House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff has said that he believes there are likely going to be further indictments from Robert Mueller as the full contents are his report are looked at in closer detail.
Schiff suggested he would call the special counsel before a House panel if necessary to learn what is contained in the long-awaited document.
'If necessary, we will call Bob Mueller or others before our committee, I would imagine the judiciary committee may call the attorney general if necessary,' the California Democrat said during an interview on CNN.
House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff said Friday that he's willing to subpoena Robert Mueller and Attorney General Barr, if needed, to push for disclosure
Special Counsel Robert Mueller turned over his report to AG William Barr Friday afternoon
'At the end of the day, the department is under a statutory obligation to provide our committee with any information regarding significant intelligence activities, including counterintelligence. And it's hard to imagine anything more significant than what Bob Mueller has been investigating.
'We have a right to be informed, and we will demand to be informed about it.'
Schiff was asked by Wolf Blitzer then asked if he would be satisfied if 'the most sensitive information' obtained by Mueller was only shared with the so-called 'gang of eight.'
'No, it would not suffice. Now, there may be a select sub-section of information they feel they can only share because of the very sensitive sources which derived the information, but the volumes of information that has been found needs to be shared with the whole committee so we can evaluate what steps have to be taken to protect the country.'
'We're going to need to have the same sort of discovery that we saw during the last Congress, and indeed it may be far more extensive than that, to make sure that U.S. policy is driven by U.S. interest and not because the president or anyone around him is looking to make money from the Kremlin on a tower or anything else.
In another interview with MSNBC, Schiff said that it is entirely likely that more indictments could be forthcoming, saying instead it is 'entirely possible, if not likely, that there will be' more.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff says the Special Counsel could be called to testify to get a clearer picture of what is in the report
'Well, what it means is that the office of the special counsel, which is essentially a contract attorney to the Justice Department, that that office won't be bringing any further indictments,' he said.
'It doesn't mean, of course, that main justice or the Seventh District of New York and the Eastern District or others may not bring indictments,'
'In fact, given the lengthy redactions in many of the pleadings of the special counsel eluding to other investigations, I think it's entirely possible if not likely that there will be other indictments.
'Now, how central or peripheral they'll be to the core issues of potential conspiracy is yet to be determined.'
Though Trump himself has said the report should be made public, it's not clear whether the administration would fight subpoenas for testimony or block the transmission of grand jury material.
If the administration decides to fight, lawmakers could ask federal courts to step in and enforce a subpoena. A court fight could, in theory, reach the Supreme Court. But few tussles between Congress and the White House get that far. They often are resolved through negotiation.
The Democrats, led by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, could also formally ask Mueller to send his committee evidence that could be used in possible impeachment proceedings against Trump, as suggested by Benjamin Wittes, a senior Brookings Institution fellow and editor-in-chief of the Lawfare blog.
With Attorney General William Barr vowing to rush out information on the report's 'principal conclusions' as soon as this weekend, Democrats were insisting they see both the complete document and the evidence in its entirety.
'It is imperative for Mr. Barr to make the full report public and provide its underlying documentation and findings to Congress,' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said in a joint statement.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are demanding to see the full Mueller report immediately
'Attorney General Barr must not give President Trump, his lawyers or his staff any 'sneak preview' of Special Counsel Mueller's findings or evidence, and the White House must not be allowed to interfere in decisions about what parts of those findings or evidence are made public,' the leaders said.
'The American people have a right to the truth. The watchword is transparency,' they said.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Schumer said: 'The American people have a right to the truth. The watchword is transparency.'
'There is no reason on God's green earth why Attorney General Barr' shouldn't release the full report, said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer
He added: 'The president himself has called without qualification or the report to be made public. There is no reason on God's green earth why Attorney General Barr should do any less.'
Schumer predicted the effort ultimately would prevail due to public sentiment.
'The demand of the public is overwhelming to see the report when it's on such a serious matter and it will be made public. Public pressure will force it to be,' he said.
Barr himself pledged transparency during his Senate confirmation hearing. But the strong defender of presidential power also left open the possibility he would share his own summary, rather than the report itself, to Congress – a move that would provoke a fight with the Democratic House.
Although there were reports Mueller would bring no additional indictments, there remained the
