Former FBI Director Robert Mueller at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on June 21, 2017.

President Donald Trump on Sunday said special counsel Robert Mueller should not testify before Congress about his investigation's findings in the Russia probe.



Trump had previously said he would not stand in the way of Mueller testifying and would leave the decision up to Attorney General William Barr, who has said he has no objection to the special counsel going before Congress.

On Sunday, House Democrat David Cicillin told Fox News that the Judiciary Committee was aiming for the special counsel to testify on May 15.

Trump later responded on Twitter, saying that Mueller's report found no collusion. In fact, the Mueller report said the special counsel did not investigate collusion, which has no legal definition, but instead examined allegations of coordinating and conspiracy with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

Though Mueller found extensive contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia, he said in his report that there was not sufficient evidence to establish conspiracy or coordination.

Trump questioned why the Democrats need the special counsel to testify.

"There was no crime, except on the other side (incredibly not covered in the Report), and NO OBSTRUCTION. Bob Mueller should not testify. No redos for the Dems!" Trump said.

TWEET 2

Mueller did not reach a conclusion on obstruction, but pointedly declined to exonerate the president. Instead, the special counsel documented several instances of possible obstruction crimes. Attorney General William Barr ultimately concluded that Trump did not commit obstruction in a four-page summary of the report's findings.

There have been growing calls for Mueller to testify after it was revealed he wrote Barr a letter complaining about the attorney general's summary of the special counsel's investigation, which was sent to Congress and later released to the public.

In his letter, Mueller said Barr's summary "did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this Office's work and conclusions" and had caused "public confusion about critical aspects of the results."

The attorney general has also refused to turn over to Congress notes from a phone call he had with Mueller about Barr's summary of the Russia probe.