Though lawmakers are loath to interfere with pre-planned recesses, Democrats have been urgently clamoring for a glimpse of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings since he finalized his report | Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images Congress Democrats crafting Mueller response if report drops during recess

Attorney General William Barr is likely days from issuing a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings, but Washington may be a ghost town when he does.

The House leaves for the week on Wednesday morning while Democrats hold their annual retreat in Leesburg, Va. Then members will scatter to their districts for a two-week recess, leaving Democrats urgently clamoring for a glimpse of Mueller’s report with a choice: react from the road or underscore their concern by reconvening early at the Capitol.


It’s unclear whether top House Democrats have planned a response once the initial version of Mueller’s report is shared with Congress. But lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee, which is leading the House Democrats’ Mueller response, say they’re at least open to the idea of returning early to Washington.

Yet it doesn’t appear Democrats have settled on a strategy. Though they’ve described the urgency of the situation as striking at the core of American democracy, they have yet to say whether there’s a concerted plan to respond when Mueller’s findings are delivered — let alone whether members should return to Washington when it happens. Partly, it’s because they’re uncertain how much of the report Barr will let them and the public see. And it’s unclear whether he’ll offer closed-door briefings for lawmakers to reveal what’s under the numerous redactions he intends to make.

“If it’s necessary for us to be in Washington to review what’s in the report, then certainly members of the Judiciary Committee should be given the opportunity to come back, and I think it’s important that we take it up,” said Florida Rep. Ted Deutch, one of 24 Democrats on the panel.





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Though lawmakers are loath to interfere with planned recesses, Democrats have been urgently clamoring for a glimpse of Mueller’s findings since he finalized his report on Russian contacts with the Trump campaign in 2016 — and whether President Donald Trump obstructed the investigation.

Mueller completed his report three weeks ago but Barr has kept a tight seal on it, releasing only a four-page assessment that Democrats say might have skewed the underlying report in Trump’s favor.

Barr has indicated he is currently redacting the report for sensitive information — like grand jury testimony and classified material — before delivering a version to Congress in the middle of the month. The attorney general is scheduled to testify before Congress this week to discuss budget issues, but Democrats are likely to bring up Mueller’s report.

But Judiciary Committee Democrats say anything less than sharing the full report with Congress is unacceptable, and last week they authorized Chairman Jerry Nadler to subpoena Barr for the entirety of Mueller’s findings.

Nadler has yet to issue the subpoena but can do so unilaterally at any time. Republicans on the panel, led by Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) ramped up the pressure on Democrats to return from recess too. In a letter to Democrats on Monday morning, Collins said the panel should call Mueller himself to testify the week of April 22.

“Although the House is expected to be in recess that week, I think we can agree this business is too important to wait, and Members of the Committee will surely return to Washington at such a critical moment in our country’s history,” Collins wrote.

In a subsequent statement, Nadler agreed with Collins’ call to bring Mueller to the Capitol but said it wouldn’t happen until May.

“In order to ask Special Counsel Mueller the right questions, the Committee must receive the Special Counsel’s full report and hear from Attorney General Barr about that report on May 2,” Nadler tweeted Monday. “We look forward to hearing from Mr. Mueller at the appropriate time.”

Last week, six Democratic committee chairmen, including Nadler, criticized Barr for offering to testify in early May. “We also reiterate our request that you appear before the Judiciary Committee as soon as possible — not in a month, as you have offered, but now,” they wrote in a letter questioning Barr’s handling of the Mueller report.

President Donald Trump also continued to assert that even though he hasn’t seen the Mueller report, it will never satisfy Democrats who want to damage him politically.

“The Democrats will never be satisfied, no matter what they get, how much they get, or how many pages they get. It will never end,” Trump tweeted Monday, “but that’s the way life goes!”

If Barr does share any confidential findings with Congress — such as classified material, evidence relevant to ongoing investigations or material that could be damaging to “peripheral third parties,” who Barr has signaled he wants to protect from public embarrassment — it’s likely to be done in a secure setting in the Capitol or at the Justice Department, which would require lawmakers to be in Washington.

For this reason, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), another Judiciary Committee member, said he thinks his colleagues should return to address the report if it arrives during the recess. But others were more circumspect, deferring to House leaders’ judgment and suggesting they can react to Mueller’s report from home if necessary.

“I guess it depends on what’s in it. We waited this long. I can’t imagine that — it’s hard to know whether it would require an immediate reconvening of the committee,” said Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.).

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) said committee Democrats discussed returning from the recess but hadn’t settled on a final strategy.

An aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a Judiciary Committee member and chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said he’d defer to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) for any plans to urge members to return to Washington to address Mueller’s findings.

Andrew Desiderio contributed to this report.

