(CNN) -- Congressional Democratic leaders -- outraged over the Trump administration's rollout of special counsel Robert Mueller's report -- are calling on Mueller to publicly testify before Congress.
Ahead of the release of a redacted version of the report on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer broadly criticized Attorney General William Barr's handling of the report, including his decision to hold a news conference to discuss it prior to its release to lawmakers and the American public.
Pelosi and Schumer accused Barr of creating "a crisis of confidence in his independence and impartiality" and said in a statement that public testimony from Mueller himself in both the House and the Senate is "the only way to begin restoring public trust."
The call from the House and Senate Democratic leaders for Mueller to testify was echoed by House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, who said on Twitter, "It is clear Congress and the American people must hear from Special Counsel Robert Mueller in person to better understand his findings. We are now requesting Mueller to appear before @HouseJudiciary as soon as possible."
Nadler posted a copy of a letter dated Thursday to Mueller requesting testimony in front of the committee "as soon as possible" and "no later than May 23, 2019."
During his Thursday morning news conference, Barr said he has "no objection" to Mueller testifying when asked if he would allow Mueller to testify publicly to Congress in light of the calls from Democrats.
Democrats have slammed what they say are orchestrated attempts by the Trump administration to control the narrative surrounding the report's release.
Shortly after Barr's conference concluded, Schumer and Pelosi renewed their criticism of the attorney general with statements on Twitter.
Schumer described it as a "campaign press conference" for the President, while Pelosi said, "AG Barr has confirmed the staggering partisan effort by the Trump Admin to spin public's view of the #MuellerReport -- complete with acknowledgment that the Trump team received a sneak preview. It's more urgent than ever that Special Counsel Mueller testify before Congress."
Congressional Democrats have already authorized a subpoena for the full, unredacted report and underlying evidence. Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, also said on CNN's "New Day" that she's "confident" the committee will subpoena Mueller and Barr, though the attorney general will testify next month before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees about the report.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that there had been numerous conversations between the White House and the Justice Department ahead of the release of the Mueller report.
Five House Democratic committee chairs demanded that Barr cancel his press conference, calling it "unnecessary and inappropriate," and objected to the Justice Department reportedly briefing the White House on Mueller's work.
"With the Special Counsel's fact-gathering work concluded, it is now Congress' responsibility to assess the findings and evidence and proceed accordingly," the lawmakers said in a joint statement Wednesday.
After 22 months, Mueller concluded in March his probe into Russian election interference, as well as possible Trump campaign collusion with Moscow and obstruction of justice.
In a four-page summary of the report, Barr stated Mueller did not establish a criminal conspiracy between any Trump associates and the Russian government, and that Mueller did not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice but left the decision to prosecute to Justice Department leaders, who did not see sufficient evidence.
Democrats have been particularly suspicious of Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's inference that there lacks sufficient evidence to prosecute such a case, especially in light of reports that some on Mueller's team have expressed to others frustration with Barr's characterization of the investigation in the four-page summary delivered to Congress last month.
Two versions of the redacted special counsel report will be released -- one for the general public and another, less redacted, version for a limited number of members of Congress, the Justice Department said.
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