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Sen. Carper weighs in on Mueller Report, Biden presidential run

Delaware Public Media

Delaware’s senior Senator is among those on Capitol Hill wanting to see more of the Mueller Report.

A day after a redacted version of the 400 page document was released Thursday,  Sen. Tom Carper (D-Delaware) says Congress should get an unredacted version to review.

Carper says the report characterizes President Trump as a liar and what it is says about how his White House has operated is “concerning.”

Carper adds the report leaves it to Congress to consider how to address possible violations of law and obstruction of justice. And Carper argues lawmakers can’t do that properly with what they have in hand now.

 

“We need to have the unredacted version of the Mueller investigation.  Not the words of Attorney General Barr.  Not the Mueller Report as interpreted or blacked out by Attorney General Barr.  We need to have the Mueller Report,” said Carper.

Carper is highly critical of U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the Mueller Report.

Carper says the report differs from Barr’s previous characteriztions of it – sometimes considerably.  He accuses Barr serving more like President Trump’s attorney rather than an attorney representing the American people. 

And Carper wants to see an unredacted version of the Mueller Report to fully assess Barr’s actions

“If the pattern of mischaracterization that we saw in Mr. Barr’s four page summary of the 400 page Mueller Report, if the redactions put in place by the Attorney General do a diservice to the truth and to the true meaning to the report, that would be a grave and serious matter,” Carper said.

Carper notes he did not support Barr’s nomination for Attorney General because of his concerns about Barr’s ability to stand up to President Trump.

He anticipates Barr will be asked to testify again before Congress about the report and his handling of it and says he’ll be interested to see how Barr reponds.

Carper would also like to have Special Counsel Robert Mueller testify before Congress.

He would not directly address the possibility of impeaching the President, saying “first things first,” and that’s getting the unreacted report to review. Carper expects a legal battle over Congress receiving that unredacted version.

Carper also responded Friday to reports by multiple media outlets that Joe Biden’s 2020 bid for president could start next week.

The Atlantic was the first to report Biden is expected to launch his run as early as Wednesday with a video annoucement.  The Atlantic and others cite multiple sources familiar with Biden’s plans, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Carper is among those locally that backs a Biden run for the Democratic nomination.

“I hope it’s true.  I believe he is going to run.  I’ve encouraged him to run.  A lot of other people have as well from all over the country," said Carper.  "I think we need somebody as our nominee who can not just unite our party, but can unite our country.  We’re badly divided and we need to be united not divided further.”

Carper says he is not personally aware of any Biden plans to launch next week, but would hope to attend any formal annoucement event, if possible.

Many polls show the 76-year-old Biden would jump into the race as the front-runner in a field that already has 18 confirmed candidates.

Carper says he urged Biden not to get out of the starting gate early with an annoucement, suggesting he take his time, get his organization together and do it right.

Tom Byrne has been a fixture covering news in Delaware for three decades. He joined Delaware Public Media in 2010 as our first news director and has guided the news team ever since. When he's not covering the news, he can be found reading history or pursuing his love of all things athletic.
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