Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Sunday said he would grant Democrats' request to hear testimony from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was in charge of the two-year-long Russia probe. The decision comes after Mueller penned an opinion piece, where he defended his office's investigation into supposed Russian collusion. The former special counsel also chided President Donald Trump's decision to commute Roger Stone's sentence.
“Apparently Mr. Mueller is willing - and also capable - of defending the Mueller investigation through an oped in the Washington Post," Graham said in a statement.
“Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have previously requested Mr. Mueller appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify about his investigation," he said. “That request will be granted.”
Mueller has repeatedly said his report speaks for itself, calling it his "testimony." It's why he refused to comment any further, until this opinion piece. Even during his testimony in front of Congress, Mueller remained rather tight-lipped to avoid straying away from the report's conclusions.
The White House slammed the former special counsel and his team. One of the issues the Trump administration has is with the dossier put together by Christopher Steele, the former British spy, and paid for by the Democratic National Committee.
"Robert Mueller and his corrupt investigation failed to hold anyone in the Obama-Biden Administration accountable for their negligence toward Russian interference or for spying on the Trump Campaign based on a Democrat-funded dossier full of lies, and instead wasted taxpayer dollars trying to undo an election,” Deputy White House Press Secretary Judd Deere said in a statement. “Mr. Mueller should keep his promise to the American people and let the report, which fully exonerated the President, stand instead of pontificating in the editorial pages with more spin.”