As Democrats in Congress have talked about bringing in Special Counsel Robert Mueller to answer questions about the Russia investigation, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee on Monday proposed doing exactly that on Monday, as Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) said Mueller should testify before lawmakers the week after Easter.
"Today, I write encouraging you to invite Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller to testify before our Committee without delay," Collins wrote in a letter to Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
"If you seek both transparency and for the American people to learn the full contours of the Special Counsel investigation, public testimony from Special Counsel Mueller himself is undoubtedly the best way to accomplish that goal," Collins added in a letter.
The request by Republicans comes as lawmakers in Congress are waiting for the release of a redacted version of the Mueller report - Attorney General William Barr has promised to do that in mid-April, but no firm date has been established.
Congress is in Washington this week, but will then be out of town for a two week Easter break, not returning until April 29.
At some point during that break, lawmakers expect to receive the redacted Mueller report from the Attorney General.
In his letter, Collins suggested hearing from Mueller in the days after Easter, even though the Congress would be on break that week.
"I think we can agree this business is too important to wait, and Members of the Committee will surely return to Washington at such a critical moment in our country's history," Collins wrote in his letter.
House Democrats quickly embraced the Collins' proposal, but said Mueller would testify after Attorney General Barr, as a May 2 hearing was set on the Mueller report by the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY).
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