Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said this week she opposes President Donald Trump's use of executive privilege to deny Congress access to the evidence gathered during Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, has been slow to talk in detail about her views on the Mueller report, which the Justice Department released April 18.

Sinema has previously said she wants to finish reading the report before commenting. It is was unclear as of Wednesday if Sinema has finished reviewing the 448-page report, or if Attorney General William Barr had responded to Sinema's request to meet.

"The president's assertion of executive privilege — with the Attorney General's support — undermines what should be our shared goal of protecting America from foreign influence and meddling in our elections," Sinema said in a written statement sent by her office.

"Gamesmanship on both sides is distracting, and today's escalation is alarming. While the redacted Mueller report was rightly released to the public, Congress should have access to the entire report."

During an interview Thursday with The Arizona Republic, Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., sidestepped a question on whether she agrees or opposes Trump's executive privilege assertion. She said she has been busy working on other issues, such as border security and sexual assault prevention in the military.

"I'm remotely aware that they said they have executive privilege," she said.

"The unredacted report is available to key leaders in the House and the Senate," she said. "The things that have been redacted are based on what has been redacted because of law."

McSally said Arizonans "want the country to move on" from partisan fighting over access to the full report.

"I wish the Democratic-controlled House would do that," she said.

Democrats are fighting to get the full Mueller report, including underlying evidence, for their own investigations into whether Trump obstructed justice.

Mueller did not make a determination on the obstruction question, leaving it up to Barr. Barr, in consultation with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, said there was insufficient evidence of obstruction, even though the public report, which contained redactions, provided evidence that could be construed as obstruction.

The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to recommend holding Barr in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena for the unredacted report.

Have news about Arizona's U.S. senators or national politics to share? Reach the reporter on Twitter and Facebook. Contact her at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com and 602-444-4712.

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