The House judiciary committee chairman, Jerrold Nadler, listens during opening statements on Monday in the first hearing on Robert Mueller’s report. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

The House judiciary committee expects to receive the first files of underlying evidence from Robert Mueller’s report soon, after a sudden shift by the justice department as Democrats weigh impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

It is unclear if the deal, announced moments before the start of a judiciary committee hearing with Watergate star witness John Dean, will ultimately be enough for Democrats, who have called for the full, unredacted report and underlying documentation from the special counsel’s work.

However, it signalled the first real breakthrough in the standoff over the report and came at the start of a week of increased activity by the House in the Trump-Russia investigation.

The Republican senator for New York, Jerrold Nadler, , the chairman of the committee, said the justice department will provide some of Mueller’s “most important files” and all members of the committee will be able to view them. He said the files will include those used to assess whether Trump obstructed justice.

In response to the agreement, Nadler said the panel will not vote to hold the attorney general, William Barr, in criminal contempt, for now. But the House will still vote on a resolution on Tuesday that would empower the committee to file a civil lawsuit for the materials, if Democrats decide to do so.

That was the expected outcome even before the deal, as Democrats have shifted their strategy toward lawsuits and away from criminal contempt. Criminal contempt would be referred to the justice department, where it would certainly be rejected. And Democrats have been encouraged by some early wins in court as Trump has broadly fought congressional oversight.

Nadler said in his statement he would give the justice department time to comply.

“If the department proceeds in good faith and we are able to obtain everything that we need, then there will be no need to take further steps,” Nadler said in a statement. “If important information is held back, then we will have no choice but to enforce our subpoena in court and consider other remedies.”

The sudden turn of events came ahead of a pivotal week for House Democrats, who are torn over whether to move forward with impeachment proceedings and searching for ways to focus public attention on Trump’s actions.

Dean, a White House counsel under Richard Nixon who helped bring down his presidency, testified on Monday that Mueller had provided Congress with a “road map” for investigating Trump.

He said he saw parallels between Mueller’s findings regarding Trump and those of congressional investigators looking into Nixon’s administration decades ago. He pointed to the way the presidents used their pardon power in an attempt to influence witness testimony, and their efforts to seize control of the investigation and direct the efforts of prosecutors.

Trump, who was apparently watching the televised hearing, tweeted: “Can’t believe they are bringing in John Dean, the disgraced Nixon White House counsel.” He added his oft-repeated claim of “No Collusion – No Obstruction!”

Democrats and Republicans are vying to win over public opinion in the fallout from Mueller’s investigation. While the special counsel concluded there was not sufficient evidence that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to swing the 2016 election, Mueller also said he could not exonerate the president of obstruction of justice in the investigation.

The procession of hearings and votes in the week ahead is partly designed to mollify anxious Democrats who have pushed the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to begin impeachment proceedings immediately. A growing number of Democrats say the House should start impeachment proceedings in part because Trump is obstructing justice by refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas for documents and testimony. Pelosi prefers to continue the investigations.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/11/trump-russia-house-committee-to-see-mueller-evidence

The post Trump-Russia: House committee to see Mueller evidence first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The announcement on Monday by the House Judiciary Committee, which holds the power to begin impeachment proceedings, came as Congress will return later that evening from a weeklong recess and House Democrats will resume its interparty debate on whether to move forward with opening an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Witnesses will include the likes of former White House counsel John Dean, who worked for President Richard Nixon during the crux of the Watergate scandal that later led to impeachment proceedings, and other unnamed “former U.S. Attorneys and legal experts,” according to the Judiciary Committee.

“These hearings will allow us to examine the findings laid out in Mueller’s report so that we can work to protect the rule of law and protect future elections through consideration of legislative and other remedies,” Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, said in a statement.

Committee Chairman of U.S. House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) speaks to members of the press on May 29 in New York City.GETTY/STEPHANIE KEITH

The public events, the first of which will be June 10, will play a crucial role in Democrats’ ability to convince the American people that the House should open an impeachment inquiry into the president, as a growing number of party members have called for since the Mueller report’s release. Several Judiciary Committee Democrats viewed Mueller’s public remarks last week, the first of their kind, as a call for Congress to proceed with substantial action, like impeachment.

“Russia attacked our elections to help President Trump win, Trump and his campaign welcomed this help and the President then tried to obstruct the investigation into the attack,” Nadler said. “Mueller confirmed these revelations and has now left Congress to pick up where he left off.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with other Democratic leaders in the chamber, have continued to downplay impeachment talk. Speaking at a Commonwealth Club event shortly after Mueller reiterated his report could not exonerate Trump of any criminal wrongdoing, the California Democrat cautioned her party.

“You don’t bring an indictment, or you don’t bring an impeachment, unless you have all of the facts, the strongest possible case, so that the president is held accountable one way or another,” she said.

But patience could be running thing, as one member of leadership—on top of rank-and-file Democrats—warning has now suggested impeachment proceedings could be inevitable.

Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, told CNN over the weekend he believed that at some point in the future, impeachment proceedings will be brought against the president.

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/house-impeachment-hearing-john-dean-nixon-trump

The post House Democrats to hold hearings on Mueller Report first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.