The attorney general has said he doesn't object to Mueller testifying—and his own testimony made it clear why the special counsel should speak.
There is one clear takeaway from five hours of testimony by Attorney General William Barr before the Senate Judiciary committee today: It's time to hear from the great gray sphinx of the entire Russia-gate saga, Special Counselor Robert Mueller. Except for muttering “no comment” to an MSNBC reporter after he attended Easter Sunday services at his local church a couple of weeks ago, Mueller has been silent for the last 22 months since being appointed special counsel in the Russia probe.
More importantly, Mueller famously declined to reach a conclusion as to whether to charge Trump with obstruction of justice, despite laying out ten instances—including telling White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller—that seem to show the president was at least tempted to do just that.
The special counsel also needs to answer why he wrote that the evidence on obstruction didn't “exonerate” Trump. Mueller's critics point out that a prosecutor’s job is not to “exonerate” the suspect of an investigation: it's to decide whether or not to file charges. As Barr’s put it on Wednesday, you either issue a “pros” letter or a declination letter . That, normally, is what a prosecutor does.
Many Democrats believe Mueller’s intent was to leave a sufficient number of obstruction bread crumbs for Congress to follow in an impeachment hearing. His report mentions Congress's role in a couple of instances. But Barr said Wednesday that it would be “inappropriate” for Mueller to view his role in that way, and that in his conversations with him the special counsel never raised the subject.
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