want more

The Barr summary was denounced by Democrats, including those in Nevada’s House delegation: Dina Titus, Steven Horsford and Susie Lee. They have asked for access to an unredacted version.

Titus said Barr “completely misrepresented Robert Mueller’s disturbing findings.”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., issued a subpoena for the full document. Barr offered to let key members of Congress see the report but did not comply with the subpoena.

Nadler has scheduled a Wednesday vote in committee on a contempt of Congress citation to force Barr to comply. If approved, the citation would go to the full House for consideration.

Justice Department officials have asked Nadler to postpone the vote and continue negotiations.

Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, accused Democrats of launching a “proxy war” with the Justice Department and Barr over their displeasure with Mueller’s conclusions.

McConnell echoed those sentiments in his floor speech.

“My Democratic colleagues seem to be publicly working through the five stages of grief,” McConnell said.

Schumer said Republicans are trying to dodge further scrutiny at all costs and ignoring the central finding of the Mueller report, which is that Russia tried to manipulate the election and American democracy.

McConnell has refused to put bills on election security and sanctions against Russia on the Senate floor for a vote, Schumer said.

“He wants to run away from these awful facts that relate to the wellspring of our democracy, foreign interference in our election and a president who is lawless,” Schumer said.

Contact Gary Martin and gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.