House Dems seek Mueller evidence to decide on Trump impeachment

July 26 (UPI) -- Two days after former special counsel Robert Mueller testified in the Senate, the House judiciary committee said Friday it wants access to grand jury material related to his Russia investigation.

Panel Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., announced at the Capitol plans to file an application to obtain the documentation. He said the panel needs to review the grand jury information to make a decision on impeachment proceedings for President Donald Trump.

"Because Department of Justice policies will not allow prosecution of a sitting president, the United States House of Representatives is the only institution of the federal government that can now hold President Trump accountable to these actions," Nadler said.

"To do so, the House must have access to all the relevant facts and consider whether to exercise its full Article I powers, including a constitutional duty, power of the utmost gravity, a recommendation of articles of impeachment. That duty falls in the first instance to the House Committee on the Judiciary."

The committee is preparing to petition a federal judge for access to the secret grand jury material given to Mueller and his investigators.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Friday the decision on impeachment will be made in a "timely fashion."

"We will proceed when we have what we need to proceed - not one day sooner," she said.

Mueller testified before two Senate committees Wednesday, during which he took questions about the investigation -- particularly a list of "episodes" cited in his final report in which Trump may have obstructed justice.

"Any other person who had acted in this way would have been charged with crimes," Nadler told Mueller at the judiciary hearing. "In this nation, not even the president is above the law. There must be accountability for the conduct described in your report, especially as it related to the president."

The two-year investigation found no evidence of collusion between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russian attempts to interfere. But when Nadler asked Mueller Wednesday whether it totally exonerated Trump, the former special counsel answered, "no."

Nadler said the judiciary committee also expects to file a lawsuit to enforce its subpoena of former White House counsel Don McGahn. The lawyer declined to attend a hearing in May to testify about the Mueller investigation and report.