WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Sunday that the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, should not testify before Congress, setting up another confrontation with Democrats over presidential authority and the separation of powers.
On Twitter, he argued that Mr. Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, which found no conspiracy between Moscow and Mr. Trump’s campaign but did not exonerate the president on possible obstruction of justice, was conclusive and that Congress and the American people did not need to hear from Mr. Mueller. “Bob Mueller should not testify,” he said. “No redos for the Dems!”
That puts the president at odds with the Democrats, and with Attorney General William P. Barr.
Democrats have insisted that Mr. Mueller is the best person to provide a detailed interpretation of the 448-page report that he delivered last month to Mr. Barr, and set May 15 as a prospective date for him to appear before the House Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Barr, during a contentious hearing about the report before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, was pressed on whether Mr. Mueller, a Justice Department employee, should be allowed to testify.
“I’ve already said publicly I have no objection to him testifying,” Mr. Barr said.
The president, however, did have one. “Are they looking for a redo because they hated seeing the strong NO COLLUSION conclusion?” he wrote. “There was no crime, except on the other side (incredibly not covered in the Report), and NO OBSTRUCTION.”