Democrats Will ‘Absolutely’ Go to Supreme Court Over Mueller Report, Judiciary Chair Says
House Judiciary Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) made the rounds on the Sunday morning news shows to talk about how Democrats plan to get access to the the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, regardless of any attempts by President Donald Trump or his Justice Department to hide the contents of the report.
“It’s critical that everything in that report and the underlying evidence be public, be open to the American people,” Nadler told Meet the Press host Chuck Todd. “That transparency is key. America needs answers as to what’s been going on.”
When Todd asked about Trump using executive privilege to hide anything in the report, Nadler replied, “The president must personally assert executive privilege, and I do not believe it exists here at all because as we learned from the Nixon tapes case, executive privilege cannot be used to hide wrongdoing,” citing the Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision to override Nixon’s attempts to exert executive privilege.
WATCH: Rep. Nadler tells Chuck Todd that he wants his committee has to "see all the evidence" in the Special Counsel's report. #MTP #IfItsSunday@RepJerryNadler: "Executive privilege cannot be used to hide wrongdoing" pic.twitter.com/rAlZ1WYQcj
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 24, 2019
Nadler then went on to talk about the wrongdoing by Trump that has already been made public outside of the Mueller report: “We know that [Trump] fired the FBI director for not giving him the personal loyalty that he demanded and for not dropping those investigations. We know that many of the president’s closest associates, his national security adviser, campaign manager, et cetera, have been convicted of various crimes. And we know that he’s waged a relentless two-year campaign to attack law enforcement institutions, the FBI, the special prosecutor — all to demean the power of those people to hold him accountable.”
“Sounds like you already believe there’s enough evidence out there to prove obstruction,” Todd observed.
“We need to see all the evidence, and we shouldn’t have to waste our time and the public’s time and money recreating the same information by interviewing all the same witnesses,” Nadler concluded.
Nadler also appeared on CNN’s State of the Union where he was interviewed by Dana Bash.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler: "The special prosecutor is limited in scope, his job was limited in scope and limited to crimes. What Congress has to do is look at a broader picture. We have the responsibility of protecting the rule of law." pic.twitter.com/xgJWCvgnBP
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 24, 2019
“What Congress has to do is look at a broader picture. We have the responsibility of protecting the rule of law… so that our democratic institutions are not greatly damaged by this president,” Nadler told the CNN anchor, although, he said, it was “way too early to speculate” about impeachment.
But, Nadler added, “We know there was collusion. Why there’s been no indictments, we don’t know.”
Nadler said that the Democrats’ strategy will be to “try to negotiate, we’ll try everything else first” to get Trump and the Justice Department to release the report. If that is not successful, though, he said they will “absolutely” take it all the way to the Supreme Court.