Trump news: Congress votes to subpoena full Mueller report from attorney-general, as senior Republicans turn on president's 'catastrophic' border closure plan
The latest updates from Washington
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The House Judiciary Committee approved subpoenas Wednesday for special counsel Robert Mueller’s full Russia report as Democrats pressure the Justice Department to release the document without redactions.
The committee voted 24-17 to give Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler permission to issue subpoenas to the Justice Department for the final report, its exhibits and any underlying evidence or materials prepared for the investigation.
Mr Nadler has not yet said if he’ll send the subpoenas, which would be the first step in a potentially long fight with the Justice Department over the materials.
The Judiciary panel also voted Wednesday to authorise subpoenas related to five of Donald Trump’s former top advisers, stepping up a separate, wide-ranging investigation into Trump and his personal and political dealings.
The vote further escalates the Democrats’ battle with the Justice Department over how much of the report they will be able to see, a fight that could eventually head to court if the two sides can’t settle their differences through negotiation. Democrats have said they will not accept redactions and want to see the evidence unfiltered by Mr Barr.
In the letter last week, Mr Barr said he is scrubbing the report to avoid disclosing any grand jury information or classified material, in addition to portions of the report that pertain to ongoing investigations or that “would unduly infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests of peripheral third parties.”
Democrats say they want access to all of that information, even if some of it can’t be disclosed to the public. Nadler said he will give Mr Barr time to change his mind on redactions, but if they cannot reach an agreement they will issue the subpoenas “in very short order.” He also said he is prepared to go to court to get the grand jury information.
Mr Trump is meanwhile being urged not to follow through on his threat to close the US border with Mexico as senior Republicans warn of the cost of prioritising security over trade and scramble for alternatives to tackling the illegal immigration “crisis”.
“Closing down the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country and I would hope we would not be doing that sort of thing,” said Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, a quote the president has since attacked The New York Times for publishing on Twitter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load.
Ranking Republican Doug Collins opposes Nadler's resolution and says Washington's focus should be on the southern border and that the committee's investigation is just more fishing for evidence that isn't there.
Calls the measure "reckless, irresponsible and disingenuous" and says Barr should be allowed to get on with his job.
"Why are we doing this again? Spring break?"
Collins suggests this is about "press" and could deter co-operation with congressional committees in the future.
Now offering a folksy fishing analogy from his native Georgia.
Nadler is currently explaining the thinking behind a technical amendment to his initial resolution.
As he does so, here's his opening statement in full.
Doug Collins - a natural comedian laying on the southern charm - is now holding up two bottles of mineral water as a way of attacking his chairman's comparison of the Mueller report with the Starr report of 1998.
"They're not the same!"
Colorado Republican Ken Buck just recited the story of Prometheus stealing fire from the gods, minutes after Collins mocked the whole committee as "great political theatre".
While this is going on, President Trump is tweeting about healthcare again. What incredible timing.
He's attacking The New York Times (again), seemingly as a way of admonishing Mitch McConnell at one remove.
Here's a quick, pithy response from the newspaper's Maggie Haberman.
Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee's contention the actions of the committee in putting forward the resolution is "fair" is interrupted by Republican Jim Sensenbrenner who says he's always had whatever he's needed from the government without ever having to issue subpoenas and play "not nice".
As the House Judiciary Committee continue to chew over whether they should issue the subpoenas for the Mueller report and to the five ex-Trump employees, a reminder that their counterparts in the House Oversight and Reform Committee yesterday did not hesitate to subpoena the government for information relating to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's security clearances.
Elijah Cummings' team were responding to the evidence of White House whistleblower Tricia Newbold, who said the opinion of experts was ignored when the access was granted.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments