John Dean, a star witness during Watergate who helped bring down the Nixon presidency, told the House Judiciary Committee he saw parallels.<\/b>
\nWASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The House expects to receive the first files of underlying evidence from Robert Mueller\u2019s report as soon as Monday, after a sudden shift by the Justice Department as Democrats weigh impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
It\u2019s unclear if the deal announced Monday, just moments before the start of a Judiciary Committee hearing with Watergate star witness John Dean, will produce the kind of documents Democrats want to see from the special counsel\u2019s work. But it signaled the first real breakthrough in the standoff over the report and came at the start of a week of ramped up action by the House in the Trump-Russia probe.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., the chairman of the committee, said the Justice Department will provide some of Mueller\u2019s \u201cmost important files\u201d and all members of the committee will be able to view them. He said the files will include those used to assess whether Trump obstructed justice.
For now, he said, the panel will not sue Attorney General William Barr to force compliance with a congressional subpoena to release the unredacted Mueller report along with the underlying evidence. The House is still expected to vote Tuesday on a resolution that would empower the committee to file a civil lawsuit for the materials, if Democrats decide to do so.
\u201cIf the Department proceeds in good faith and we are able to obtain everything that we need, then there will be no need to take further steps,\u201d Nadler said in a statement. \u201cIf important information is held back, then we will have no choice but to enforce our subpoena in court and consider other remedies.\u201d
Nadler added, \u201cIt is critical that Congress is able to obtain the information we need to do our jobs, ensuring no one is above the law.\u201d
The sudden turn of events came ahead of a pivotal week for House Democrats, who are torn over whether to move forward with impeachment proceedings and searching for ways to focus public attention on Trump\u2019s actions.
Dean, a White House counsel under Richard Nixon who helped bring down his presidency, testified Monday that Mueller has provided Congress with a \u201croad map\u201d for investigating Trump.
He said he saw parallels between Mueller\u2019s findings regarding Trump and those of congressional investigators looking into Nixon\u2019s administration decades ago. He pointed to the way the presidents used their pardon power in an attempt to influence witness testimony, and their efforts to seize control of the investigation and direct the efforts of prosecutors.
Trump, apparently watching the televised hearing, tweeted, \u201cCan\u2019t believe they are bringing in John Dean, the disgraced Nixon White House Counsel.\u201d He added his oft-repeated claim, \u201cNo Collusion \u2013 No Obstruction!\u201d
At times, Dean, who said he last appeared before Congress in 1974, was forced to fend off attacks from committee Republicans.
The top Republican on the committee, Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, dismissed Dean as a \u201cgodfather\u201d figure. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, criticized Dean\u2019s work and noted he pleaded guilty after Watergate. And Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a Trump ally, derided his appearance as a Capitol Hill version of \u201cThat \u201970s Show.\u201d
In addition to Dean, two former U. S. attorneys who served during the Obama administration, Barbara McQuade and Joyce Vance, also testified before the committee. Both have become regulars on cable news shows, analyzing developments in the Mueller investigation and offering criticism on Twitter of the president\u2019s conduct.
The Justice Department said it was pleased the House committee had \u201cagreed to set aside its contempt resolution and is returning to the traditional accommodation process.\u201d The department \u201cremains committed to appropriately accommodating Congress\u2019s legitimate interests related to the Special Counsel\u2019s Investigation and will continue to do so provided the previously voted-upon resolution does not advance,\u201d spokesperson Kerri Kupec said in a statement.
And at the same time, the Justice Department announced it was stepping up its counter-probe into the origins of the Russia investigations, a priority for Trump and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill.
The department said Monday it has asked intelligence agencies to preserve all relevant records and access to witnesses. Republican lawmakers are eager to dig into those documents and determine why Trump\u2019s campaign was under scrutiny.
Democrats and Republicans are vying to win over public opinion in the fallout from Mueller\u2019s probe.
While the special counsel concluded there was not sufficient evidence that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to swing the 2016 election, Mueller also said he could not exonerate the president of obstruction of justice in the investigation.
The procession of hearings and votes in the week ahead is partly designed to mollify anxious Democrats who have pushed House Speaker Pelosi to begin impeachment proceedings immediately. A growing number of Democrats say the House should start impeachment proceedings in part because Trump is obstructing justice now by refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas for documents and testimony. Pelosi, D-Calif., prefers to continue the investigations.
On Tuesday, the House has scheduled the vote to authorize lawsuits against Barr and former White House counsel Donald McGahn for failing to comply with subpoenas from the Democratic-controlled House. The vote will put the full House on record approving the lawsuits, if leaders and committees decide they want to move forward with them.
On Wednesday, the House Intelligence Committee intends to review the counterintelligence implications of the Russian meddling.
During a meeting with Nadler and other committee heads last week, Pelosi made the case that she would rather see Trump voted out of office and \u201cin prison\u201d than merely impeached, according to a report in Politico. A person familiar with the exchange confirmed the account to The Associated Press.
___
Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
Copyright \u00a9 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
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