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AFP
Washington
Republican and Democratic lawmakers clashed sharply on Sunday over the meaning of the newly completed report on Russian meddling, even as they waited to be briefed on its scope and contents.
President Donald Trump has yet to receive or be briefed on the findings of the Robert Mueller probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, a spokesman said from the Florida resort where Trump was spending the weekend.
The president was continuing a rare silence on Twitter about the matter.
Sunday marked his third day with no public comment on the investigation that he has blasted dozens of times as a “witch hunt.” Attorney General William Barr, who received the secret report on Friday, is expected to brief key members of Congress sometime Sunday, though no announcement has been made.
Trump aides and supporters have seized on word from the Justice Department that the report will recommend no indictments -- news that brought relief to some in Trump’s closest circle. Republicans suggested on Sunday that it was time for Democratic lawmakers to drop their own investigations and move on.
Doug Collins, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, repeated Trump’s frequent insistence that “there was no collusion.” He told “Fox News Sunday” that once the report comes out, “We can hopefully begin to move on.”
But Adam Schiff, the Democrat who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said on ABC that even if Mueller is recommending no new indictments, “that hardly looks like vindication to me.” “We know there was collusion,” said another key Democrat, Jerry Nadler, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, speaking on CNN.
“Why there’s been no indictments, we don’t know.” The two were part of a chorus of Democratic voices demanding the release of the full Mueller report, not just a summary from Barr, a Trump appointee.
Schiff said Congress would first simply request the full release, but was prepared to use its subpoena powers or “prosecute in court, as necessary, to get the information.”
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25/03/2019
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