by Mathew Rusling
WASHINGTON, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Democratic lawmakers on Thursday lambasted the U.S. attorney general over what they argue is dishonesty regarding the controversial Mueller report. Experts say this is just one more issue driving Washington's bitter partisan divide, and one that could continue to drag on.
The ongoing strife centers around the Mueller report -- the investigation into whether the campaign of current President Donald Trump had colluded with Russia to clinch the 2016 elections. Republicans contend the now completed report produced no smoking gun, and they want to move on. But Democrats argue that the report has left many questions unanswered, and they continue to hound the White House for answers.
DEMOCRATS GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General William Barr skipped a planned hearing on the matter, after he provided testimony the previous day for several hours. The snub outraged Democrats, who went on the offensive, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday accusing Barr of lying to Congress.
"What is deadly serious about it is the attorney general of the United States of America is not telling the truth to the Congress of the United States. That's a crime," Pelosi told reporters.
"He lied to Congress. If anybody else did that, it would be considered a crime," Pelosi added, referring to statements Barr made in a testimony last month, when lawmakers questioned the attorney general about a summary he wrote about the Mueller report.
In response, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec on Thursday said Pelosi's "baseless attack on the Attorney General is reckless, irresponsible and false."
PARTISAN DIVISIONS
Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua that Trump's officials are "refusing to answer questions from Congress because they want to put the Mueller report behind them."
"Democrats still see many unanswered questions. With control of the House, they can subpoena witnesses and documents, and find officials in contempt if they do not comply with these requests," West said. "That could result in fines or imprisonment for administration officials."
"Ultimately, there will be lawsuits over whether the administration can withhold information from Congress and the issue will end up before the Supreme Court to decide," West said.
Other experts, however, argue that the Mueller report produced no evidence of collusion with Russia.
Hans A. von Spakovsky, a law expert at the Heritage Foundation, told Xinhua that the "Russian election collusion claim turned out to be a hoax and there was no violation of the law by President Trump. This destroys the partisan, narrative myth that has been pushed for the past two years by liberals and the media that Trump did not win the 2016 election."
Explaining why Barr skipped Thursday's hearing, in which lawmakers wanted to have their staff attorneys question Barr, von Spakovsky said that while Congressional committees have the authority to conduct oversight of the executive branch, including questioning cabinet officials, that authority can only be exercised by elected members of Congress, not their staff.
"This is now a dead issue from the standpoint of the American public. The special counsel spent 30 million (U.S. dollars) to investigate what turned out to be a myth. If Democrats continue to push this, the public will see it as a partisan, witch hunt and it will hurt them politically," von Spakovsky said.
Some experts question how long the partisan divisions over the report will last, and whether Democrats will continue to question every detail of the Mueller report. Others question whether the GOP will fight tooth and nail against the accusations.
Some experts contend that continued focus on the issue is a recipe for Congressional gridlock that will impact lawmakers' ability to legislate. Others argue that the issue is crucially important, and must be pursued.