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Today, House Judiciary Democrats, led by Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), held a joint press conference to discuss the obstruction of the Special Counsel’s investigation with potential moves by President Trump against Attorney General Sessions, DAG Rosenstein, and/or Special Counsel Mueller himself. The Members raised concerns related to President Trump threatening the rule of law, the potential for a constitutional crisis, and Republicans’ failure to take action protecting the Special Counsel with provisions excluded from the FY18 Omnibus.

 Below are Ranking Member Nadler’s remarks, as prepared for delivery:

“Good morning.  As we have all seen, President Trump has spent the last few days launching an all-out assault on Special Counsel Mueller and his investigation—saying things like “the Mueller probe should never have been started,” that it is a “total witch hunt,” and that Mueller’s team is stacked with Democrats. 

“Let us set aside for a moment that so much of what the President says is simply factually incorrect.  These tantrums are more than merely the online musings of a passionate viewer of Fox News. 

“These statements are threats from the President of the United States against our rule of law.  They specifically target Special Counsel Robert Mueller—who is charged with investigating allegations of serious crimes against the United States, including a conspiracy to defraud the United States government in an attempt to influence the 2016 election.

“That is why I am standing here with my Democratic colleagues from the House Judiciary Committee to deliver a united message to President Trump: Do not meddle with the Special Counsel investigation.  We expect—and the rule of law demands—that the Special Counsel be permitted to complete his investigation, wherever it may lead, free from political interference, and that the facts be presented for public review so that the American people can know the full truth.

“Let me be clear: this warning is about more than a threat to fire Robert Mueller. 

We must also be concerned that the President may fire Attorney General Sessions and replace him with a lackey who will constrain the Special Counsel in all sorts of ways from the inside that the public may never see.

“Remember that the Special Counsel operates under the supervision of the Attorney General.  Since Mr. Sessions is recused, that responsibility today falls to the Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein, who by all accounts, has supervised the Mueller investigation in a fair and evenhanded manner, and has given Mr. Mueller all the resources and discretion he needs to do his job effectively.

“But if Sessions were to be fired and a new Attorney General, who is not recused, appointed, the new AG, who is totally beholden to President Trump, would take control of the investigation.  The new Attorney General could throttle the investigation by shrinking Mueller’s resources or by shutting down entire lines of inquiry—and the public would be entirely in the dark.  In many ways, this behind the scenes dismantling of the investigation could be even more dangerous than directly firing Mueller.

“Whatever you may think of the Attorney General—and my colleagues and I could certainly give you an earful—the American people must understand what is at stake if the President were to fire Sessions, or if he pushed him to resign.  It could signal the end of an independent investigation, and we cannot let that happen.

“In the face of the President’s constant attacks on the leadership of the Department of Justice, some of my colleagues in the Majority have had the courage to stand up and tell President Trump that he is wrong.  I commend Republicans like Senator McCain, Senator Flake, and Senator Graham, who have found the conviction to defend our traditions and the institutions that make our country great.  And I know plenty of Republican House Members who share these concerns, who are committed to the rule of law, and who are worried by the President’s actions.  I urge them to follow the example of Senators McCain, Graham and Flake and to speak out.

“Where, however, is the Republican Leadership?  Why does Speaker Ryan take days to make tepid statements in general support of the Mueller investigation?  Why does the Majority refuse to take action to protect the Special Counsel from a President who clearly wants him gone?  Why would they not agree to a bipartisan amendment to the Omnibus to make it all but impossible to remove a special counsel without cause?

“My colleagues here have the courage to do what Republican leadership will not.  Mr. President, we are watching you.  The American people are watching you.  If you shut down or throttle the Mueller investigation, by firing either Sessions, Rosenstein, or Mueller, you will plunge this country into a constitutional crisis.

“I am proud to be joined by my Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, and I would like to turn to them now for a few words.”

Rep. Luis Gutierrez: “I will sleep with my cellphone next to my ear and if the word comes down that Donald Trump is taking out Sessions, taking out Mueller, taking other actions to undermine the rule of law and obstruct justice, I will be on the first plane to Washington.”

Rep. Ted Deutch: “This is not a drill. This is a test of our institutions and the people who serve them. We cannot sit by while the President of the United States corrupts the power of his office in order to hide the truth.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal: “Firing Mueller is a red line, full stop. His investigation of interference in our elections is critical to our democracy. Any attempt by this president or his henchmen to remove Mueller or impede this investigation must be stopped. Now is the time for Republicans to stand up and be counted, and for all Americans to oppose the naked abuse of power by an unhinged man who is utterly unfit for office.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin: “We’re in the fight of our lives in 2018 and the rule of law is at the center of all the controversy,” said Representative Jamie Raskin, a freshman from Maryland who is a constitutional law scholar. “The position is central to our ability to stand up for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.”

Rep. Brad Schneider: “We can’t effectively protect our future elections if we don’t understand the full extent of Russia’s meddling in our past elections, and hold those responsible to account. That's why Special Counsel Mueller's investigation must continue unhindered to completion.”

Rep. Val Demings:  “I am disappointed in my Republican colleagues. Why are they not part of the effort to protect the investigation? Every person who says that they love our country should want to protect the investigation. If a local police department or a local police detective was conducting an investigation and suddenly that investigation was disrupted for political reasons, we would never tolerate that. We appeal to the American people to help us to protect the Special Counsel and allow the truth to come out.”

View all photos here.

Watch the full press conference here.

Background

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Committee Democrats have long called on the Judiciary Committee majority to hold hearings on the Trump Administration, attacks on Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigators, foreign threats to the integrity of U.S. elections, Russian interference in the 2016 election and more.

On March 20, 2018, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), urging him to investigate attacks on Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigators, and to call in Christopher Wylie, a whistleblower who helped found Cambridge Analytica, the Trump Campaign data firm that acquired the personal information of millions of U.S. Facebook users.

On February 8, 2018, all House Judiciary Committee Democrats sent a letter to Chairman Bob Goodlatte calling for immediate hearings examining the U.S. election infrastructure after a senior U.S. Department of Homeland Security official revealed that Russia hacked U.S. voter rolls. The letter asks the Majority for emergency hearings to look into potential vulnerabilities of our election infrastructure, foreign threats posed, and to examine what steps the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and the State Department may or may not be taking to ensure the integrity of future state and federal elections.

On December 14, 2017, Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler and House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings sent a letter to Chairman Goodlatte and to House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy urging them to issue subpoenas for documents from Cambridge Analytica and Giles-Parscale—two Trump Campaign data consultants—after they refused to deny communications with foreign actors during the 2016 presidential election.

On July 20, 2017, all House Judiciary Democrats sent a letter to Chairman Goodlatte urging a hearing with senior leadership of the Department of Justice regarding Trump’s contempt for the Department, as expressed by his complaints about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s recusal from the Russia investigation and attacks on the credibility of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

On June 21, 2017 sixteen House Judiciary Democrats sent a letter to Chairman Goodlatte urging a hearing to examine events related to—but extending beyond—any investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 election. These events include the firing of FBI Director James Comey, allegations of obstruction of justice by President Trump, and the inconsistent application of the Attorney General's recusal from these and related matters.

On March 10, 2017 all House Judiciary Democrats sent a letter to Chairman Goodlatte urging him to conduct greater oversight of the Trump Administration with respect to ongoing connections between his associates and the Russian government.

On January 24, 2017, all House Judiciary Democrats sent a letter to Chairman Goodlatte urging a hearing on President Trump’s potential violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause.

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