Democrats file subpoena for full Mueller report

Democrats in the US House of Representatives issued a subpoena on Saturday, demanding they be given access to an unredacted version of the Mueller report. The Department of Justice called the move "unnecessary."

Speaking with broadcaster ABC, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, Jerry Nadler, argued that the report proves there is "a culture of lying at the White House," and that his committee had the right to know the full contents of the document.

The 488-page report states that the two-year investigation could not find any direct conspiracy between Russian agents and the Trump campaign. However, it found that Trump's camp had welcomed attempts by Russia to destabilize the public discourse in the US ahead of the 2016 election.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report also states that it could not definitively say whether or not President Donald Trump had obstructed justice since taking office.

This latter finding particularly irked Democrats after they were told previously by Attorney General William Barr that the report  did not contain convincing evidence of collusion by the president or his team.

Sanders: Lies were 'slip of the tongue'

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also spoke with ABC on Friday, defending herself after the Mueller report described incidents of Sanders lying to journalists.

She said that her incorrect statement that "countless" FBI agents told her they had lost confidence in former agency chief James Comey was a "slip of the tongue" made "in the heat of the moment."

The subpoena gives a deadline of May 1 for the full report to be handed over to the Judiciary Committee, one day before Attorney General Barr is due to testify before Congress.

If the Justice Department refuses to cooperate, officials could be held in contempt of Congress.

es/rc (AP, Reuters)

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.