House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said Friday that special counsel Robert Mueller will not testify before his committee next week and that the exact date for Mueller to come speak publicly before Congress is under discussion.
“It won’t be next week,” Nadler told reporters. “But we’re negotiating with him, we’re talking to him and the Justice Department.”
The move was not unexpected as Nadler said Thursday evening that Mueller was unlikely to testify before the committee on May 15, the target date that the New York Democrat had floated earlier this month.
Nadler said this week that negotiations with Mueller’s team at the Justice Department to finalize the hearing continue amid President Donald Trump’s various stated positions on whether the special counsel should testify.
Trump has wavered publicly on the prospect of Mueller’s testimony before Congress in recent days as his administration has clashed sharply with Congress over demands for documents and testimony.
Asked earlier in May, the President said, “I don’t know. That’s up to our attorney general, who I think has done a fantastic job.”
Days later, Trump reversed course and said Mueller “should not testify” as the President resurfaced his regular complaints about the Mueller investigation.
But on Thursday, Trump switched back, saying he would leave it up to “our very great attorney general.
“He’ll make a decision on that.”
This story has been updated with additional developments Friday.
