Groups Urge House Committees to Hold Multiple Public Hearings to Bring Mueller Report to Life
In a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) today, national groups that worked to protect the Mueller investigation urged a number of House Committees to hold hearings to educate the American people on the findings of the Mueller report.
The groups included Action Group Network, American Oversight, Center for American Progress, Center for Popular Democracy, Coalition to Preserve, Protect & Defend, Common Cause, CREW, Defending Democracy, Democracy 21, Equal Justice Society, Loyal Opposition, March for Truth, People For the American Way, Protect Democracy, Public Citizen, Stand Up America and Sunlight Foundation.
The letter listed five House Committees with jurisdiction over various matters addressed in the Mueller report and suggested “for consideration some examples of potential hearing topics that we believe would help build on the excellent work already underway.”
The letter thanked Speaker Pelosi “for your leadership on this and many other issues.”
The letter stated:
The Mueller report documented that Russia’s cyberattack on our country was undertaken to disrupt and damage our democracy, to hurt presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and to help presidential candidate Donald Trump.
We believe it is essential to bring the printed pages of the 448-page Mueller report to life through public, televised House hearings so that the American people can make informed judgments about the activities that followed the decision by Russia to attack the 2016 presidential election.
The letter continued:
Hearings by the Senate Watergate Committee played a similar informational role for the American people. The Committee held extensive televised hearings that educated the American people about the abuses of President Nixon and his administration. The panel began its public hearings on May 17, 1973 and held hearings on a regular basis until August 7, 1973. “Thirty-seven witnesses testified during the period, hundreds of exhibits and documents were introduced into the record,” according to the committee’s final report, “and over 3000 pages of testimony were transcribed.”
Importantly, 319 hours of Senate Watergate Committee hearings were broadcast live to the American people and 85 percent of U.S. households watched some portion of them. The hearings told the story of the Watergate break-in and the massive cover up authorized by President Nixon in its wake. These broadcasts riveted the nation.
The letter stated:
We strongly applaud House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler’s announcement that the Committee “will hold a series of hearings on ‘the alleged crimes and other misconduct’ in Mueller’s report.” They began this week with a hearing on whether Trump committed obstruction of justice.
Similarly, we welcome House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s announcement that his committee will be “doing a series of hearings on Volume I of the Mueller report,” starting with a focus on the counterintelligence implications. These hearings also began this week.
The letter continued:
Effectively covering the material in the 448-page Mueller report and related matters will require continued attention from a number of committees with relevant jurisdictions.
We urge that such House committees hold a series of public hearings in the coming weeks on matters within their jurisdiction. We believe that a sustained approach of two to three hearings a week between the relevant committees will help ensure the necessary level of public education and attention with respect to the Mueller report.
The letter stated:
We also believe that these hearings should be public, including those conducted by the Intelligence Committee. We understand that this is not the norm for a committee that is charged with oversight of the most sensitive of matters. However, given the public interest in these issues and the need to help the public understand what has transpired, public hearings are necessary. The recently announced open hearing scheduled for June 12 is an excellent model for how to move forward.
The national groups signing the letter include:
Action Group Network
American Oversight
Center for American Progress
Coalition to Preserve, Protect & Defend
Common Cause
CREW
Defending Democracy
Democracy 21
Equal Justice Society
Loyal Opposition
March for Truth
People For the American Way
Protect Democracy
Public Citizen
Stand Up America
Sunlight Foundation
As of 6/12/19, this release has been edited to add the following group to the list of signers:
Center for Popular Democracy
