Republicans will be ready to grill Robert Mueller at his July hearings, but the issuance of subpoenas to the former special counsel marks a dark time for "civil liberties," according to U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C.
Congressional Democrats have been working for a while to have Mueller come and testify, Meadows said Tuesday on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle."
"It is not a good day for America, but Bob Mueller better be prepared," Meadows said. "Because I can tell you, he will be cross-examined for the first time and the American people will start to see the flaws in his report."
Meadows added he believed it is important to protect the rights of all involved in the Democrats' post-Russia investigation, regardless of party affiliation.
"We have to protect our civil liberties," he said. "Whether they're Republican or Democrat or in between, we have to protect those. This is a sad day for civil liberties and those who love those. Those rights that we have.
"Yet it's a worse day for Congress because ... what Adam Schiff and them have done, they have basically harassed the president and put forth a political agenda."
Rep. Schiff, D-Calif., is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, one of the two panels that have subpoenaed Mueller to testify. The other panel is the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.
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Late Tuesday, Schiff and Nadler jointly announced that Mueller had agreed to testify before both panels on July 17.
Fox News has learned Mueller would appear only under a subpoena, which has been described as a "friendly" subpoena, one that in essence had been planned. Mueller is expected to stick to the "four corners" of his report.
"Americans have demanded to hear directly from the Special Counsel so they can understand what he and his team examined, uncovered, and determined about Russia’s attack on our democracy, the Trump campaign’s acceptance and use of that help, and President Trump and his associates' obstruction of the investigation into that attack," Nadler and Schiff said in a joint statement.
Meadows does not serve on either panel before which Mueller will appear but heads the House Freedom Caucus, an influential conservative group on Capitol Hill.
Fox News Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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