Schumer: Republicans trying to ‘cover up’ Trump’s wrongdoing

US Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer has lashed out at Majority leader Mitch McConnell after the top Republican in the US Congress proclaimed that the Russia probe case was closed, saying that the move was aimed to “cover up” and bury congressional investigations.

McConnell on Tuesday sought to block further investigations of US President Donald Trump by declaring “case closed” after a two-year probe of Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 elections.

The Republican leader harshly criticized Democrats seeking additional information on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s “exhaustive” report that found no evidence Trump’s campaign team had colluded with Moscow.

"For two years many of the president's opponents seemed to be hoping the worst conspiracy theories were actually true. They seemed to be hoping for a national crisis for the sake of their own politics," McConnell said.

"What we've seen is a meltdown, an absolute meltdown, an inability to accept the bottom-line conclusion on Russian interference from the special counsel's report,” he added. “The special counsel’s finding is clear. Case closed.”

Trump a ‘lawless president’

Schumer, speaking on the Senate floor after McConnell, fired back and said the GOP leader was "afraid" of the findings in Mueller's report and that he was refusing to move election security legislation.

Schumer called Trump a “lawless president” and accused the Senate Majority leader of wanting to bury any congressional investigations.

“Of course he wants to move on. He wants to cover up,” Schumer said of McConnell. "He should be ashamed of himself with that speech ... What a disgrace.”

Schumer said Mueller had presented sufficient evidence regarding the US president’s disobeying the law and pledged the probe on Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 US election would continue.

Schumer also said that the US Congress should thoroughly investigate the findings of Mueller before deciding whether to push ahead with impeachment against Trump.

"I believe that we should have hearings. We should thoroughly investigate the Mueller report … and then we can make a decision," Schumer said when asked about impeachment.

Additionally, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the case was not closed on the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, stressing that ignoring congressional subpoenas was an “impeachable offense.”

Pelosi said the US Congress would be delinquent if it failed to pursue its constitutional duty of oversight.

The US House speaker also accused Trump of obstructing justice everyday by repeating that his Republican allies and others should not testify before congress.

During her own Senate floor speech on Tuesday, Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is running for the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination, reiterated her call for the House to begin impeachment proceedings.

700 ex-federal prosecutors accuse Trump of obstruction

This comes as some 700 former federal prosecutors on Tuesday signed onto a statement asserting that Trump would have been indicted for obstruction of justice were he not currently serving as president.

The open letter claims that were it not for Justice Department guidance stating that a sitting president cannot be indicted, the American head of state would have been charged with obstruction of justice based on the evidence laid out in Mueller's report.

“Each of us believes that the conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice,” the letter reads.

Democrats in the US House of Representatives have taken a step toward launching contempt proceedings against Attorney General William Barr for failing to hand over Mueller's full unredacted report on Russia investigation after his deadline expired on Monday.

PressTV-Dems schedule contempt markup for Barr over Mueller report

Democrats have taken a step toward launching contempt proceedings against Attorney General William Barr for failing to hand over Robert Mueller's full unredacted report on his Russia investigation.

Barr said in the summary report that Mueller did not establish that members of Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia during the 2016 election. Barr also said in the summary that Mueller had not reached a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice.

Mueller has reportedly complained in a letter to Barr that the summary of Mueller’s report on the Russia probe “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the investigation’s conclusions.

Barr’s four-page summary was released weeks before a redacted version of Mueller’s 448-page report was released to the public on April 18.

Mueller, a former FBI director, had been examining since May 2017 whether Trump’s election campaign colluded with Moscow to try to influence the 2016 presidential election and whether he later unlawfully tried to obstruct his investigation.

Both Trump and Russia have repeatedly denied the accusations. Trump has sought to discredit the investigation, calling it a “witch hunt” and accusing Mueller of conflicts of interest.

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