Yesterday the Department of Justice sent a letter to Special Counsel Robert Mueller informing him it is appropriate to stay within the boundaries of his 448 page report during testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning.
"Please note that there should be no testimony concerning the redacted portions of the public version of the report, which may not be disclosed because of applicable laws, court rules and orders," the letter states. "Any testimony must remain within the boundaries of your public report because matters within the scope of your investigation were covered by executive privilege, including information protected by law enforcement, deliberative process, attorney work product, and presidential communications privileges. These privileges would include discussion about investigative steps or decisions made during your investigation not otherwise descried in the public version of your report. Consistent with standard practice, Department witnesses should decline to address potentially privileged matters, thus affording the Department the full opportunity at a later date to consider particular questions and possible accomodations that may fulfill the committees' legitimate need for information while protecting Executive Branch confidentiality interests."
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler accused the Department of Justice of trying to limit Mueller's remarks and argued the letter should be ignored.
Jerry Nadler says Mueller does not have to comply with the DOJ letter telling him to 'remain within the boundaries of your public report.'
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 23, 2019
"He doesn't work for them. And that letter asks things that are beyond the power of agency to ask."
Via CNN pic.twitter.com/4EZowNsOpC
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But it was Mueller who requested the Department of Justice send the letter, not Attorney General Bill Barr.
From colleague Jake Gibson. Barr says Mueller asked for last night’s letter. Barr: “Bob had said that he intended to stick with the public report and not go beyond that..they asked us for guidance in writing to explain or to tell them our position was. So we responded in writing”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 23, 2019
More from Fox News:
Attorney General Bill Barr told Fox News on Tuesday that it was former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team who asked the Justice Department to send Mueller a letter telling him to keep his upcoming testimony to House lawmakers "within the boundaries" of the public version of his Russia probe report.
The letter provoked criticism from Democrats ahead of Wednesday’s highly anticipated hearing, with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler calling it “incredibly arrogant.” Asked by Fox News why the Monday letter was sent, Barr said Mueller’s staff asked the department for guidance ahead of the hearing.
Mueller's testimony starts Wednesday morning at 8:30 am.
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